#⸻ long story short : i survived — arc 3.

[crimeloyalty-arch]

“ hey -- sorry i’m late.  got kind of tied up at work. ”  she means that literally -- she and the bat are in disagreement on quite a few things,  not least of all @exghul​‘s living arrangements. “ nothing illegal,  don’t give me that look. your dad just has some major trust issues and keeps interfering with my very legitimate business ideas. i brought pizza.  come eat with me? ”

she sets the pizza boxes & two plates on the coffee table,  then settles on her side of the couch.  bruce is already curled up on damian’s side,  waiting expectantly for the child to join ; his tail thumps once when damian approaches.  harley offers the pup a piece of pizza,  then scratches between his ears. “ bruce is worried about you. he thinks i’m about to sacrifice you to the ancient demon that lives under this city.  did you know there’s an ancient demon living underneath gotham? because i didn’t -- not the point. do you want to see your dad? ”

#exghul #⸻ i rewind the tape but all it does is pause — writing. #⸻ long story short : i survived — arc 3.

[door430]

AvA 6 Theories/Thoughts

It's been a hot minute since part 2 of AvA 6 came out, but the physics video prompted a cascade of thoughts and theories that I could not get out of my head, so here we go. This is gonna be a long one.

Theory 1: The mercenaries are victims of TCO and TDL

This theory has been circulating for a bit, but there are a couple points of evidence that I want to bring up.

1 - The mercenaries look very different from any sticks we've met before, and very different from each other, so it's likely they come from different places very far away from each other. This would line up with this theory if they were forced to evacuate. Their fighting skills also explain how they were able to survive Dark and Chosen's attacks.

2 - All the mercenaries, but Agent Smith especially, seem almost like they're toying with Chosen while chasing them down. It's even brought up by DJ in the AvG Reacts video that Smith could've paused TCO at pretty much any time, as if he was just messing around. Even if the pause button only works at short range, Smith seems competent enough to be able to use it if he wanted to. He chooses to use regular attacks instead of just using pause, or even the lasso or select tools, and that seems to point towards some sort of grudge.

Theory 2: TSC and victim parallel each other

In the physics video, I'm sure everyone saw the yoyo and thought of victim with the lasso. But I'm taking it a step further and saying that they're going to be parallels of each other in AvA 6.

1 - Victim very clearly parallels the Alan we see in the first AvA. He uses the same animator tools, particularly the lasso, and he uses the same tactic of keeping his victim trapped so they can't escape. Additionally, the way he easily creates clones and lets them die seems very similar to Alan's original thoughts about stick figures - not seeing them as living things.

2 - Second also parallels Alan from AvA 1, though he seems kinder than Alan was to victim. He uses the pencil to create life just as we see Alan do with the sticks, and like Alan originally was, he seems unaware/in denial that his creations are alive. However, we see that after the workers erase the eel he created, he looks at the pencil as if contemplating the morality of creating life just to kill it.

3 - Victim and Second are often used as foils to each other in fandom works, and for good reason! Second is everything that victim couldn't have, and victim is everything Second doesn't want to be. Victim was deprived of a good life, friends, family, and powers, all of which are things Second has in spades. Of course victim would despise Second for that! On the other hand, Second is shown to be very heroic, striving to do the right thing, and in part 2, he reflects upon his actions, not just with the eel, but with his powers, too, when he discovers he has them. Victim is not heroic, kind, or self-reflective at all, setting them up as obvious foils.

Theory 3: Victim won't be redeemed

This is more of a hypothesis than a theory, but hear me out.

1 - Second is very clearly set up to be the protagonist and hero of AvA 6. If he goes through an arc of realizing the thing's he's done wrong, just like Alan did, I doubt victim's story will end the same way. Victim actively chooses to be oblivious to the consequences of his actions, and he very clearly does not want to become a better person.

2 - Victim's name is more than just a name; he sees himself as the victim in his story. In victim's eyes, Alan hurt him, therefore he has the right to hurt Alan back. He chooses not to see the horrible things he's doing because that would ruin his picture-perfect narrative where he's just a victim of his own circumstances who isn't responsible for any of the hurt he causes because Alan hurt him first. He believes every lie he tells himself.

#430 rambles #ava theory #ava the box #animator vs animation #alan becker #ava victim #ava the second coming #ava the chosen one #ava alan becker #ava tsc #ava orange #ava mercenaries #ava agent smith #ava shady #ava primal #ava hunter #ava sign #ava hazard #ava ballista #ava pixel

[diientedegato]

I'm curious if you have any thoughts on what Ben Paul would look like if he was alive years after S1 of TWDG :> I honestly prefer to imagine both him & Kenny going off on their own adventures after S1, because Idk if I'd've had Kenny as part of S2, it felt like when he returned it became less Clem's story & more his. That might be controversial among fans but it's how I feel :s I like to imagine Ben, Kenny & Sarita forming their own little family in fact <3 I'd expect Ben would end up with shaggier hair after a while but I wouldn't mind knowing what he'd look like with short, spiked up hair ;>

IM SORRY BOTH THE ASK AND DRAWING ARE OLD- but I came across the sketch I had eugeugeh. I do not have many headcanons but behind the cut is just a rant about. Kenny mostly. Too much should I warn? But yah I'm sorry it took me like 5 months lol

The only headcanon (regarding Ben's appearance) is that he'd keep his school jacket for as long as possible. Until it thorns apart. Or until he dies.

I'm big fan of Ben lives possibility btw I've gotta draw sum about that sometime (I say, about every twdg character i like,)

And dude, do I agree about Kenny. Man doesn't belong in season 2. The character they made him to be in the second season is not Kenny, it's just a nostalgia element. Don't get me wrong, I love the guy, I'm biased as hell, I break that hug choice every time. But it made the character development in the first season just.... pointless. "For some reason, I saved that piece of shit Ben", man, that quote just disappoints me. Kenny lost everything. Father and husband of none no more, which was pretty much the arc of Kenny on the first season?? I think? . Everything he loved and he had he lost, and he killed the person responsible for it. But not as revenge, he killed a kid out of mercy. He saved the boy from suffering a painful death, and that was forgiveness, to the reason he hadn't any. He took a decision he would be fully responsible of, when it was time for him to go. And he was perfect.

Hell, if he had appeared during season 2, I do prefer the Kenny as Carver idea. Clementine wasn't even that close to Kenny in the past, the player was, so even then it feels... off, off to be forced to care about a man that says so much he wants to protect you. (They're not really family, but is as if Kenny tries to protect and have Clem on his side, to have Clem's loyalty through and through. Though he does let her go and is proud of her on her individuality... hm.) But still, I mean, second season Kenny is not first season Kenny, and it isn't even a change that made sense. If he had been antagonist (which pretty much feels like it in the Canon story already), he should have had some other background story, no Sarita or company. Maybe then the cynical view he has would have mattered. The violence and anger and whatever else. For him to change that way was a consequence of him losing what he represented, protection of family? Wasn't failure and grief and acceptance meant to be important after all?

But otherwise yea I think it would've been pretty cool if Ben survived :3 I am a sucker for tales of redemption, forgiveness, and found family. And I hadn't thought about Kenny, Ben, and Sarita, but hell yeah. Man, even if they appeared in the second season, it would've been interesting if the choice wasn't between two individuals, but between two families. Ben already had a relationship with Clem! He appreciated her and calls her his only friend during season 1, he did leave her behind during that scene, -but the point of Ben was that- He was a coward all the season, until when he wasn't. He wanted to help Lee help Clem. They would've had an interesting sibling relationship-? also Ben had a young sister before the apocalypse so ooooh projection and parallels and shi. And if Ben had lived, he would've completed his development to something close to bravery-?

Well, I don't know, at least I think that'd be one interesting way to bring back old characters. Otherwise, Kenny should only be mentioned on dialogue maximum. The way I see it.

(I repeat the same thing over and over when I talk about something I'm sorry

(I've developed no language skills whatsoever in my life

(Yippee

#twdg #twdg fanart #twdg s1 #ben paul twdg #ben twdg #digital art #digital illustration #my art

[levmada]

You said you could write an essay on S3 Eruri poster, DO IT 👁️ 👁️

THANK YOU FOR ENABLING ME😩BTW TELL ME HOW I WROTE A 7 PAGE ESSAY ABOUT ERURI IN LIKE 2 HOURS BUT MY ACADEMIC LIFE IS SUFFERING😭 | 2.2k

alright. (here it is in the best quality i could find:)

this image was a promo for season 3. i believe it refers to both part 1 and part 2, even though Erwin’s major character arc is finished in part 2.

first of all, before dissecting the image i'm going to lay out all the puzzle pieces needed for us to do that. let’s focus on Erwin’s father first.

Erwin’s father’s suspicious death is what drove him since he was a child. he resolves to find out the truth about his death, and that expands to proving his father right about his theories concerning the world that they live in—by any means necessary. his curiosity and sense of justice is a major motivator for him, but arguably the biggest is Erwin's sense of guilt, that he got his father killed for sharing his theories with his classmates.

Erwin becomes a soldier (assumably, as soon as possible at age 12). and at first, he is still open about his curiosity, his hopes and his dreams. in one scene as a cadet he’s insisting to Nile that there’s more to their world than what’s presented to them all, especially concerning the mystery of the Titans, but Nile brushes him off. furthermore, during Erwin’s monologue, we learn that everyone dismissed him as a naive boy with an overactive imagination, as well as a death wish for his intentions to join the Scouts.

