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genericpuff · 1 year

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always wanted to make one of those 'day in the life' posts so here u go!

TW/CW: Tattoo needles, mild blood/mentioning of blood

ima be honest with you, sometimes those 'day in the life' reels on tiktok n junk annoy the piss out of me because they seem so disingenuous, but that's honest to god probably just my executive dysfunction being salty because there's no way in HELL i'm gonna be on some 'grind' where i'm getting up at 6 am to make smoothies and do a workout before i have to go to actual work, i can't with that and i struggle to fathom anyone else doing that consistently LMAO (but i know there are and y'all are a different breed, i wouldn't be able to do it LOL)

like i literally get up anywhere between 30-10 minutes before i gotta catch the bus to go to work-

(understand that i can only get away with doing this because the bus stop is LITERALLY RIGHT ACROSS THE STREET FROM MY HOUSE LMAOOO i could also just as easily walk , work is about 15-20 minutes away, but like... i don't wanna when i could just sleep in for another 15-20 minutes LOL)

most of my mornings consist of battling with myself to get out of bed until the last possible minute and then hoping the bus isn't early so i don't miss it on account of my own executive dysfunction, paired with timmy's because i'm a canadian hoser, buds.

i'm actually pretty hyped though for that apartment move at the start of april because as soon as we've moved, we'll be even CLOSER to my work to the point i won't even have to catch the bus anymore, you can literally see the new place out my work window. watch me find ways to still be late for work LMAO

anyways. i got off kinda easy today because NORMALLY i have to get up earlier as most of the time my appointments start at 1 PM, but I only had one appointment today and we had booked it for 3 so I got to sleep in a bit longer <3 This was the design I had made up for them (a sternum piece):

but then it turned out i had completely neglected the one change they wanted, which was to make the middle flower a lotus flower. thank god for my ipad, having the ability to change up designs on the go was half the reason I bought it ~

easy fix uwu

as for the setup, my tattoo setup is pretty simple, the machine isn't actually ready to go yet but i usually set that up after the stencil is applied to give the stencil time to sit and dry (and i don't like having nothing to do while i wait):

(the actual machine once it's wrapped):

it was a full kitchen in the shop today meaning me, my boss, and my two other coworkers who work in the open area were all working and having a good time. one of my other coworkers wasn't in today but they work in a separate private room so the main area itself was full. sometimes i'll come in and i can tell who was in first based on what's playing on the TV. if it's documentaries or reruns of old comedy shows (like the Office) I know it's my boss, if it's reality TV then I know it's L, and if it's music from Spotify then it's usually my other coworker S.

It was S today :' )

here's the actual stencil on the skin! my client is an old pal who i've tattooed a couple times and was thankfully okay with me taking pics and posting these ~ (haha, no female presenting nipples here, tumblr!)

as you can probably see I had to take a marker to the tail and redraw it so it would go around the belly button, originally the stencil went right thru it and wouldn't have looked good

but guess what? didn't matter anyways because the fucking stencil wouLDN'T FUCKING STICK. like, as soon as I started working on it, I realized it was gonna be one of those stencils, the kind that wipe away INSTANTLY. I think it was a combination of just the placement (backs and sternums don't tend to hold as well) as well as her skin type (not all skin types hold onto stencils and ink equally) and the fact that it was hotter in the shop than it usually is which amounted to a bit of sweat (esp in the belly area where things tend to be a lot warmer) which resulted in the stencil not holding in the slightest. y'all it was STRESSFUL and even after I tried to re-apply the stencil again as best as I could (with the tattoo already in progress and the old stencil pretty much gone) it STILL wouldn't hold, so I essentially had to bloodline the whole thing (i.e. line it in so lightly and quickly just to get SOMETHING visible in there after the stencil disappeared. half the lines weren't even genuine lines, just the tiniest faintest impressions that mostly consisted of blood, but still better than nothing).

eventually my coworkers had all clocked out for the day so i was the last one standing, meaning I got control over the Spotify >:D

(and played pretty much the exact same music my coworker would have because we have the exact same tastes in music lmao)

so this is where i had to re-stencil because the original stencil i had put on was wiping away like crazy, but then the second stencil ended up being just as shitty. like you can see where i had to put the lines in 'good enough' near the top because even the shoddy stencil redo was GONE as i was working on it, and it created this sort of cyclical problem where i couldn't just not wipe while i worked because that would result in there being ink anywhere so i couldn't see what i was doing... but then i would wipe to clean it up and poof stencil gone. it was a nightmare and stressed me out but big thanks to my client for understanding and trusting the process <3

because even tattoos are allowed to have an ugly stage before they look good ~

all in all i'm pretty happy with how it came out in the end, the process definitely didn't go as smoothly as i had initially hoped and i would have liked to spend more time on the actual lining process in the beginning, but i had to rush that shit. thankfully as soon as that foundation was laid, it gave me time to just go in and tighten up those lines, a lot of this ended up being freehand compared to what i had planned on doing :' )

(the best part is this client has two lil' dermals just an inch or so above the tattoo that the snake's face and tongue line up perfectly with, it's adorable haha)

either way, that was my day at the shop, i was the last one there so it was on me to settle the debit/credit machine, set the alarms and have everything ready for another day tomorrow!

very appropriate music for the last track of the day lmao and our shop pet, Smaug, poked his head out to say hello!

for the most part, a good day! aside from that stupid stencil giving me a hard time, it was still pretty chill, came out to be a 3 hour day, I showed up around 2:30, my appointment started at 3 and we were all done by 5:30, left just in time to go pick up some sushi takeout and catch the next bus home <3

(have I ever shown my face on my Tumblr before??? if not, here's me!)