[youtube link of Erwin's backstory - a couple second-long clip]

because of that, Erwin became much more closed off. he learned that if no one would take him the slightest bit seriously or even give him the time of day, he would have to present himself as someone powerful and worth listening to. he can’t find the truth solely on his own.

so, Erwin manipulates and schemes to further his goals. only in the no regrets side story do we see that for ourselves before he became commander. and hell, he was practically commander already in every way except in name. he came up with an actual planned formation that decreased soldiers’ deaths; he made the battle plans; he was given full authority over Levi and his friends (notable since they were known as a couple of thugs from the underground at the time) with Shadis having next to no part in such a thing. he blackmailed the powerful politician that wanted to disband the survey corps, he was smart enough to figure out Levi, Isabel, and Furlan’s plans and trick them too. hell, when Levi had the sword to his throat to kill him anyway, Erwin physically gripped the sword and held him back, and convinced Levi to join their cause instead. Levi back then, whose actions always centered around his friends’ survival, who had a clear ego himself.

Erwin must’ve gleaned something from his conversation with levi in the castle, after his first Titan kill. that Levi was fascinated at the idea that he could protect others for a cause.

+

so in short, Erwin is a genius. he has the intelligence, strength, and charisma - and if not, he gains it - to ascend the ranks as well as keep himself alive.

because of Erwin’s actions and how he reacts to the consequences, it’s easy to conclude that he’s a shameless ego-maniac that believes, and will, do whatever he wants with no regard to anyone else.

that’s not it.

Erwin is universally loved by the entire survey corps in the present. for example in season 2 after Eren is kidnapped, and many are injured after the Colossal and Armored Titans appeared again. everyone appears comforted and in higher spirits when Erwin and his backup appears to assess the situation.

and it’s true. without Erwin’s leadership, the morale and the Survey Corps’ successes aren’t nearly what they are.

but in his conversation with Levi in season 3 part 1, Erwin sees himself as replaceable without a doubt. and that's only the tip of the iceberg.

earlier in that season when Erwin is talking to Zachery, Erwin expresses that he doesn’t know if the coup is right, or whether it’ll just lead to suffering. he has plenty of doubts. he’s actuely aware that his actions are drastic, he holds lives in his hands that he has willingly let slip through his fingers for the sake of the truth.

hell, he isn’t bothered when he wakes up with his arm missing. he will pay the rest of the price when he ‘ends up in hell’. it’s spoken like a joke, too, and after that, Levi helps to ease the tension. in his own way, he tries to make Erwin feel better by teasing him.

later in that scene, when Hange gravely shares their theory that the titans are actually human beings, Levi seems devastated and the mood is clearly solemn, but Erwin smiles. because this was proof that his father’s theories held water, that they’re one step closer to learning the origins of the Titans and the truth of their world.

while a village of people are either titanized or dead. yes, Erwin was extremely selfish in that moment. he is selfish, but he’s not heartless.

if you still have any doubts at all about that, just go and watch the entire crate scene(link). i won’t add screenshots because there’s simply too much to put lol.

Erwin’s guilt is endless. he confesses to Levi that he felt suicidal many times, but his motivation to keep going was for his father, and the truth. it’s a complex in his head that he dissects then and there: that all he’s done, he’s done for the sake of humanity, justice, of bringing freedom to everyone in a world safe from the titans.

but his intentions are also horribly selfish. at his core, he’s still a hapless child who just wants to see what’s in the basement. the truth.

in that monologue, Erwin’s self hatred is completely exposed. he feels that he tricked everyone, including Levi, into ignorantly joining his selfish ploy. that he’s irredeemable, and he deserves a fate even worse than death.

back in the hospital room, it’s canon and has been expanded upon that in that moment when Erwin smiled at the news that Levi realized that Erwin’s true intentions are selfish. but what did he do? he did what he’s always done ever since that fateful day in the storm. Levi learned that there’s a darkness within Erwin, but he still cares for him. even without an explanation, he feels that way. regardless of whether you see their relationship as romantic or not, Levi loved him and that’s undeniable.

back to the crate scene, after Erwin shared all of that with the extra visual of Erwin standing upon a mountain of corpses so high that the ground wasn’t visible underneath, Levi kneels and reassures him. “You have fought well. It's only thanks to you that we've come this far.” and he promises to kill the Beast Titan (furthermore, Levi’s devotion is clear in his obvious passion in season 4 to do just that).

but Erwin’s love for Levi is the same. Levi is also in the image beside Erwin’s father.

back in No Regrets, Erwin is outright smitten with Levi from the beginning when he first saw him using the ODM gear in the Underground. (i'm out of images i can add.. curse you tumblr.)

he needs him to join his cause. and he goes to great lengths to do just that.

Erwin knows that Levi is invaluable. for example in season 1 after Levi announces that he’s going back to his squad, Erwin stops him and makes him refuel his equipment when it was pointless. the truth is that after seeing what the Female Titan was capable of, the last thing Erwin was about to do was risk Levi’s life. ERWIN, the man who’s known for taking risks and making deadly gambles, won’t risk Levi’s life.

in season 3 part 2 the first idea Levi proposes is for everyone who’s still alive to escape on Eren while he fights the Beast Titan. Erwin immediately states that he won’t even get close to him and dismisses it. the most important battle of humanity (said Erwin), Erwin who has gotten countless comrades killed, committed so much sin, has shown himself to be incredibly selfish, would rather die without his life goal being completed than get Levi killed.

you could argue: well obviously not. in both those cases, Levi is in invaluable asset. he’s a tool. of course Erwin would take costly action to keep him alive.

but even if Levi did die to the Female Titan in season 1, Levi wasn’t needed for the operation in Stohess to succeed. in fact, he was injured. assumably he twisted his ankle, and Erwin put him out of commission for weeks. including during that battle against the Colossal and Armored titans, as far as they know the biggest threats to humanity. Levi wasn’t allowed because he had a minor injury. if Levi was just an important tool, Erwin would've gambled Levi's life on killing the Female Titan when he had the chance. Erwin would’ve had Levi join everyone else in rescuing Eren too.

Erwin wouldn’t be able to live with himself if Levi died under his orders. while Levi has expressed many times that even if Erwin were to lead them all into hell, he wouldn’t regret it for a second.

and in season 3 part 2, Erwin sacrifices himself (on top of scores of teenagers in classic Erwin fashion) in order for Levi to have a chance to succeed. for Levi to live, and for there to still be a hope of making a peaceful world.

with all this in mind, we have the tools to understand this promo image (god i'm such a loser).

Erwin’s conflict in season 3 part 2 is between finding the truth for his father’s sake no matter the cost, or continuing living for his duty’s sake symbolized by Levi. selfishly following his personal dream, selfishly pursuing the basement regardless of how many people die. or, selflessly bringing justice to his father’s murder by proving him right even if he can't be a part of it, selflessly leading the fight to finally bring back the hope and strength that Levi represents.

canonically, Levi is also Erwin’s last bastion of his humanity. without him, Erwin would have no qualms of acting like the monster Floch later portrays him to be. (i can add a link of proof later if anyone actually reads this lmao.)

Levi, and Erwin’s father are important to him. they give Erwin his reason to live in different ways.

this is represented by their positions on the poster. both of their profiles are visible, taking up the same amount of space in frame, both are looking back, presumably at Erwin with suggestive looks, as if waiting for Erwin to act.

specifically, let’s center in on Erwin’s father. he’s on the left, notably the side that Erwin lost his arm. this isn’t a coincidence. here, Erwin’s father represents his selfishness, even his suicidality (think back to Erwin’s comment about paying the rest of the price for his sins on hell while referring to his arm). to be succinct, Erwin’s father represents loss. and in a related meaning, he represents Erwin failing, and losing his life.

his father’s expression is different from Levi’s. his head isn’t turned towards him as much as Levi’s is, implying either a lack of confidence in Erwin, or that he isn’t supporting what he plans to do, and yet in his expression, he looks at him imploringly, worried. he’s asking for something. Erwin to stop all this self-torture? Erwin to bring justice to his death and find the truth about their world? pity? it’s not clear.

Levi is on the right. “his right hand man” right? (isayama is a genius by the way). Levi also appears to be in front of Erwin, but he’s looking back much more purposefully. he isn’t afraid, and he has no doubt. his brow is furrowed and he’s looking at Erwin pointedly, also expecting something from him, and that’s to lead him. Levi looks sure of himself, but he’s noticeably frowning, showing that he’s not completely confident. as well, Levi isn’t in uniform. actually his shirt and collar are that from no regrets when he met Erwin.

finally, Erwin. you don’t need to take more than a first glance to understand that he’s in turmoil. although most of his body is in frame, the perspective of the picture is from above him, while his father and Levi are at level with the viewer. as a result Erwin looks smaller, almost powerless. his cape billows behind him so that he isn’t shielded by it at all. symbolically, Erwin the man, and not Erwin the soldier, is being exposed here. one of the lapels of his jacket is blown aside, his commander’s necklace is strewn, and one of his legs appear to be raised as if in the middle of the motion to step back. his fist is loosely clenched by his side, further exuding his lack of confidence. he looks worried.

he’s worried about judgment from both Levi and his father. he has a choice to make that will undermine the other. he’s unsteady, and isn’t sure how to proceed.

this image literally says a thousand of words without saying anything. as i’ve explained, Erwin’s conflict between executing his father’s wish regardless of the consequences and who may die (including Levi, if Erwin were to agree to Levi's plan), or to fight valiantly in pursuit of a peaceful world with everything Levi represents: compassion, strength, sacrifice.

and of course, we know what he chose. he chose Levi. he gave up on his dream, this thing that gave Erwin the will to live, and willingly charged into a battle he knew he wouldn’t live through, let alone win.

even in near-death, coincidental or not, Erwin’s arm raising away from the syringe and his words - the question to his father in the classroom that started Erwin's whole journey - affected Levi’s choice. specifically, Levi recognized that Erwin’s dream was killing him from the inside, and it has all this time. he had become a slave to it like Kenny had. that is one of the reasons Levi let erwin rest, and erased all his burdens with death.

essay complete😈

#i had to reread midnight sun and erwin and levi's last conversations for this essay so i expect compensation for my upcoming therapy visits #/j #aot #aot manga #snk manga #aot official art #snk promo image #eruri #aot analysis #snk analysis #attack on titan manga #snk official art #snk levi #aot erwin #erwin smith #character analysis #erwin snk #erwin aot

[loregoddess]

so I might be having a blast playing Rebirth, but I'm still thinking Octo2 stuff, and just realized bc of the Dolcinaea fight I could see the weaknesses for every character (except Agnea) and since I can turn just about any random detail into a "hmm, does this mean anything" thought exercise, here's some observations (minor story spoilers):

Throne, Osvald, and Partitio have the fewest weaknesses at 3. This makes sense for Throne and Osvald (professional thief/assassin raised to be a thief/assassin, Throne can't have any openings if she hopes to survive; Osvald relied on his keen observation to Shawshank Redemption himself out of prison, so of course he'd have fewer openings bc he's always keeping an eye on things around him). But Partitio surprised me--although it does make some sense, he had to keep his wits about him to become the best merchant in Oresrush, and he's wicked smart (honestly, Ori's the only one who ever seems able to genuinely sneak up on him, and that makes sense given that she's, y'know, Ori).

Hikari has no weaknesses to weapons of any sort, and only has elemental weaknesses as a result. He is not weak to light or dark though (a reference to Shadow's Hold/Light's Radiance or else his bloodlines perhaps?). On the flipside Osvald has no weaknesses to elements and only weaknesses to weapons (all the weapons he's weak to--polearms, daggers, and bows--are "ranged" in some sense, suggesting his magic maybe makes it impossible to get close enough to attack him).

Throne and Temenos continue to act as foils to each other, with Throne having only one elemental weakness to light, and Temenos having only one elemental weakness to dark. Throne's only two weapon weaknesses are axes and bows, which sort of makes sense (either someone has to get close enough to strike her quickly or they have to attack from a very far distance to get the drop on her; there are also interestingly the hunter's base weapon set, so the only way to stop a thief is to hunt them; also there's a ranged bow counter to her close-range sword and a close-range axe counter to her ranged dagger). Temenos's weapon weaknesses include swords, daggers, and axes, which are interestingly all "close range" weapons to some degree (Temenos never lets anyone get too close to him emotionally, so it makes sense the only way to actually harm him would be to "get close" to him; swords and daggers are also the thief's base weapon set, and given how much assassination goes on in his story, it makes sense he too would be vulnerable to Throne's trade weapons).

Partitio's only elemental weakness is ice (makes sense given how arid his hometown is). He has a weakness to swords and staves, both close range weapons to contrast the longer-ranged polearm and bow weapons he uses.

Castti's only weapon weakness are bows (a long-range contrast to her shorter-ranged axe), but her elemental weaknesses are what's really interesting. She has a weakness to fire (this makes sense, given that she has an ice-based skill, and a lot of water symbolism in her story arc), but also wind and dark--the two key elements needed to create and spread the purple rain that nearly killed her.

Ochette's the only character with a balance of two weapon weaknesses and two elemental weaknesses: polearms and staves (a longer-ranged weapon to counter her short-ranged axe, and a close-ranged weapon to counter her long-ranged bow); and fire and wind (wind makes sense given that it's the usual weakness to thunder, which is the only elemental attack she has access to in her base skillset, but her weakness to fire is more interesting--is it because she lives in a forest, which are historically susceptible to fires? or because she lives surrounded by water, and fire is the natural opposite?)

Hikari is the only character weak the thunder, just as Throne and Temenos are the only characters weak to light and dark respectively. The other major elements all have two travelers weak to them: Ochette and Castti to fire, Partitio and Hikari to ice, and Castti and Hikari to wind.

Likewise, every weapon is strong against at least two characters, with the exception of bows which are strong against three characters. Swords: Partitio and Temenos, Polearms: Ochette and Osvald, Daggers: Osvald and Temenos, Axes: Throne and Temenos, Bows: Castti, Throne, and Osvald, Staves: Ochette and Partitio.

I dunno if there's any significance to the pattern of: every weapon is strong against two characters except one is strong against three, and every element is strong against two characters except for three elements that are only strong against one character each. But it is some fancy balancing for as far as numbers go.

Anyhow I wasn't going anywhere with this, these were just some interesting observations I wanted to jot down instead of going to bed like I should have half an hour ago.

#octopath traveler #octopath traveler 2 #octopath ii #I kept having to correct to staves bc I call them clubs in my head as part of a mnemonic for the weak point order #speed ABCs--or SPD ABC (swords polearms daggers axes bows clubs) #I have no trouble remembering the order of the elemental weaknesses but it took me forever to figure out the order of weapon weaknesses #so anyhow I kept writing clubs instead of staves #anyhow I'm rambling bc I'm still making questionable time decisions with my night #like I said I was just jotting down things I thought were interesting I'm not trying to make any points here #oracle of lore

[gizkasparadise]

final leg of a journey to love thoughts!! (eps 35-40). this got so gd long so under a cut it goes. spoilers, of course:

PLOT STUFF/PACING

pacing for the plot definitely got shredded in the last chunk, which is a damn shame because otherwise i've been finding the pacing pretty much perfect. eps 35-37 in particular felt like they could have been like a 10 episode arc. ep 38, which mostly dealt with wu palace politics, should have been cut or streamlined imo and more time given to the characters we've actually been riding along with the whole story. by the time we get back to the pregnant empress, prince danyang, the first prince whose name i dont even remember, and the prime minister, i do not care about any of them and i think this subplot was simply just trying to fit too much shit into one bag

that said, this show still let the emotional moments hit and breathe and linger. i love the grief for the fallen liudao comrades as we go, as well as the less heavy but still emotionally important moments like yang ying and tongguan bonding over their upbringing. and we got a wedding /;3;/!!! for this show, the relationships and characters matter more than the storyline so im not mad about anything at all

side note: it's so gd millennial to have a story about a bunch of 30 something year olds who want to fake their deaths and retire into obscurity but instead they go and die for a boss they hate

CHARACTER STUFF

this show consistently brought a lot of depth to its side characters (and side side characters!!). i said it in an earlier post, but it bears repeating that even someone like deng hui i didnt expect anything from, but he got such good development and writing that he became a stealth fave. his dying words essentially being "dude, quit fucking around" ? iconic.

i didnt like tongguan as much as everyone else, so im pretty meh about everything regarding him. the attempt to force-wed ruyi was tonally really weird and didnt make sense (i assume there was some cuts made surrounding it). but LOL at him reusing all the outfits and decor immediately for his wedding to yang ying. baby duke, you tacky motherfucker. i ultimately think yang ying deserves better than him, but the good thing is that she knows this, so she'll be able to hold her own and then some entering into this partnership

shisan really was the heart in a lot of ways--the mom to yuanzhou's dad for the liudao. i was not expecting him to break my heart the way he did, but the fact that he held both qian zhao and sun lang as they died and then tried his best to remove yuan lu from harm and saved chu yue and was just very much a nurturer all the way through got me. his character couldve been cheap comic relief but the writing + performance really elevated him into one of the (imo) most memorable wuxia characters. his line wondering who would get to behead his beautiful skull!!! and how his mantra was always that he was going to drink the best wine, see the most beautiful women, and make the best of friends and he dies having lost the ability to see and having just had wine in memory of qian zhao, yuan lu, and sun lang. like. shut up!!

ruyi and yuanzhou were both so great and they're gonna be the drama OTP to beat forever. i loved the gender reversals, that they both were so respectful of each other, and that they also felt very mature in how they handled things and communicated. they were really interesting characters both together and apart and that's always a win-win. they had a schroedinger's ending where it's not super clear if they're alive or dead (i interpreted it as the latter), but what's kind of beautiful is that either option is satisfying to me. if they both died, they're reunited and with their comrades and the story is truly about the journey and the meaningful short connections we have. if they both survived, it's a bookend with the beginning where they each faked their deaths to escape. A+

COSTUMING

i gotta just separately mention the costuming for this show because it was 15/10. the textures, shisan's accessories, the way red became integrated with yuanzhou's wardrobe and blue with ruyi's. the details on the liudao name amulets!! SO GOOD. i love when characters' clothes tell a story on their own

overall i just really loved this drama it is probably my favorite wuxia ive seen so far! it's gonna be in my brain for awhile lol feel free to send fic prompts if you've made it this far :'D

#a journey to love #cdrama

[aspoonofsugar]

hey! Good day :) here to ask a question!! I was wondering about your process for analysis, character analysis, theme analysis- do you just write or are there specific things you look for? I suppose I’m curious if you have an idea/general gist of what you’re doing or steps you take to do your breakdowns. I’m trying to do something similar out of interest and your works are simply fascinating to read. I look up to your writing a lot!

hello!! Can I ask how you started analysing shows, how you went about it? I’m learning literary analysis and trying to do the same for hunter x hunter but I find it infinitely harder to analyse shows. Especially since I most notably consider diction in literary analysis lol

Hi!

Thank you for your nice words anon(s) and yay! I love meta-asks <3<3<3

So, it depends on the meta. In general, I try to focus on a specific topic, which can be:

a character (arc + foiling between characters)

a theme

the use of a specific motif, when it comes to a character or a theme

These are my three favourite kinds of analyses, but there are other types, as well. For example, some people are really into plot theories/predictions. Others prefer to focus on characters from a psychological viewpoint. Some other writers like to use philosophical lens or to compare different works. It really depends on your preference.

My preference is mostly for thematic analyses. This means that my character metas too tend to use a thematic lens. So...

WHAT IS THE THEME?

In short, the theme of a story is both:

the topic the story is exploring

the moral of the story, aka a phrase which summarizes its message

Stories explores topics through characters and plot, while the way the conflict is solved tells us the moral.

Some examples:

RWBY's main topic is humanity in both its weakness and strength and its moral is that victory is in a simple soul

Madoka's main topic is wishes and its moral is that it is worth to want things and to fight for them, even if it is painful

HXH is strange structurally, but its main topic is self-search, with its moral being that a person should not focus on the goal, but enjoy the journey

All of these messages and ideas aren't just things stated in dialogues (even if someone saying the theme helps). They emerge from the story itself.