My job's pretty cool. Still have to deal with a lot of "typical bullshit" esp when it comes to communicating with clients and setting up appointments as well as tattoo-unique bullshit like dealing with squirmers or crappy stencils or not being able to have a social life without people pestering me for free work, but it's the best job I could ever ask for especially in this particular location. The husband and wife duo who run the place are super sweet but have their shit together well, they run a tight ship and it means I don't have anything to worry about besides setting up my appointments and tattooing. It took a lot of fighting over the course of years to finally end up in a comfortable place, and many times I almost gave up, but it was worth it because now I'm in a great place that pays well and I get to do what I love.

But I'm still pretty eager to get home most days lol So I grabbed my sushi, caught the bus, and made it home.

It was about 6:25 when I landed and because of Daylight Savings, it's still very light out. It does so much for my mental health to leave work and have it still be sunny, the ✨ seasonal depression ✨ is gone and all I have to worry about now is ✨ regular depression ✨ And it's gonna be even better once we move to the new place because it's on a ground floor and has windows aplenty, loads of natural light (compared to the gross basement we live in rn).

But until then, this is what I come home to (～￣▽￣)～

I will now spend the next 6-8 hours playing FF XIV, watching my shows, and working on Rekindled and Time Gate, pretty much all at the same time or at least jumping between. Usually I'll have something playing on rerun on the TV in the background (so something I don't have to pay attention to, like reruns of the Office or Bob's Burgers or w/e I'm feeling that day) and then I'll be listening to music in my headphones or - if I want to engage with something that isn't a rerun - I'll put on a Youtube video that's easy to listen to and absorb without having to look directly at. Sometimes it's speedrun documentaries, sometimes it's GameGrumps compilations, just depends on what I'm feeling and what shows up in my recommended that day LOL Yes , it might seem 'pointless' to have a show playing in the background while also listening to music, but it's sorta just there as a presence and idk, it brings my ADHD brain comfort lol

If you don't believe me that this is the level of multitasking that I'm at, the other day I made a call to Nintendo Support to help my husband get back into his account and I did it while running dungeons in FF XIV, yaaaaay ADHD! My brain needs constant stimulation to function! ╰（‵□′）╯

(and yes, I'm usually joined by Psuwis - it's Maliseet for 'cat' - who's very needy for my attention as soon as I get home lol)

This is how I spend most of my evenings, and even entire days if I'm not in the shop (and my schedule's pretty flexible, sometimes I'm at the shop 5 days a week, other times I might only work 2 or 3 days, it just depends on how busy my bookings are). My husband is actually probably just getting off work rn so he'll likely be home by the time I'm wrapping up this post lmao

Supper!

I actually worked on Rekindled pretty much all day yesterday, so now the episode's almost done already, it's coming along nicely! I'm hoping to have it done tonight or tomorrow so that I can have it ready for Saturday when I'm away on my trip (and maybe get a headstart on Ep 12 so that we can have a new episode next weekend as well during my apartment move!)

Anyone in my follows play FF XIV? Currently working on my Astrologian, it's pretty fun! You can find me (Pym Thras'rala) in Hyperion if you ever wanna party up sometime!

That's pretty much it! Not really anything super crazy or exciting to show, my life's pretty routine and that's how I like it. A lot of my social life is online nowadays but I do make time to go out and hang out with IRL pals as well. If this were done on a Friday most of what I'd be doing is hanging out down at the bar with pals LMAO

So yeah! hope you enjoyed this lil' self-indulgent "talk about myself for 20 minutes" post ��￣︶￣）↗　If anything I hope it offers some kind of solidarity to the other pals out there who need 27390572309 forms of stimulation to get through the day LMAO

(also not recommending anyone live the way i do, my back hurts, my sleep schedule is fucked and my brain is fried（*゜ー゜*）let's all hold each other accountable and remember to check our postures, stand up and stretch every hour, and stay hydrated <3 ).

#lore rekindled #lore rekindled comic #day in the life #ama #ask me anything #anon ama #anon ask me anything #about me post #about me

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kleenex-tissues · 1 year

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Yours Truly (4)

AO3 version here

Ch. 4 - Sometimes, Annoyance is the Best Policy

Marinette spends the better part of a week pretending she never sent an email to this ‘Redbird’ fellow. Growing up in the bakery, her parents had always told her that everything cooks slower when you watch it, and she tried to apply this theory to all aspects of her life.

Long checkout queue? Scroll through twitter.

Fabric store out of your favorite silk? Set a reminder to check back in a few days and go about your shopping.

Pen pal hasn’t responded to your email yet? Throw yourself into being the most helpful and positive person you can possibly be to make time go faster.

And that was exactly what Marinette did.

Every akumatized villain was met with a smile and a polite greeting, no matter how many cars they threw at her. Victims were given hugs and pep talks. Not even Chat Noir could keep up with the amount of compliments she was spewing his way. Citizens remarked that the lights throughout Paris glittered just a little bit brighter whenever Ladybug smiled.

The kwamis, which were now in her care as the officially appointed guardian of the miraculi, were feeding off of her happy smiles and care gladly. A new corner dedicated to cushions and snacks became their designated hangout when freed from their places in the miracle box. When Marinette was happy, they all seemed to have more energy, and they would never complain about that.

This also translated into her civilian life, her sunny smile bringing lots of attention to the bakery whenever she manned the register. Her classmates were treated to a new baked good every day, whether they spoke to each other or not. Orders for her designs were being sent out at rapid rates, and nobody could deny the feeling of warmth whenever they donned the clothes she had meticulously hand-sewn. If she was unconsciously imbuing some of Tikki’s power into the fabric, that was between her and the clothing.