RWBY's main conflict is about a destroyed world (remnant) surviving the anger of an evil witch (Salem). If humans let hate divide them, they lose. If they unite, they win. The main thematic question is then... can humans make the right choice? And the answer is that they can, as long as they remain simple souls (Ruby, but also Pyrrha at Beacon, Blake in Managerie, Yang in Mistral, Weiss with her family, JNR when they tag along and Penny in Atlas). The main message is that several people making the right choice leads to change. And that is humanity. This is why the characters keep being asked to give up their idealism and to embrace a more utilitarian way of doing things. And this is why every time they refuse and stick to their idealism. The conflict itself keeps testing their resolution.

Madoka's power system works through wishes, so the girls' powers and their backstories are all defined by their wishes and by how they relate to them. Madoka doesn't know what she wants. Homura's wish turns into an obsession. Mami makes a wish too early and thinks only about herself. Kyouko and Sayaka make a wish for someone else and have opposite reactions to their wishes ending poorly. Finally, it is revealed the girls' wishes are literally the force that keeps the world at balance. So, the plot, character arcs, conflict and worldbuilding are all about wishes.

HXH is made up of several arcs and each arc has its own theme. That said, the overall structure conveys the main theme. Gon's objective is to find Ging, but he keeps taking detours and getting engulfed in unrelated conflicts. However, the moment he meets Ging he realizes it is not his father who defines him, but rather it is all the people he met in his journey and his own experiences. Basically, HXH's strange structure conveys the main theme.

So, the theme (both topic and moral) should emerge by the characters, the worldbuilding, the conflict and sometimes even by the structure itself. In order to find it, one should start with the topic and ask themselves "What does the story really talk about?". The answer to this question will let you understand the theme as topic. The second step is to see how the story explores it.

DIFFERENT POINTS OF VIEW ON THE TOPIC

There are different ways a story can explore a topic. Still, the best stories have different perspectives clash with each other. Very often these different points of view are embodied by different characters.

Here are some examples, with some linked metas that explore the respective stories more in depth.

Madoka (topic= wishes):

Homura is determined to fulfill her wish no matter what

Kyubey is her opposite, as they are unable to wish since they lack feelings. This is why they need to recruit girls into creating energy through wishes

Madoka is in the middle, as she wants to wish for something, but doesn't know what

Mami, Kyouko and Sayaka all explore negative effects linked to wishes, which are connected to other secondary themes. Specifically, Mami explores the consequences of an immature wish, while Sayaka and Kyouko explore the selfishness/selflessness inherent in wishes

The conflict is solved through Madoka learning about the price of wishes, but still choosing to make a wish and to sacrifice her whole self for it. This ending conveys a specific moral: despite the pain and sacrifice that comes with them, wishes are still beautiful and worth it all. If Madoka had chosen to give up being a magical girl and had ended up the series without making a wish, the moral would have been the opposite: that a normal life is better than grandiose and dangerous dreams.

Monster (topic = the value of life)

Tenma believes that all lives are equal, which is why he chooses to save Johan as a child, despite being ordered to operate a far more influential patient.

Eva and Nina believe that not all lives are equal. In particular, Eva thinks that social status and importance in society influence the value of one's life. Nina instead believes that people who commit crime should be punished and lose their lives.

Johan believes no-life has value, including his own. In his words, the only thing all humans are equal in is death.

Here, the moral is conveyed through the Tenma/Nina vs Johan's conflict. Tenma is tested in his beliefs, but ultimately does not abandon them and ends the story by saving Johan. Nina instead is asked to change her mind, as she ends the story embracing Tenma's point of view.

RWBY - The Atlas Arc (topic = trust)

Ozpin lacks trust, as he is unable to trust others, no matter how loyal or dedicated to his cause they are

Ruby wants to "trust safely". She wants others, like Ironwood, to prove themselves to her before disclosing the truth to them

Ironwood is initially on Ruby's same page, but he spirals and comes to embody the "enemy of trust" aka control. He doesn't trust others, but wants to control them.

Oscar embodies trust, as he wants to trust Ironwood since the beginning. Even later on, he keeps on trusting people like Hazel and Emerald who are his enemies.

Cinder embodies another "enemy of trust", aka manipulation. She doesn't need to trust others to work with them, as she can use their feelings and wishes against them.

Penny embodies faith, which is a more extreme form of trust. She sacrifices herself and leaves the maiden power to Winter. She has no proof Winter will be able to save Weiss, Jaune or the relic, but she entrusts the future to her.

All these characters struggle with trust and its dangers. Some, like Ozpin, Ironwood and Cinder decide that trusting is too dangerous. Others, like Ruby, Penny and Oscar realize that to trust is the only way to move forward. Moreover, they learn there is not way to trust safely. As a matter of fact the moral of the arc is that "trust is a risk" and risks mean that things can end up badly. Still, not to take risk means to give up hope.

Hazbin Hotel - You didn't know song (topic= knowledge)

This song explores the idea of knowlege. The characters are after all in the middle of a questioning, which leads to several secrets coming out. Moreover, throughout it all the characters either admit or realize how ignorant they all are. The way they deal with this lack of knowledge establishes different thematic stances.

Charlie and Emily are both naive and ignore the darkest sides of their loved ones. Charlie doesn't know Vaggie used to be an exorcist and Emily has no idea Sera ordered the exterminations. Still, their answer to ignorance is to keep on questioning. They have no idea why only certain souls are admitted in heaven. Still, they think it is important to investigate the phenomenon and use it as evidence that there might be hope for the spirits in hell.

Lute and Adam don't know why some spirits end up in hell and others in heaven. Still, they do not bother to question it. So, Adam is caught by surprise by Charlie's question and has to improvise an answer. Not only that, but even later on the duo insist that Angel not being in Heaven proves he is unholy. And that's it.

Sera does know about the extermination, as she knows the system is unfair. Still, she refuses to question it and forbids others to do the same. She is the only one whose sin isn't ignornace, but knowledge.

There is no a clear thematic resolution to the question posed by the song. This is because the series is not over yet. However, the scene sets up the theme and the way characters will deal with it in later seasons will give us the moral.

As you can see, not only whole stories (like Madoka, or Monster) have themes, but also arcs (RWBY) and even episodes or scenes (Hazbin Hotel). That said, the way to go at it is always the same. Pintpoint the main topic and start investigate how the characters or the worldbuilding deal with it. You are gonna get several stances. The one which emeges victorious is the moral.

Let's highlight that the moral is not always embodied by the protagonist. For example, in the Madoka and RWBY's examples, Madoka and Ruby are initially at a loss and come to learn the moral by the end of the story (for Madoka) and arc (for Ruby). Similarly, Tenma initially does believe the moral, but doubts it throughout the story, only to be reminded and helped by other characters (like Nina).

In any case, the way the protagonist and characters in general relate to the main theme and to secondary themes is key for their arcs.

CHARACTERS AND THEME

When it comes to theme a character can either:

Believe the moral since the beginning

Not believe the moral since the beginning

In the first case, the character either stops believing the moral by the end (negative arc) or keeps believing the moral until the end (positive arc). In the second case, the character either learns the moral (positive arc) or doesn't learn the moral (negative arc).

In short, the story keeps challenging the character on their beliefs and they must either stick to their point of view or change it, depending if they believe in the moral since the beginning or not.

Exhibit A:

Charlie's belief that sinners can be redeemed is right. Still, in the beginning nobody else agrees with her, so she is challenged by the world around her. Her objective is not to lose faith in the Hazbin Hotel and to inspire others to change their mind too. Throughout her journey, she is bound to grow too. She starts as sheltered and naive with a simplistic idea of what redemption is. By the end, she will gain a deeper understanding of redempion and will grow as a result.

Exhibit B:

Eren's journey is about realizing what freedom (the main topic) is about. The problem is that he fixates himself on the idea that freedom means no boundaries, either natural nor humans. This leads him to embrace destruction and nihilism and to lose himself. In the end, the character who realizes what freedom truly is is Mikasa. She doesn't discard her bond with Eren, but is still able to make independent choices and to live as herself. In short, Eren doesn't learn the moral, hence why he spirals instead of growing.

Charlie is a protagonist who knows the moral and will grow with it in a positive arc. Eren is a protagonist who doesn't know the moral and never learns it. This is why he has a tragic negative arc.

These are just two examples, but there can be different combinations. By interrogating yourself on how characters relate to a theme, you get better a better understanding of their role in the story and of their overall arcs.

Still, how to find themes in a story? Luckily, each text is full of hints that are there for us to interpret them.

MOTIFS

Motifs are repetitive details within a story, which are used to communicate themes.

Anything can be a motif: a line, a musical tune, a specific imagery, an object. By repeating them in key moments throughout a narrative, they become symbols, which means they can lead to bigger metaphors and convey specific meanings.

In the song More Than Anything, dream is one of the main topics. We realize it because the characters keep mentioning it. At the same time, light keeps popping up. Lucifer summons light and throws it away, Charlie rememebrs a light show Lucifer imrpovised for her. Lucifer and Charlie start the song in the shadow and they end it in the light. This means that "light" is a motif throughout the song and by seeing how it is used we better understand the theme and the relationship between the two characters. We understand that light is a metaphor for dreams. Lucifer gives up on it, Charlie is inspired by it and eventually Lucifer summons it back as he has decided to believe in Charlie's dream. By looking at the way light is used, we can see that Charlie teaches Lucifer the moral that it is worth it to fight for dreams and not to give up on them.

In the CAA of HXH, gungi is a motif that comments both the topic of humanity and Meruem and Komugi's relationship. Their matches become a metaphor of monstrosity vs humanity, as humanity slowly conquers Meruem to the point he himself chooses to live and die as a human, rather than the King of the Ants. Similarly, Kokoriko symbolically becomes Komugi and Meruem's child, in the sense they give birth to this move and evolve the game.

Sometimes, their meaning is unique to the story. For example, gungi is a motif that makes sense within HxH and can't be brought outside of the series, as it is not a real world game. It only exists in that universe. Some other times, a motif can tie to bigger sets of symbols. For example, light and shadow are universal symbols that bring with them several additional meanings:

Good and Evil

The Jungian persona shadow

In the Hazbin Hotel song the first dychotomy doesn't fit, while the second one does. Initially both Lucifer and Charlie hide things from each other (shadow), whereas by the end they show who they are (light).

In short, to analyze a story, you should find its key motifs. They are hints to better understand the theme and the characters. Different stories will use different motifs and tie them to different wider sets of symbols. To find the right ones can help a lot in better understanding a story, as a whole.

Some examples:

RWBY uses fairy tales and alchemy as its main motif, so these two sets of symbols are the most useful to analyze the series

HxH is a shonen and uses its powers and fights to convey character arcs and themes, so to analyze one's nen abilities helps a lot

Hazbin Hotel is a musical series that takes inspiration from religion and mythology. So, it is probable that the best understanding of it will come from analyzing its songs and from looking into its religion inspiration

Of course this doesn't mean you should only use one motif to analyze a story. For example, you can use RWBY's semblances to look into the characters, as well. And there are some fairy tale allusions in Hazbin too. In the end, it is about using what best helps you understand a story as a whole.

What is more, there are general sets of symbols that can be useful in most stories, such as jungian archetypes. Finally, you might want to start from other aspects of the story itself, rather than theme or characters or plot. For example, you might be drawn to the world-building and realize it is used in a special way to explore the theme. Or you might be curious about character designs and see that they have their own symbolism (for example, I believe RWBY ones do and probably Hazbin Hotel ones, as well).

SOME PRACTICAL ADVICE

I have linked in the title of each paragraph, but this last one an article by @septembercfawkes. Her posts are great to better understand narrative structure and I found them enlightening.

I think the best thing you can do is to start with focused metas. Choose a scene, a character, a motif that intrigues you and start exploring it. It is better to start small and to narrow your focus, it would be easier to organize your article.

I usually outline the contents of the meta before starting to write it. Still, it sometimes changes as I keep writing.

It can be useful to write at the beginning of your analysis what you are gonna do. It will help you remember what the point of the meta is. For example, in my RWBY allusion meta or HxH nen meta, I always start with the motif I am analyzing. I summarize the fairy tale (even if many people know it already) and I explain what the character's ability is about. It helps organizing the flow and the contents.

The more you analyze the better you become at it, so it is just a matter of starting :)

Thank you for the asks, I hope this was helpful and not too much confusing!

Have a nice day!

#writing #meta-asks #asksfullofsugar #anonymous #sweet anon

[lightgaswaterelectricityrent]

Reporters tantalized their readers with stories about the “plutocratic Osage” and the “red millionaires,” with their brick-and-terra-cotta mansions and chandeliers, with their diamond rings and fur coats and chauffeured cars. One writer marveled at Osage girls who attended the best boarding schools and wore sumptuous French clothing, as if “une très jolie demoiselle of the Paris boulevards had inadvertently strayed into this little reservation town.”

Many of the Osage would rush to see a gusher when it erupted, scrambling for the best view, making sure not to cause a spark, their eyes following the oil as it shot fifty, sixty, sometimes a hundred feet in the air. With its great black wings of spray, arcing above the rigging, it rose before them like an angel of death. The spray coated the fields and the flowers and smeared the faces of the workers and the spectators. Still, people hugged and tossed their hats in celebration. Bigheart, who had died not long after the imposition of allotment, was hailed as the “Osage Moses.” And the dark, slimy, smelly mineral substance seemed like the most beautiful thing in the world.

A short, stout man, with a luxuriant mustache and a shock of red hair, Burns had once aspired to be an actor, and he cultivated a mystique, in part by writing pulp detective stories about his cases. In one such book, he declared, “My name is William J. Burns, and my address is New York, London, Paris, Montreal, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle, New Orleans, Boston, Philadelphia, Cleveland, and wherever else a law-abiding citizen may find need of men who know how to go quietly about throwing out of ambush a hidden assassin or drawing from cover criminals who prey upon those who walk straight.”

Meanwhile, Ernest’s aunt was muttering, loud enough for all to hear, about how mortified she was that her nephew had married a redskin. It was easy for Mollie to subtly strike back because one of the servants attending to the aunt was white—a blunt reminder of the town’s social order.

Hoover demanded that his staff wear dark suits and sober neckties and black shoes polished to a gloss. He wanted his agents to be a specific American type: Caucasian, lawyerly, professional. Every day, he seemed to issue a new directive—a new Thou Shall Not—and White put on his big cowboy hat with an air of defiance.

Blackie, evidently enjoying himself, looked squarely at Burkhart and said, “Ernest, I have told them everything.”

The judge advised the jury members that they must set aside sympathies or prejudices for either side. He warned, “There never has been a country on this earth that has fallen except when that point was reached…where the citizens would say, ‘We cannot get justice in our courts.’ ”

In 1932, the bureau began working with the radio program The Lucky Strike Hour to dramatize its cases. One of the first episodes was based on the murders of the Osage...The broadcasted radio program concluded, “So another story ends and the moral is identical with that set forth in all the others of this series….[The criminal] was no match for the Federal Agent of Washington in a battle of wits.”

The historian Burns once wrote, “To believe that the Osages survived intact from their ordeal is a delusion of the mind. What has been possible to salvage has been saved and is dearer to our hearts because it survived. What is gone is treasured because it was what we once were. We gather our past and present into the depths of our being and face tomorrow. We are still Osage. We live and we reach old age for our forefathers.”

Killers of the Flower Moon, dir. Martin Scorsese // Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann (3/3)

#killers of the flower moon #martin scorsese #lily gladstone #leonardo dicaprio #kotfmcomp #kotfm #david grann

[silverstarfics]

Hi there. If you haven’t read my fic Yesterday’s Promise then this won’t mean anything to you unless you just feel like reading an obnoxiously emotional author’s note. Hey, maybe you do! In which case, feel free to tap that read more button which I’ve put in place to save unsuspecting scrollers from my ramblings.

Way back in July 2021, I decided to write a silly little zombie AU. I figured it would be a couple of chapters, maybe 3, 5 at the most, just an exploratory thing really. And because it would be a short piece, I wanted to challenge myself to write it from Scott’s POV because I’d always struggled to capture his voice. Yeah, nice one Kat. How’d that work out for you? Over 1 million words later, I like to think I’m better at writing him now.

By the fourth chapter, I realised that it wasn’t going to be a short fic. I don’t think I ever dreamed of it becoming 126 chapters, but I definitely knew it was going to drag on for a while, so some serious plotting began. Guys. I’m not kidding. I literally had a pinboard of plot points and string linking them together. Wait, where’s that conspiracy theory meme?

That was me. It’s still me now because I’m plotting the sequel, but back then I was slightly less unhinged. These days I have notecards and scream about character arcs at @tanushakyrano Thanks for putting up with me Cora! I love you!

Anyway, this fic became my baby. It was my emotional outlet and saw me through some dark moments. I dropped out of uni, applied to get a loan for flight school, got rejected, then ended up studying for degree I didn’t really want because I had no idea what else to do. And… I hated it. I projected all my feelings onto Scott (as you do) which helped but honestly? It wasn’t good. But long story short (for once), I survived.

Thanks to you.

I’m not exaggerating. Anyone who has ever clicked kudos or left a comment or interacted with this fic in any way - thank you, truly, from the bottom of my heart. If it weren’t for your support, I would never have had the confidence to switch to a writing degree. So, for once I’m not being overdramatic when I say that writing this fic and being supported by you guys has changed my life. This is a wonderful, caring community and I’m so grateful to be a part of it. Love you, Thunderfam!

#yesterday’s promise #see I told you it would be an obnoxiously emotional ramble #I’m gonna go hide now #see you guys in 2024 #thunderfam

[harpygee]

Hi, I recently saw your storyboards for Harpy Gee you posted back in 2018 if it had been greenlit for a show, and I have 2 questions.

1.) If you hypothetically got greenlit for a series and agreed to do it, would you still do those episodes of the storyboard you posted or would you start from scratch since the comic is now further along?

2.) I noticed DudeBro isn't DudeDead, would he have been a series regular? Or would he have died at a different time to signal a more serious turn?

Hi! 2018 is such a long time ago now, wow!

Ok so, Harpy was originally pitched to CN like back in 2008, Nick in 2009, Disney TV 2010-2011, Dreamworks 2014 (they offered $300 flat for it, which I find hilarious) but I had been tinkering with the characters and their stories since 2005. So the chapters in the comic are all from old episode synopsis's BEFORE it was ever pitched as a show. The 11 minute Harpy animatic on my YouTube channel is a stand alone story though, it was made specifically for Nickelodeon, but it never made it past that. It was intended to be animated along with the short, but there was an exec regime change and that changed plans. I'm ok with that though! But yes, if it'd gone to series my hope was that each chapter be broken down to 2-3 episodes each, giving room for some stand alone stories not seen in the comic during a season arc. Just to add, towards the end of development I was told Nick would want the show to be 11 min full comedy episodic, with NO overarching plot. That's a big reason why I'm happy it didn't go forward, so I can continue the story and character development in the comic. I'm not bitter towards the studio at all, this is all pretty normal for animation development. I still got a short out of it and the characters were still true to themselves. I love making the comic too so I see it more as a fun adventure making a cartoon. I'm glad other's liked it too! 2. So a funny thing I used to joke about, in the alternate animated universe Dude Bro survived the dragon attack. It might have changed the trajectory of the story, but would have been a fun thing to explore. If you've kept up with the recent comic updates you might know Dude Bro's short life in the comic might not have been so short.