Every day was accompanied by the cheerful light Marinette seemed to radiate, but every day ended with a storm cloud above her as she opened her empty inbox. After the fifth day of checking her email and seeing no reply, Marinette threw her head back in exasperation.

“Maybe the email just didn’t go through,” chimed TIkki, rather unhelpfully, from her place in Marinette’s jacket hood. The girl tried her best to be upbeat, but it seemed impossible to ever reach the level of optimism that the kwami exuded. Marinette thought it must be tiring for Tikki to be so happy all the time. She knew first hand how exhausting it was.

She was supposed to be the happy, carefree girl in her everyday life and an otherworldly protector surrounded by an air of confidence as Ladybug. All of Paris relied on her to be the best, to keep them safe, to keep them whole. But she was tired of having to do everything just right.

Marinette sighed. “I don’t know, Tikki. Maybe I’m just not meant to learn English.”

She moved Tikki from her shoulder to the desk and began spinning in her chair. A soft calming motion, around and around. It had become her favorite way to get rid of any negative thoughts. She let her mind shift to blank for a minute or two, a quick reset in the midst of her hectic day to day life.

“It’s not like you to give up so easily,” Tikki countered. “He probably just missed the email. You can always try sending another one!”

Her smile was infectious, breaking through Marinette’s empty stare and bringing her back to the waking world. The chair’s velocity slowed, and Tikki flew up to look her chosen in the eyes. “I’m sure it will work out for you.”

The way she formed her words so sweetly was enough to give anyone cavities. Marinette’s mind began to stir once more, and unfocused eyes moved towards the monitor with intent. She forced a smile onto her face, albeit a little reluctantly.

“Yeah, you’re probably right. Let’s try it again.”

To: [email protected] From: [email protected] Subject: Hello again :)

Good evening, Redbird!

Oh, but you’re not from Paris, so it’s probably not evening for you. Good whatever time of day it is!

I wasn’t sure if you missed my last email, so I figured I should send you another one just in case. As a recap, my name is Marinette (but you can call me Mari, almost all my friends do), I live in Paris, I’m the class president, a fashion designer in the making, and just one year away from University.

Feel free to let me know if there’s anything you would like designed (clothing, album covers, accessories). I could probably get you a pretty good ‘friend’ discount! ;)

I look forward to your reply. Afterall, why would you have signed up for a pen pal in the first place! XD

Au Revior, Mari

–

Marinette, concluding that the best course of action was always to “kill with kindness,” or in this case annoyance, decided to send an email to her unresponsive pen pal every single day for the next two weeks. She refused to be ghosted by a complete stranger, and Tikki was right – Marinette didn’t know what it meant to give up. Her entire life relied on not giving up on, and kwamis be damned, she would be fluent in English!

This ‘Redbird’ guy was going to be her friend, whether he liked it or not. At the very least, bombarding his inbox with emails was still helping her learn the ins and outs of English grammar rules, so she could thank him in that regard.

Alya laughed as she watched her friend type out another email during their lunch break.

“You’re really enjoying this whole ‘pen pal’ idea, huh?”

This comment brought the attention of Nino and Adrien, who slid around the lunch table to see what all the fuss was about. Adrien placed his head on Marinette’s shoulder to get a better look, a friendly gesture he had recently begun doing with her.

Although Marinette had slowly grown out of her crush on her classmate, the things he did still tended to make the butterflies in her stomach dance around. As their friendship developed, Adrien became more touchy – a side-effect of living with a cold and distant father. He looked for physical touch where he could, and she always had plenty to offer. Besides, he was still ignorant to the crush she had harbored for him for so long, so she would hate to ruin this experience for him. Above all, Adrien needed a support system, not for his best friend to start chasing him around like the obsessive fans his model career had already warranted.

Marinette scrunched her face up in annoyance. “Sort of. I’ve just kinda been sending him emails. He hasn’t exactly responded to any of them.”

Alya looked at her in horror, throwing her arms around Marinette’s head and tucking it into her chest. She yelled, “Who does this guy think he is? No one has the right to ghost our Mari like this!”

“I second that,” commented Nino. Marinette felt a hand pat the top of her back, and she assumed it belonged to him. “Our Mari is too good for a guy like that.”

While Alya and Nino continued shouting about Marinette’s ‘honor,’ Adrien leaned into her further to whisper in her ear, “Are you alright?”

She blushed a little but replied, muffled by Alya’s arm over her mouth, “Yeah, it’s just a little annoying. I’m just using it as grammar practice in the meantime.”

Alya’s arms began tightening around Marinette further, and Nino joined in, both wailing together. The girl in question couldn’t help but to laugh. She was glad to have the reminder of how much her friends cared for her. It was easy for her to get lost in the image of ‘perfect’ Marinette and ‘godlike’ Ladybug, but these moments were what reminded her she was allowed to be just her – no expectations required.

She reached up to poke Alya’s arm.

“Alright, I tap out! I tap out!”

Alya stood, placing her right leg and the table and flexing her arms like a bodybuilder. Nino met her enthusiasm with an imaginary microphone in his hands, while Adrien held up a pretend camera, supported by obnoxiously fake clicking noises.

“Miss Césaire, Miss Césaire! Would you care to comment on your take down of THE Marinette Dupain-Cheng, six-time Mixed Martial Arts Champion,” said Nino, shoving his hand in Alya’s face. Marinette only laughed harder.

With a smug grin, Alya replied, looking directly in Adrien’s fake camera, “To all my beautiful losers out there, you can beat that champion. Overcome the mountain standing before you and check out the Ladyblog while you do!”

They all dissolved into giggles, and the tables around them did, as well. Marinette felt like she was home.

DING!

“What was that?”

Marinette looked at Alya, not sure of the answer.

“Mari, it's your email,” Adrien gasped. “Redbird finally messaged you back!”

#wolfish-writes #maribat #daminette #marinette dupain cheng #maridami #damian wayne #batman #batfam #bat family #mlb x dcu #dcu x mlb #miraculous ladybug

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mcdonaldgeorge67 · 1 year

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Some Tips For The Greatest Jewellery To Your Sweetheart

With regards to expensive jewelry, there is a lot regarding suggest that folks have to provide. This article will provide you with a lot of tips about jewelry, whether it be for purchasing, offering, and even producing. Make use of this write-up to help you find out more about expensive jewelry, enjoy yourself on the venture. It is usually difficult to differentiate yourself from the group or locate a significant bit of expensive jewelry. Jewellery stores typically market a similar type of styles that end up being a bore after some time. Move bold and buy hand made artisan jewellery alternatively. Hand crafted expensive jewelry will be a success due to its one -of-a- sort nature. You can expect to by no means discover someone else sporting the exact same thing as you may and you may also be promoting an designer rather than an transfer business depending on very low salary work. Should you be thinking about buying earrings for a lady, will also get a corresponding necklace. If you wish to purchase a pendant, grab a bracelet, too. A matched up group of precious jewelry is double the delight for whomever if you're buying it for, which makes picking the perfect item twice as much fun for you personally! Look for a respected owner. Check with your pals, family members, and associates exactly where they presume you must try to discover your expensive jewelry. Finding a jeweler that is certainly advised by reliable people can present you with a plus to looking around. You will know upfront what encounters other people could have experienced, and put together greater. Take into account which precious metallic to select for your personal diamond engagement ring acquire. Soon after environment and gemstone, the type of metallic you end up picking can make your band unique. Top ve Kalemli Top ought to pay attention to any jewelry your sweetie would wear to fully understand her desire. Some girls just like bright white precious metals, and some value yellows. Keep the gems sparkling within your expensive jewelry like they can be always new. You can keep your wonderful gemstones seeking their very best by simply soaking them within the exact same answer accustomed to saturate dentures. Dentition skin cleansers are cost-effective plus widely available. Use first evening, and your jewels may be like new yet again. Possess a purpose in mind with regard to some precious jewelry before buying it. It is not advantageous to possess a big package filled with jewelry that you simply will not wear. Think about which often clothes you can expect to use the precious jewelry using while you are store shopping. When selling some expensive jewelry on the web, you must make sure you involve sizing and lengths details. This is additional significant with the on the internet purchase since the customer simply cannot bodily begin to see the jewelry. 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If a sheet of expensive jewelry features its own box or perhaps pouch, apply it far better safety of your respective valuable assets. A single innovative method to raise the memorability of precious jewelry presented as presents is to synchronize precious jewelry presented over time. Some presents, each of which fits earlier pieces given, displays thoughtfulness and preference that is certain to be valued with the receiver. Developing a complementing list of jewellery by way of numerous gift items demonstrates a resolve for the relationship among giver and even receiver. Do you possess sterling silver precious jewelry? As you may most likely know, silver is actually a metallic which usually oxidizes if in extended contact with oxygen. To maintain your metallic nice and gleaming, end up in the habit of smoking associated with softly rubbing it every week having an improving material. When there is grime in your sterling silver jewelry, just use a soft, damp fabric to remove it. Free of moisture the part extensively and then work with a polishing material to bring back the stand out. You don't need to must buy costly cleansing answers to thoroughly clean your jewellery. Tepid to warm water and a few falls of plate instructions cleansing liquefied is enough to clean rare metal, gemstones, and many gems. Severe chemicals can harm the accomplish of your jewellery. When marketing precious jewelry on the internet, you have to take advantage of every one of the prospects you may have free of charge marketing, if you want to be successful. If an online retail outlet web hosting service site offers free marketing, accept it. Make the most of social websites websites, just like Twitter and facebook. If you do not possess the correct volume of advertising, no one will know about you. For that reason, you can expect to are unsuccessful. A basic line of pearls makes the most classy jewellery gift idea, suitable for all ages and designs. Furthermore, pearl jewelry appear in this particular assortment of measurements, that they are cost effective to any person. A single strand regarding pearls, no matter the size, can be a gorgeous accessory for virtually any woman's jewelry closet and might be used with everything from jeans as well as a shirt to an evening hours outfit. Since you now have read through a lot of advice on jewellery, you are prepared to enter into the industry of trend. There may be a lot that can be done when it comes to expensive jewelry, and you need to have the data prior to getting started. When it comes to jewelry, information is power.

#Pres Kilit #Döküm Kilit #Halka Kilit #Şarnel Kilit

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nyborg47lundgren · 2 years

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Administration Guru Solutions -- Are They Valuable in Real Companies?