#questions #harpy gee #webcomics #nickelodeon #koryn03

[crimeloyalty-arch]

“ awwww -- do you think batman’s coming to save you?  he’s definitely otherwise occupied,  mr. wayne.  i made sure of that. ”

" now tell me what i wanna know,  @godblooded​​.  was or was not . . . wait,  lemme start over.  was the moon landing faked or wasn’t it?  the waynes are the oldest family in gotham . . . . you have t’know somethin’. ”  yes . . . she broke into his office just to ask him that. 

⸻sc

#oh dear #godblooded #⸻ i rewind the tape but all it does is pause — writing. #⸻ long story short : i survived — arc 3.

[solradguy]

COMPREHENSIVE GUIDE TO UNOFFICIAL GUILTY GEAR TRANSLATIONS + SOME OTHER STUFF

THIS POST HAS BECOME A PAIN IN THE ASS TO UPDATE AND I WILL ONLY BE UPDATING THE NEOCITIES PAGE FROM HERE ON OUT. SORRY.... GUILTY GEAR FAN MEDIA TOO POWERFUL https://solradguy.neocities.org/ggmasterpost

----

Please contact me if there are translations in other languages (or I missed something) and I will add them to this post. If you find this post through a reblog with an old "last updated" date, check the original post on my blog for more recent information. There is a mirror of this post on my Neocities page. The Neocities page also has better navigation, organization, and will now be updated before this post.

Wanna help out but have never scanned a book before? Here's a guide I wrote on book scanning: Tumblr Link

I have done my best to link all of the works here back to their original scanlator/translator's uploads and hosting websites:

🔥 Volcanic Fighter (aka Nincopyjasb) - If there's a surviving archive for something Guilty Gear, Volcanic probably has it. Works in English and Spanish.

Twitter - Youtube

🔥 Justice Revival Project (aka Longshotte) - Formed solely to translate the GG Xtra manga.

Mangadex - Twitter

🔥 Ed Chang - One of the first, and most prolific, JP>EN translators in the GG community, as well as a popular Gamefaqs author for the old GG games. Used to have a personal website that hosted his works but it is lost to time. He is a name you will see often in old archived works.

🔥 Sol Radguy :) In case my Tumblr gets nuked

Email: junkyarddogmkii [at] gmail [dot] com Archive.org - Neocities - Mangadex

🔥 Tillman - Scans and archives manga and Encyclopedia/guide book volumes, as well as rips animations and other information from Vastedge and the old games.

Neocities - Tumblr - Archive.org

🔥 LesbianGiratina - Has scanned a very substantial chunk of the Guilty Gear trading cards. Also scans some of the rarer side media or special release editions of games.

Tumblr

🔥THIS IS A LONG LIST🔥

NOVELS/TEXT-BASED STORIES //

🔥Guilty Gear Begin - Light novel focused on Frederick (pre-Gear Sol Badguy). The current earliest point in the lore.

English (Sol Radguy): Tumblr - Archive.org Español (Volcanic): Dropbox

🔥 Lightning The Argent - Light novel focused on Ky. Currently does not have a full translation but Volcanic has made what he's translated into Spanish so far public. Sol Radguy is currently working on an English translation. All current translations listed here are by Volcanic.

English, Chapter 1: Dropbox Español - Dropbox (complete) Español Resumen - Dropbox (story summary in Spanish)

🔥The Butterfly & Her Gale - Light novel focused on Chipp. Translations here are by Volcanic, who is also working on a full translation.

Español Resumen - Dropbox (story summary in Spanish) English, Chapter 1 - Dropbox

🔥Guilty Gear 2 -Overture- Material Collection - Art book for Overture. There are 8 short stories in it.

English, Volcanic (Izuna, Paradigm, & Valentine) - Dropbox -- Español - Dropbox English, Sol Radguy (complete) - Tumblr - Neocities -- Archive.org (.PDF + uncompressed scans)

🔥GG Xrd: The Unseen Sign - Intro? story to Guilty Gear Xrd included in the Arc System Works 25th Anniversary Official Character Collection art book. Translations by Volcanic.

English - Dropbox Español - Dropbox

🔥DRAMA CDS - The English files for these are also hosted on Sol Radguy's Neocities site if the .ru domain is blocked for you. That site also hosts a .PDF of all the following English translated files so that they are more portable/easier to read than the raw .TXT format some of these are currently in.

Neocities

🔥 Night of Knives - GGXX drama CD mainly focused on Zato and Millia with some Venom and Slayer. Translations by Blade (vol. 1-3), Mei (ES side stories), and Volcanic (EN side stories). NOTE: The volume 1-3 translations done by Blade (aka Blade Galewind, Mimeblade, gear-project), who is known for purposely misinterpreting lore and inserting headcanons into translations. Unfortunately, these are the only translations out there of these drama CDs. The Spanish translations of these 3 volumes worked off Blade's English ones. Read at your own risk. A new translation is currently in progress by Vaporbabe.

English: guiltygear.ru: Vol.1, Vol.2, Vol.3 Español: Dropbox +Robo-Ky side story: English: Dropbox Español: Dropbox + A.B.A. side story: English: Dropbox Español: Dropbox Axl side story: English: Neocities Español: Dropbox

🔥 GGX Drama CD - A bunch of the cast have a big fight over some Old War Technology (black tech). English translations by Ed Chang, Spanish translations by Aegis High and Volcanic. NOTE: There are significant errors in Ed Chang's translation (& possibly in Aegis High's & Volcanic's, which worked off of Chang's text), the biggest of which is the infamous "Johnny Sfondi" last name mistranslation. Cross-reference information presented in these texts with more recent confirmed canon before using it as a source or citation. Ed Chang's statement on these translations can be read here: screenshot. Tl;dr: Chang was new to Japanese translation and the mistakes were honest accidents. These translations are nearly 20 years old. Vaporbabe may very well do a new translation for this CD too.

--Disc 01: English: guiltygear.ru Español: Dropbox --Disc 02: English: guiltygear.ru Español: Dropbox +Dizzy & Testament side story (from when they first meet): English: Included at the end of Chang's Disc 02 translation. Español: Dropbox

🔥GGXX Drama CD Sides Red & Black - This is an alternate timeline where Ky is killed during the Crusades. English translations by Ed Chang, Spanish translations by Volcanic.

English: guiltygear.ru (red) - guiltygear.ru (black) Español: Dropbox +Night of the Living Dolls extra story (feat. Zappa): English: At the end of Chang's Side Red translation. Español: Dropbox +Letter extra story (a letter from Dizzy to Testament): English: At the end of Chang's Side Black translation ("A Message from Dizzy to You") Español: Dropbox

🔥GG Petit 2 - Fanny & Faust arcade modes dialog. Translation by Volcanic.

English - Dropbox

== Fanny win/lose quotes. Translation by @kaialone.

English - Tumblr

MANGA/PICTORAL STORIES //

🔥Guilty Gear (1998) Comic Anthology - The first anthology manga published for GG. This is a collection of isolated stories, both original to the volume and recaps of parts of the lore. Sol Radguy is currently working on this. Fábrica de Lutadores and Maxima-Dub are also working on a Brazilian Portuguese translation. Chapters 1 - 8 are in English, while the first two are in Portuguese.

Full volume raws (Japanese): Archive.org English & Portuguese translations: Mangadex

🔥 Guilty Gear Xtra - Manga that introduces two new characters that promptly get forgotten by the lore at large. Scanlation by Justice Revival Project.

English: MangaDex - Archive.org (incomplete) Español: Dropbox

ART BOOKS //

🔥Artworks of Guilty Gear X 2000-2004 - Art book collecting a decent chunk of Daisuke' art from GGX through to early GGXX. Contains more rough sketches than the 2007 sequel as well as an interview with Daisuke in the back. The available scans are very low quality. The original interview translation was by fairymisao with additional translation and editing by Sol Radguy.

Raws: Archive.org Interview, English: Archive.org

🔥Artworks of Guilty Gear X 2000-2007 - Art book collecting (most) of Daisuke’s work going from GGX through to Isuka. Does not have anything from Overture, despite it being in production around the time this book was published. Translation by Sol Radguy.

English: Tumblr tag - Archive.org

🔥Guilty Gear X: Drafting Artworks - Collects a bunch of concept sketches for character designs but most of it is roughs for their moves. Has some lore stuff and map design stuff.

Japanese: Archive.org

🔥Guilty Gear 2 Overture Material Collection - This is a loose folder of all the artwork from this art book but a bit out of order and with additional illustrations from the Overture era of Guilty Gear.

Japanese: Dropbox

🔥Guilty Gear Xrd (Revelator) Visual Book - Small art book included in the special edition release of XrdRev in Europe and Japan. This is a scan of the European book, which is in English (mostly). These scans were done by@birthdaytrain and were compiled it into a .PDF for Archive by Sol Radguy.

English: Archive.org

🔥Guilty Gear 10th Memorial Book - Book celebrating the 10th anniversary of Guilty Gear. Clear images of some rare illustrations in it that weren't reprinted elsewhere, such as the Isuka arcade ending art.

Japanese: Neocities

🔥ASW 25th Anniversary Official Character Collection - Celebrates Arc System Works surviving for 25 years. Sol's on the cover but has stuff for Blazblue and some other ASW properties. Originally scanned by tokimekicn. - This could use a rescan.

Japanese: Archive.org

MAGAZINES, ETC. //

🔥Channel 3 Records Guilty Gear: Missing Link Vinyl Art and Interview Book - A 2LP that came with a short booklet containing some ML era GG art and a brief interview with Daisuke himself. Sol Radguy did not rip the music from the records for this archive. In-house translation.