We've all observed them in airport departure lounges plus bookshops - brilliantly colored books with also more colourful games that promise effortless approaches to all manner of management problems. And since administrators are busy people with huge requirements on their period these books promote like 'hot cakes, ' becoming over night best sellers plus giving their writers 'guru status' in the world of management consulting. Yet beware, there's unfortunate thing: quick and easy solutions tend to be incorrect because they fail to take into bank account the complexity from the organization system, the people involved and condition. As Einstein explained "Everything should get made as very simple as possible, but not simpler. " Conduct in organizations will be complex because humans are complex. Our capacity to make predictions about the way differing people will act in response in various situations is limited. Generalizations are exactly that : generalizations. Organizations that will attempt to implement simple solutions in order to complex issues are usually more likely than not knowing destined for malfunction. This doesn't imply that we can't make reasonably correct predictions about conduct but we should acquire into account typically the situation we discover ourself in. Just imagine how you yourself respond in different situations: food intake with pals when compared to a meeting with your kid's school teacher! What realy works for one corporation in a situation might not be suitable for your organization. Look at the book "In Search of Excellence" written by Mary Peters and Robert H. Waterman Junior., first published in 1982. The two experts identified eight designs which they suggested were present in 'excellent companies'. 1 . A tendency to use it, active selection making installment payments on your Close to the buyer 3. website and even entrepreneurship 4. Productivity through people a few. Hands-on, value-driven 6. Go through the knitting 8. Simple form, low fat employees 8. Sychronizeds loose-tight properties The particular obvious message regarding the reader was to "do the same". However, as Enterprise Week pointed away, one-third of the particular original 42 "excellent companies" were inside financial difficulties within five years associated with being surveyed. This kind of doesn't imply that the themes are incorrect it - plus, indeed, they intuitively appear to become correct. But that does imply that an organization that simply applies the themes rather than steps the ideas at the rear of the themes, changing these ideas to be able to fit their own unique scenario, will only achieve a limited benefit. Plus, as importantly, typically the themes or suggestions must be reinforced as time passes or tailored to suit a transforming environment as the surveyed companies identified out. Popular textbooks are often enjoyable to learn but can certainly be of little bit of benefit. To enhance the chances of gaining one advantage when reading a management support book you have to have to ask yourself a couple of basic inquiries. For example , has the particular author carried out substantial research to support their or her ideas? Will do a solution that produced amazing benefits in one organization apply to your enterprise, your industry as well as your country? And so forth. Following the ideas of an author may well increase the chances of success in your firm but is not a recipe intended for success itself. Be wary of authors that promise quick-fix solutions - you know that they may "move your cheese" but they won't necessarily solve the problem. Hugh O'Connell is a company owner plus university lecturer. He is a representative of Plan-it Consultants Limited, Thailand plus UniRoute Limited, Hk. Plan-it represents major UK universities found in Thailand and presents an array of Corporate Coaching programmes. Recently Plan-it has launched a Doctor of Organization Administration (DBA) program in Bangkok with a leading ThailÃ¤nder University. Hugh offers both an MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTATION and a DBA.

#Thryve Gut Health Reviews #more info #here #read more #website #get more info #check here

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electricfied-wolf · 3 years

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Hehe im making an Au-

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arty-shadow-morningstar · 3 years

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A Failed Betrothal (6)

Here is a new chapter for you guys. I am terrible at writing feelings and this is my best shot.😅 Tell me what you think.

[Masterlist]

(PART 1)(PART 5)

-------

(Words in bold is French)

“Tch, Drake is going to be busy trying to find Hawkmoth. He can’t go around Paris, being Dupain-Cheng’s boyfriend. Besides, he can’t be a proper boyfriend even in his most lucid moments. I will be her boyfriend instead.”

Tim was glad he didn’t take a sip of his coffee when Damian volunteered to be Marinette’s boyfriend. But he still choked on air. Jason with his limited knowledge of french was confused. Damian didn’t do what he heard, right?

“No, you can’t. Chloe already told them about Tim. If I come in with a different boyfriend, they would get suspicious. We can work on Hawkmoth while we go on those dates. Besides, I thought you don’t like me. That’s not going to sell the image of a loving couple.” Marinette pointed out. (She also doesn’t want to do this fake-date thing. Not because she likes Damian and she had always been a goner for green eyes and totally would be date him if it weren’t for some stupid curse dictating her feelings for him and fake-dating him might get her catch feelings for him and she would get her heart broken when this is all over and she would stay single forever and be a lonely old lady with hamsters and cats for company.)

“Actually, Mari-bug, I only told the class how romantic your boyfriend is. I never told them what he looked like. Just in case, Timothy couldn’t make it. I have back-up favors to cash in.” Chloe explained.

Marinette didn’t even know why she was surprised at that, this was Chloe after all.

“You have more than one American boy around our age in your debt who you intend to be my boyfriend? Sounds like you, Queenie. So that also means that Damian doesn’t have to do it if he doesn’t want to.”

“My offer still stands. I will be your ‘boyfriend’ before I have to go back. I will be more understanding than those other American boys when you have to rush out for an attack. That is to assume that they can come here or agree. In our initial meeting, I didn’t like that weak girl act you put up. Recent events have made me realize that you are a much stronger person. (Careful Damian, that sounds like a compliment.) You are a decent partner to date.(Shit. Shit. Shit. That wasn’t a compliment, right?)”

Damian couldn’t see why Dupain-Cheng would refuse such a good deal. He supposed her feelings might be still hurt from his first impression of her. He would give her an apology when they are alone and away from his brothers who would make a big deal of it.

“Fine. At least, the curse will at least make this fake couple thing more believable.” grumbled Marinette. The light pink blush on her face is not because he said she was someone he would date.

Oh right, the curse. He swore internally, it had possessed him to be Dupain-Cheng’s boyfriend. He now would have to endure the hand-holding, kissing and staring into each other’s eyes, and try to resist the curse which will be much harder now. Somehow, he didn’t regret it a little bit. It sounds more bearable with him doing those things with her than her with Drake. This was just a mutual agreement to ward off her suitors and prove to her classmates that she was off the market.

Chloe clapped her hands,“If we have everything sorted out, you can start being a good boyfriend by walking Marinette to school today. We want to be on time now.”

The others started packing up their stuff or finished what they were eating. Marinette was dragged out of the bakery by an impatient Damian. Chloe and Alix picked up what Marinette left behind and followed out. The rest soon left right after, leaving the two boys in the bakery.

“Hey, Replacement, tell me if I am wrong but did Demon Spawn willingly ask a girl out?” Jason asked, stealing a croissant from Tim.

“Try making himself the perfect candidate to be her fake boyfriend out of many choices, including me, and get her to agree to it. Now he has to go on a few romantic dates with Marinette in order to ward off this really pushy guy in her class. Demon Spawn also has a crush on her and he’s in denial of it. We are not hallucinating either. I’ve checked.” Tim replied, sipping his coffee.

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“Damian. Let go. Hey, Wayne, are you listening to me? Let me go. This is not how you treat your significant other. And you are not even going in the right direction.” Marinette all but yelled at him.

He released his grip on her. “My apologies for manhandling you but I wanted to tell you this away from everybody else.”

“What?” She asked, crossing her arms and narrowing her eyes.

I- This is a little difficult to say for me,” Damian started. (Why were his palms sweaty? It’s just an apology. He had done it before although it was mostly because Grayson told him what he did wrong and made him do it.) “But I am sorry for calling you weak, pathetic and every other bad thing I have said about you when you have shown that you are anything but those. I was mad at myself for being caught and took it out on you.”

Her glare softened.

“Apologies accepted. The school is this way.” She said with a smile and went towards the school. Damian walked by her side, his hands in his pockets.

Marinette looked at where his hands were, “If we are going to do this fake dating thing, I suggest we hold hands.”

Damian grabbed her hand and continued walking in silence. Her hands were so small and fitted perfectly in his. Oh God, it’s the curse again. Turning him into a sap. Do not think about her hands. And the fact that she took down a man twice her size with them which was an amazing sight to watch.

“Why are you so stiff? Loosen up a little. You are with the love of your life. Smile a little.”

Damian plastered on a fake smile, “Happy?”

“It looks fake. Being a model he will be able to tell.” Marinette remarked, “Are you sure you want to do this? We can still go get Tim to be my boyfriend.”

“I can do this. Drake wouldn’t be a better choice. It doesn’t help that you are relentlessly nit-picking me. Or are you that bad of a girlfriend?” Damian couldn’t help but sniped back. “Maybe that’s why Chat Noir left you.”

He found himself back against the world and her elbow at his neck. (He would forever deny that he liked it.)

“Look here, Wayne. You know nothing about me and you shouldn’t assume that you do. Chat Noir was revoked of his status as a hero for his behaviour. If you don’t act the part properly, I am going to have my former partner, who has absolutely no sense of boundaries, harassing me in my civilian life and I have already dealt enough of his advances to last a lifetime. I have given you so many chances to get out of this which you refused and yet, you are half-assing it. So are you in this 100 percent or not? Because I am at the end of my patience right now.”

“The boy who is obsessed with you is the former Chat Noir?”

“Yes, I will explain about that later but what’s your answer?”

“I will give it my best shot but I have never pretended to be in love.”

“Were you not taught in the League?”

“There were seduction tactics shown to members when they were old enough and I left them when I was 10 but I am not sure if those skills can be applied here.”(Slamming your opponent against the wall wasn’t one of them but she was doing a great job of it so far. No. No. No. He is not his father. This is different from whatever he has with Kyle.)

She released her hold on him and grabbed his hand, leading him towards her school.

“Well then, here are the basics. Everytime you look at me, just think of your favourite things to make your smile a little more genuine. Maybe call me by a pet name if you want. Keep your touch on me like you can’t keep your hands off of me and act really reluctant when you have to let go. You will only keep them my shoulders, arms, hands and waist or I will break your hand. I will do the same. If you are going to have to kiss me, give me a warning.” He looked into her blue eyes and nodded.

“Alright.”

“Oh. I almost forgot. In case they try to question our relationship. My favourite colour is red. My favourite song is ‘Fearless’ by Jagged Stone.(I love Taylor. Sue me) And we met online a few months ago. You came all the way to Paris to see me a month ago and asked me out. We will talk more that later. Oh, I also love designing and have dreams of being a famous fashion designer.-”

Marinette rambled on which Damian found a little endearing. He looked forward to knowing more about her. He added a few comments here or there about himself (because it was only fair.) and ways to improve their cover story about their relationship.

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“We are nearly at school. Let’s start the act, Romeo.” Marinette whispered at him and looked at him with a bright smile that brought a tiny smile to his face. Okay, maybe he liked Marinette a little bit but that doesn’t mean he’s in love with her.

He moved her hand holding his to the crook of his elbow.

“Is this acceptable, my lady?”

She wrinkled her nose, (Adorable. No. Don’t go there) “This is fine. But can you not call me that? And princess too? I may have erased his memories as Chat Noir but it could be a trigger to bring them back.”

“Understandable. What about Malak?”

She blushed. Marinette had learned Arabic a while back and was very fluent in the language.

“It’s okay.” She said in a soft voice. She put her other hand on his bicep and leaned on his shoulder.

“You don’t look like a touchy-feely person so is this fine?”

“Yes.”

“Cool, let me tell you more about the atrocious lies that had passed her mouth.”

They walked into the school courtyard, arm-in-arm, for the entire school, especially Marinette’s class, to see. The perfect picture of a loving couple. Marinette’s blush from earlier was evident on her face, leaving no room for doubt about her new relationship status. (Many guys, gals and pals were upset over it.) As they both walked up the stairs, whispering and laughing about who knows what (gulliable and idiotic classmates they have to suffer learning with), two pairs of green eyes followed them.