English (some Japanese): Archive.org

🔥Dengeki PlayStation F, Volume 10 (October 13, 1995) - Volume 19 of the Japanese gaming magazine, Dengeki PlayStation. Has an article on what appears to be the first printed appearance of any sort of Guilty Gear 1 material. Very early prototype stuff in this. Translation by Sol Radguy.

Japanese, English: Archive.org

🔥Dengeki PlayStation F2, April Special Issue, Volume 19 (April 10, 1996) - Volume 19 of the Japanese gaming magazine, Dengeki PlayStation. Has an article on an early build of GG Missing Link. This issue also has articles for Final Fantasy 7, Tekken 2, Street Fighter Zero, Darkstalkers, and a lot more. Translation by Sol Radguy.

Full magazine raws: Archive.org English translation of the Guilty Gear article: Archive.org

🔥Asura System Guilty Gear Trading Cards - Scans of some of the Guilty Gear cards made for the Asura System TCG. Scanned by @lesbiangiratina . The cards are in Japanese.

Japanese: Google Drive

MISC. //

🔥Guilty Gear Vastedge XT - The canon pachinko machine. This upload contains all the ripped assets (meshes, sound FX, animated assets such as cutscenes, UI assets, etc), the .APK and two .OBB files from the Android port rip, all the concept art, the JP dialog script (+Volcanic's partial EN translation), Shmuel's restored/remastered opening animation video, and some videos of the gameplay and of the physical machine all into one place. Full credits for this pack are long, please see Archive link for them.

Archive.org

🔥A.B.A. Design Documents - Original analog sketches used for A.B.A.'s design and for the design of her moveset. Courtesy of famiccha on Twitter.

Google Drive

GUIDE BOOKS/ENCYCLOPEDIAS //

No one has translated any of these and a lot of them are uploaded together. Most of the guide books have not been scanned. See the MISSING STUFF section below for what's not here.

🔥Guilty Gear Complete Bible, GGXX The Midnight Carnival Starter Encyclopedia, GG Isuka Complete Guide, GGXX Accent Core +R A Gainful Material, + 1st Gig Artbook. - 1st Gig scans by Lux/Xaeldritch.

Japanese: Archive.org

🔥Guilty Gear X SLASH Encyclopedia - Scans by Sol Radguy. Special thanks to @dizzyrobo for lending a copy to be scanned.

Japanese: Archive.org

🔥GGXX The Midnight Carnival Burst Encyclopedia - Scans by Tillman

Japanese: Archive.org

🔥GGXX Slash Beat Encyclopedia - A.B.A. and Order Sol were introduced in XX Slash, so this guidebook has a lot of stuff featuring them. Intro/win dialog transcriptions + Slayer haiku table, too.

Japanese: Archive.org

🔥Guilty Gear Petit 1 & 2 Official Fan Book - Guide book for the Wonderswan games. Scans by Tillman.

Japanese: Archive.org

🔥Vastedge Official Guide Book - I don't know how you make a guide book for a pachislot machine but, well, someone found a way. Scans by Tillman.

Japanese: Archive.org

MANGA RAWS, NO TRANSLATIONS //

GGX Plus Anthology Comics vol.1 (Bros. Anthology Comics):

=== Archive raws

=== Google Drive - Chapter 1 translation by Renexuz. This project has been dropped by Renexuz and no further work on it will be done by her. Please let me know if someone else picks this up.

GGX Anthology Comics (Bros. Anthology Comics) - Archive raws

GGX Plus Anth. Comics vol.2 (Bros. Anthology Comics) - Archive raws

GGXX Anthology Comics vol.1 (Bros. Anthology Comics) manga - Archive raws

GGXX Anthology Comics vol.2 (Bros. Anthology Comics) manga - Archive raws

GGXX Comic Anthology (DNA Media Comics), Volume 1 - Archive raws

GGXX Comic Anthology (DNA Media Comics), Volume 1 - Archive raws

Guilty Gear XX ♯Reload Comic Anthology (DNA Media Comics) - Archive raws

Guilty Gear Isuka (Ohzora Comics) manga, scans by Lux/Xaeldritch - Archive raws

Guilty Gear XX 4koma Kings (DNA Media) vol.1 - Raws on Archive

Guilty Gear XX 4koma Kings (DNA Media) vol.2 - Raws on Archive

Guilty Gear XX 4koma Kings (DNA Media) vol.3 - Raws on Archive

Guilty Gear X 4koma Kings (DNA Media) vol.1 - Raws on Archive

Guilty Gear X Plus 4koma Kings (DNA Media) - Raws on Archive

MISSING STUFF //

Character Designer Issue 1. 2003 (キャラクタデザイナー ISSUE.1 2003年秋) - Has SUPER early concept art for a lot of characters in it, including concept art for Baiken when she was initially planned to be male. - lesbiangiratina is currently scanning this; Sol Radguy translation of the GG pages is in progress.

The EU special edition release of GG Accent Core Plus. Came with what's likely to be an official English translation of the 10th Memorial Book OR a book called The Lost Archive, which seems to include artwork for Overture but additional information is unknown. Which book it came with depended on which version of the SE was bought. These were limited to 200 copies (100 each) and are very expensive (>us$450). (thanks to Renexuz & Tillman for this info)

Arc System Works 25th Anniversary Memorial Booklet - A Japan-exclusive limited-edition artbook that was available at the Arc System Works Festival 2013 to commemorate the company's twenty-fifth anniversary.

Guilty Gear 2 Overture Secret Gig & Secret Gig Neo - Two different booklets given out at Tokyo Game Show (2006?) that have some Overture art in them that wasn't included in the GG2Overture Material Collection art book, mostly of Valentine and Chimaki. Neo has art by guest artists, including a Valentine body pillow... Neo also seems to be the rarer of the two, but both are pretty hard to find.

Manga:

Username by the book title denotes that someone owns it and will scan it eventually. For @tillman, double check with its pinned post to make sure the listings here are up to date.

Guilty Gear Isuka Comic Anthology (DNA Media Comics) - Tillman

Guilty Gear Isuka Yonkoma Kings - 4koma - Tillman

Guilty Gear X Comic Anthology (DNA Media Comics) - Tillman

Guilty Gear X Plus Comic Anthology (DNA Media Comics) - Tillman

Guilty Gear XX (Ohzora Comics) - Tillman

Guilty Gear XX Slash Comic Anthology (DNA Media Comics) - Tillman (both volumes)

Guilty Gear XX Slash Yonkoma Kings - Tillman

Guilty Gear XX ♯Reload Yonkoma Kings - Tillman

Guide Books/Encyclopedias:

It's difficult finding information about the guides/encyclopedias. Drop me a message if you find one that's not listed.

Guilty Gear X Official Guide - Dreamcast-specific guide

Guilty Gear X Plus Official Guide

Guilty Gear XX Complete Guide - Sol Radguy

Guilty Gear XX ♯Reload Complete Guide - Radguy

Guilty Gear XX Slash Complete Guide

Guilty Gear XX Λ Core Break Encyclopedia

Guilty Gear XX Λ Core Complete Guide

Guilty Gear Isuka Outlive Encyclopedia - Tillman

Guilty Gear Isuka Technical Guide

Guilty Gear 2 -Overture- Complete Guide

Magazines:

Names are left in Japanese to make them easier to copy-paste into web searches. Here is how to read them:

電撃プレイステーション = Dengeki PlayStation

Vol. = Volume number

1995年10月13日 = 1995 [year], 10 [month], 13 [day], so October 13, 1995. All dates are yyyy/mm/dd format.

There may be additional Dengeki PS articles from 1995 and 1996. DPS April Special Issue Vol.19 1996/04/10 has been scanned/translated (see above).

電撃プレイステーション F Vol.10 1995/10/13 The ML beta character bios scans. - We have scans of the GG article from this but they are very poor quality.

電撃プレイステーション vol.14 April 1996 Beta GG article, page 22

電撃プレイステーション vol.59 1997/11/14 Beta GG article on page 28

電撃プレイステーション vol.32 1996/11/22 Beta GG article on page 14. - There exists in the current GG archives a poor photo of a double-page spread with a blue background from this issue. It's illegible but shows a different UI than the final release of GG1.

電撃プレイステーション vol.72 GoGoRPG Special Issue 1998/4/24 GG article page 34 - This issue was published about 3 weeks before the official release of Missing Link. Very likely shows final-release stuff.

電撃プレイステーション vol.73 CD-Rom Special Issue 1998/5/22 Came with a physical disc. GG article on page 12

#masterpost #guilty gear #textpost

[the-stopzone]

Arcs 5-8 are just Arcs 1-3 on steroids. Suspecting 9 will compare to 4.

(Arc 1 / Arc 5) - A new start in a city with introductions for a number of the overall story's major characters. We are shown subaru's new capabilities to survive in this world (RBD/IP). Very few deaths overall, Subaru's turning point is calling out to the world for help (Rein/speech). resolves with an ominous tone focusing on the future.

(Arc 2 / Arc 6) - Murder mystery where Subaru is the victim. With a cast of friendly individuals mostly isolated to a single building, Subaru must balance finding his new home and learn to trust those around him in a situation that inherently sows suspicion. Murderer turns out to be someone amongst he trusts, but the true villain turns out to be a secret third party. Subaru suicides for one of his murderers. Ends with a Mabeast battle.

(Arc 3 / Arc 7+8) - Subaru and Rem are seperated from the main cast in a dangerous situation. Subaru early on does something wrong but does not erase that mistake and continues to deal with the repercussions throughout the arc (Royal election / Todd's camp). Tons of world building and characters with a goal of Subaru needing to travel to a specific destination. The entire way Subaru's world view is challenged by everyone. Subaru acquires an army at some point.

Its kinda hard to complete the 3 to 7/8 comparison because 8 isn't done yet, but I suspect more parallels to come, particularly a from 0 speech assuming Tanza on the island wasn't it. This is also assuming arc 8 isn't comparing to 4 due to it not being originally planned. Whether its arc 8 or 9 to compare to 4, this could complete the "batch of arcs", leading into a logical place for my "long loops" theory to come into play in the next batch, similar to how short loops started in arc 5.