In this case, the saying ‘green-eyed monsters’ was true. One was envious of the boy who held the girl he wanted in his arms and the other was envious of the attention the couple was receiving.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Damian escorted Marinette to her class. He gave her a kiss on her cheek and said, loud enough for the class to hear, “Bye, Malak. I will pick you up after school for our date.”

“B-bye, Damian.”

He took her hand, gave a kiss to the back of it and departed, leaving a very red-faced Marinette behind. The rest of the class parted the way as Damian walked past.

She rushed into her seat where Chloe sat beside it, grinning like a Cheshire Cat.

“Sooooo, Mari-bug, how was your date? You two rushed out of there so quickly and left your stuff behind. So eager to spend time with your boyfriend, eh? You enjoyed it very much by the looks of it.”

“Sorry about that, Chloe. Did you bring my bag and the cheese danishes?” Marinette tried to change the topic. And she also wanted to make sure a god of destruction doesn’t go hungry and angsty during school. “Yep, here you go,” Chloe said, handing Marinette her bag and a box of cheese-flavoured snacks for Plagg, “Your mom packed some for you.”

“Marinette. Where have you been the last two days? And you came back with a boy. I am honestly worried about your behaviour.” Lila played the concerned classmate wonderfully.

“Yeah, Marinette. This is a new low, even for you.” Alya added.

Marinette readied herself to tell the cover story Damian and her worked out on the way here.

“Lila, I appreciate your ‘concern’. But the last four days have been a little hard on me so excuse me if I am a little snappy today. You see, Damian disappeared and didn’t return home after school on Friday. So when he didn’t pick up for our weekly video call, I panicked and called his family and they told me what happened. They sent me a plane to get out of Paris so I can’t get akumatized.”

“Was that why you were gone on Saturday?” Chloe asked, playing along although she already knew why Marinette wasn’t in Paris the last four days.

“Yeah. Sorry for not telling you guys. It was sorta last minute. Thankfully, he wasn’t kidnapped actually. His biological mother picked him up but never told his father that she was taking him. I just came back last night. Dami followed me to make sure I am okay.”

“What a bunch of bullcrap.” Alya said, “I don’t believe you.”

Oh. The irony... “Alya, I don’t care if you do. My life is my own business. So keep your nosy nose out of it. Your opinions don’t matter to me anymore, stranger.” Marinette internally was tired of this silly routine and wanted this to end already.

Alya wanted to pick a fight with her over the smallest things she did for the past months. She wondered why her former best friend hated her this much.

“Lila told me that you were skipping school and you paid an actor to be your pretend boyfriend.”

Pretending to not hear what Alya said, Marinette turned towards Chloe, “Hey, you never told me about how you met Tim. I can’t believe that you two are friends.”

“We met at one of those charity galas-”

“Hey, we were talking to you.” Alya cut her off. To which Chloe glared at the ombre-haired girl.

“I thought our conversation was done. What else am I supposed to say?”

Marinette was frustrated and hid that fact well, showing any reaction would give the game away. If she had reacted, it would further fuel the fire of Alya’s self-righteousness, making her believe that Marinette was somehow guilty of what Lila told her about. Lila managed to turn nearly the entire class against her by appealing to their ‘hero’ side and outbursts from Marinette and the others made them more sure of themselves of being in the right. It was so deep-rooted that nothing would sway them to logical reasoning. Maybe except Phase 2. Phase 1 was made a little easier when Talia kidnapped her and made her miss a few days of school.

Phase 2 was to not acknowledge the lies or just appear uninterested. It would illustrate the point that people don’t have to listen to them if they don’t want to. If possible, sow little seeds of doubt to the ones Lila had a looser grip on. The more people they can slowly get on their side, the better.

Alya was confused, usually Marinette would throw a ‘temper tantrum’ about how she didn’t do that and Lila lied.“I-, you should-, You should apologize to Lila.”

Marinette raised an eyebrow, “For what this time?”

“For saying that she was lying.”

“Pray tell, when did in any of our conversations so far did I do that? I mean I don’t like the fact that she just accused me with little evidence of paying my someone to be my boyfriend but I am not going to fight with anyone over it. Maybe I did do that, Maybe I didn’t. Maybe there is a good reason I did those things. The thing is Lila should keep to her own business and I will keep to mine. And as should you. I know you are a reporter at heart but you should at the very least respect my privacy.”

Alya stayed silent, fuming. Everyone was looking at them now. She realized that the designer was right and if she pushed further, she would be the bad guy.

“I thought so. Now, go away. I have nothing else to say to you. Let Chloe finish her story of how she met Tim which you so rudely interrupted.”

“Who’s Tim?” Lila asked, wanting to know more about Marinette’s boyfriend to work on an angle to get him away from the ravenette.

“Mari-Bug’s boyfriend’s older brother. Now, shoo peasants, we are talking. Anyways, Mommy took me to when I was younger so I could mingle with all the other rich kids and get connections. Timothy was there and back then, he was still with the Drakes...”

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lila and Alya returned to their seats, both were visibly upset although Lila was seething inside. When Marinette was not at school for the last two days, the Italian thought that it was the last she had seen of her. Today, she showed up with a handsome boy on her arm and by the looks of his clothes, rich too. If she manages to get ‘Damian’ to break up with that pest and date her instead, then she would have a rich, handsome boyfriend devoted to her and that brat would be so heart-broken that an akuma so powerful would be made that even Ladybug won’t be able to defeat. A two for one deal. Lila started planning (scheming) to take her boyfriend away.

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(Part 7)

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Edit: I am so sorry. I forget to add the taglist.