#re:zero #re zero #rezero #re zero discussion #re:zero discussion #rezero discussion

[mindstriker]

this is my first attempt at a poll because I'm genuinely curious and I've been thinking about my Borderlands rewriting plans and shit and I can't decide which of these alternate-to-canon scenarios I want to go with for katagawa jr

Context: I am insane about the funny Maliwan guy. Lord knows I have a habit of latching onto characters with like 5 minutes of screen time and getting so fixated on their potential that I go mad over it, and he's no exception to that rule.

I also have a huge Borderlands AU in the works that overhauls pretty much everything I didn't personally like in the series and integrates all of these one-off headcanons into one timeline. If I ever finish writing the goddamn document with all the information about this on it, I'll post it 😭

With that said, which one of these four potential arcs for him I could execute do you think would be most fun? Important to note, I'm not necessarily picking the most popular. I'm just curious :3

ALSO, regardless of his penultimate fate I plan on doing a lot more with him and the general Promethea arc in BL3 in terms of insight into Maliwan, his family, and the way it works. That's inevitable. This is just what happens to him after all that.

explanations for the last 2 since they're pretty vague

(***) This one is less realistic, but I don't always care much for realism and him and Rhys' dynamic is never not hilarious to me. Long story made short as possible: this one takes place in a world where getting Maliwan's ass off of Promethea wasn't just as simple as kicking Katagawa in the shins. Even in his absence (presumed death initially), Maliwan's heads (and the disgruntled parents of 13 corporate children) continued to attack the planet in order to recoup losses by taking control of Atlas, a profitable company. (You know, the reason they wanted it in the first place.) Jr. himself plays into this because he survived the VH attack, retreated to Maliwan safe quarters, and then was promptly nearly executed by a family deeply unhappy with his performance. Packing his shit and escaping in another war vessel sent down to Promethea, he decided to use his excellent backstabbing skills to take not only his technical capabilities (I like to assume he made and designed the mock-up Zer0 suit himself, but that's a rant for another day) to his insider knowledge of the company and their weaknesses to Atlas' front fucking door.

TLDR: This isn't some "I'm nice now immediately" type shit, it's more of a "bedraggled feral asshole in a suit begs you to let him work with you on equal footing this time because he wants to kick his family's ass and you can't really afford to say no because you're kinda losing a major corporate war right now" leading into fucking Wacky Coworker Shenanigans(TM).

the last one: Honestly similar to the tangent I went on above, except years of being raised a corporate cult patsy only to encounter failure and nearly be destroyed because of it leads to Kat seeing the rest of his family as "in the way" as his siblings were, leading to him waging internal warfare on the company after his scrape with Vault-Hunter induced death behind the scenes as the battle with Atlas continues. Could also segway into a funny unintentional "the enemy of my enemy is slightly less of my enemy than before" thing with the Atlas crew.

#sorry this was so long fuck #long ass post #borderlands #borderlands 3 #katagawa jr #rhys strongfork #bl3 #this is me yelling #my polls

[sigruned]

ALso I babbled about this a little bit when we got confirmation of Oscar's Little Prince allusion but I want to expand a little because Oscar's merge symptoms going wacky in the animatic has me thinking about it again. so

Is Ruby the Little Prince's Rose?

Short answer, no not really.

Long answer is kind of, yes, but that has little to do with her relationship to Oscar and everything to do with the Ever After, which mostly limits it to the context of v9. To make that make sense you have to look at how the writers have handled Ruby's allusions thus far, namely using the For Want Of A Nail approach to guide her character development.

In the Red Trailer we are immediately introduced to a Little Red Riding Hood whose Woodsman is dead before the story begins, showing us Ruby in her red cloak, slowly surrounded by wolves while standing over a grave. Visually, the narrative is presenting a question here. What kind of person would Little Red Riding Hood have to be to survive her own fairytale alone? The trailer answers this pretty quickly via a bunch of anime acrobatics and gunfire, telling us Little Red is going to be killing the wolves this time. By choice or otherwise, she has taken up the Woodsman's responsibility herself (remember this bit).

Later in episode 1 we get more elaboration on this when Ruby actually gets to speak, enthusing about her mom being a huntress and how she wants to do the same. She proceeds to struggle with filling this monumental role over the course of the show, culminating with her character arc and eventual breakdown in v9.

By this point if it wasn't clear who the Woodsman to Ruby's Little Red is, the reveal of Summer's massive axe-rifle should. We're given more Summer in v9 than at any point before, which is necessary to actually cast this mold that Ruby has been desperately trying to fit into. But the Woodsman allusion is secondary, her primary allusion is to The Last Rose of Summer. There is variation from character to character, but a primary allusion will always be more narratively prescient whereas the secondary allusions say more about their influence or relationship with another character or allusory plot element.

With Summer largely absent in the narrative herself they show this early on via her epitaph and shine a spotlight on this when they reveal Ruby's emblem was left to her by her mother. If getting the Rose part of Ruby Rose from her mother's side wasn't enough of a hint. All the rose themes we associate with her came from her mother.

(The outlier here you could argue is the rose petals generated by her semblance, however I think we can safely assume by the time Ruby developed her semblance, she'd enrolled in combat school and was steeping in stories of her mother as a huntress for a while).

Combine this with the fact that Ruby only knows her from stories which mythologize her (Ruby was 3 when Summer left, how much do you remember from being 3? She has nothing else.) and we've got a character whose foundational misbelief is that she must fill the lofty role her mother has left behind. The Woodsman is dead. Who else will kill the wolves, if not her? Identity crisis waiting to happen, as we saw.

Which leads us back to The Little Prince. The plot literally drops Ruby and co. into the extremely alien Ever After, whose skyline is dominated by a giant baobab tree known for swallowing its denizens whole on occasion when they're ready to be someone else. Meanwhile Ruby has been knocked down one too many times and is nearly at rock bottom. We go through the volume with our protagonists trying to figure out what the tree actually does, getting a number of answers they struggle to make sense of outside a context of permadeath, finally followed by Jaune outright telling them he believes the tree is destruction. On the other end of this equation we have the source material, wherein the Prince is beside himself with worry because the baobab trees on his home planet might crowd out and kill his Rose. But we're not following the prince on his interstellar tour right now, we're following a girl who thinks she's a rose trying to navigate a world dominated by a tree.

And this, as I've seen some of the hardcore rg people mention before, is why Oscar's absence in the Ever After feels so salient. Not because he would have been able to make everything better and prevent Ruby's breakdown if he'd been there, but because his absence poses a question (very similar to one the narrative has asked us before): who does the Rose have to become to survive her side of the story alone?

I don't think I need to harp on the answer too much, v9 was Not Subtle. ("Then maybe, that girl is enough.")

The person Ruby is trying to live up to, this mythologized Summer, is not real. It's not achievable. Summer, as herself, has always held the primary Rose allusion. Ruby never was the Rose, and never had to be.

'but sigruned what does this have to do with the merge' well now that Ruby isn't trying to be the Rose anymore, she can properly take up her role as the snake. I can't take credit for this idea, but I do think it makes the most sense given Everything going on symbolically with SEWs re: death (but that could probably be its own post). The snake, if you recall, was the only one who could send the prince home by way of their poisonous bite.

tl;dr silver eyes are going to be key to getting Oscar an appointment with the tree and curing the merge, but Ruby cannot/could not use them this way before self-actualizing outside her image of Summer.

#rwby

[whump-card]

Sunless Lives Masterlist

This is a long-form story with 36 parts and 68k words. It’s about a team working for a government agency that is tasked with hunting and capturing vampires, the Vampire Investigations Unit, or VIU (said like ‘view’).

When a captured vampire escapes and attacks researcher Simon McKenna and their team captain wants to cover it up, agents Matthew Beck and Gina Ruiz must help Simon recover alone, and in the process uncover his dark past. And that's just the first arc - things get wilder from there! This story contains NSFW elements.

Arc 1:

Part 1: I Should Have Seen This Coming

Part 2: I Should Have Known

Part 3: I Should Do It

Part 4: I Shouldn’t Have Scared You

Part 5: I Should Have Trusted You

Part 6: I Should Apologize

Part 7: I Should Tell You [NSFW]

Part 8: I Shouldn’t Have Pried

Part 9: I Shouldn’t Take Advantage

Part 10: I Should Try Again [NSFW]

Arc 2:

Part 11: I Can’t Hear You

Part 12: I Can’t Kiss You

Part 13: I Can’t Give It Back

Part 14: I Can’t Die Here

Part 15: I Can’t Resist [NSFW]

Part 16: I Can’t Stay

Part 17: I Can’t Do This [NSFW]

Part 18: I Can’t Lose You

Part 19: I Can’t Tell You [NSFW]

Part 20: I Can’t Kill You

Arc 3:

Part 21: I Will Get Better

Part 22: I Will Hear From You Soon

Part 23: I Will Get You Out

Part 24: I Will Not Go

Part 25: I Will Wait

Part 26: I Will Make You Better

Part 27: I Will Be a Good Boy [NSFW]

Part 28: I Will Not Bend

Part 29: I Will Take You Home

Part 30: I Will Not Let You Do It Too [NSFW]

Arc 3 Summary

Arc 4:

Part 31: I Need to Leave

Part 32: I Need to Be Quiet

Part 33: I Need to Survive

Part 34: I Need to Apologize

Part 35: I Need to Be With You

Part 36: I Need to Be Without You

Interludes (short additions, canonical but not super plot relevant, number indicates where in the timeline they fall or when they can be safely read without spoilers):

Interlude 10.1: He Was A Joth

Interlude 10.2: Elevator

Interlude 21.1: Candy and Cameras [NSFW]

Sequel/Epilogue

#masterlist #sunless lives #sunless lives masterlist