Tag list: @alysrose-starchild, @buginetye, @lookatthestars1, @blackroserelina, @macncheesemonster, @mochinek0, @myazael, @tonicxworld, @thewitchwhowaited, @t1dwarrior-of-earth, @kissa-chan, @iwantasecretidentity, @theymakeupfairies, @user00000003, @woe-is-me0, @kashlyn, @mochegato,@moonlightstar64 , @greatcatblaze, @moongoddesskiana, @tazanna-blythe. @tonicxworld, @toodaloo-kangaroo, @frieddonutsweets, @local-witch-of-mn, @lady-bee-fechin, @iglowinggemma28, @indecisive-mess-named-me, @k-tea-and-coffee, @jayjayspixiepop, @all-mights-asscheeks, @idk-j-go-with-it , @loysydark, @thenillabean, @lolieg, @zalladane, @silvergold-swirl, @henie04, @blueblossombliss, @khneltea, @mochegato, @itsmeevie01, @roguishredaxion, @alyssadeliv, @steph-hearthlight, @adrestar, @eliza-bich, @abrx2002, @hikari55ttva, @doglover82, @daminette5074, @moon5608,@justafanwarrior, @allis-sun, @animegirlweeb, @aespades, @corporeal-terrestrial, @mildlydeadly, @kanamexzeroyaoifangirl,

#damian x marinette #maribat #ml x dc #daminette #mlb x dc #a failed betrothal #betrothal au: take 2

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itsclydebitches · 3 years

Text

RWBY Recaps: Volume 8 “The Final Word”

Well, we made it to the finale, everyone, and if you're reading this it seems you've survived the watching of it too. Barely. To say that some questionable choices were made across these 20 minutes is... an understatement.

But before we delve into the episode, I want you to cast your mind back to November 7th, 2020. A horrible year that heralded a horrible RWBY volume. There, coming off the shaky writing of Volume 7, I posed a number of questions and concerns that the show needed to tackle, with the promise that we would return to these expectations in four months time. Now, here we are! Let's refresh everyone's memory, yeah?

Taken directly from that recap, what RWBY promised us, through various teasers and Q&As, included:

Emphasis on Ruby’s leadership and how Summer’s death has impacted her

Insight into Ren and Nora’s flaws

May Merigold will supposedly have a larger part

More information about The Long Memory (Ozpin’s cane)

Theme of the volume is that you can respect someone but that doesn’t necessarily mean you agree with them

Very short timeline (supposedly just two days)

Yang in particular is very suspicious and distrustful

And you know what? They did all this. In the spirit of being fair and honest to this show, RWBY succeeded in delivering on everything they promised... it was just our foolishness that expected that these ideas would be delivered well. Ruby's leadership took center stage in the form of her hiding for multiple episodes and then others telling her she's still The Best before the plot dropped a solution into her lap... one she could have used at any point prior to this. Summer's death certainly has an impact, though it's an impact born of a crazy reveal that Summer likely isn't dead, but turned into a horrifying grimm monster. Ren and Nora both delve into their flaws, but heaven forbid either grow from that reflection. Ren learns that if he pushes past his primary flaw of keeping his emotions buried and actually expresses his doubts for once, he'll be yelled at and ignored until he admits how wrong he was. The "real" flaw is being a bad friend, with "bad friend" equaling "Not agreeing with Ruby 100%." Meanwhile, Nora considers that maybe she shouldn't rush in recklessly and hit things with her hammer... which is why she rushes in recklessly, hits something with her hammer, gets grievously injured, and is told that this is just who she truly is. No growth there, not unless we count her sudden desire to figure out who she is without Ren... but that exploration hasn't started yet. Too bad she wasn't the teammate separated at the end of the volume!

Meanwhile, May did indeed have a larger role to play, one I quite liked, it's just that this role — like all the others — inevitably circled back to realizing how wonderful Ruby is. May challenges Ruby to make a decision, but instead of being the catalyst for Ruby's growth, May becomes another forgotten side character who does a sudden about-turn regarding her perspective, leaving the group with the contradictory message that Ruby is actually doing her best, she's just a kid, no need to try any harder... everyone who claimed otherwise up until now was mistaken. May is another Cordovin. She's another Qrow. She's another Maria.

Fun fact: we don't even know if Maria is alive right now. That's how little she means to the show!

Actually, wait... anyone remember this nonsense from Volume 7?

I was too lazy to change the date.

Moving on, Ozpin's cane turned out to be a stakes obliterating bomb that came out of nowhere, makes no sense logistically — how do battles store energy that only hurts grimm? — yet nevertheless seems to have killed Hazel? It's a disaster of unanswered questions. Similar to the disaster of our two day timeline when, I'm fairly sure, we've had an unnatural number of sunrises and sunsets. I'll have to take a look back at the volume as a whole now that it's complete to be sure of that though. As for our themes... did we really explore the idea of respecting someone even if you disagree with them? Because Ironwood wasn't shown any respect. Ren wasn't shown respect. I think the closest we got was Oscar calmly validating Yang's worry about getting buddy-buddy with Emerald, but the whole point there was that Yang was wrong. She wasn't wrong, but that's what the text would have you believe. She is indeed "very suspicious and distrustful," but that's hardly unjustified in these circumstances. I'm still boggling at the fact that it took the group three volumes for forgive Ozpin, even while he was actively working to assist them, yet I-helped-destroy-Beacon-and-tried-to-kill-everyone-you-love Emerald is the group's new BFF after she... ran away with Oscar? She didn't save him, she just went along for the ride. At the very least we might have gotten a scene where Penny was like, "Hey, why are you all laughing with the woman who just tried to kill my dad?"

But oh yeah, the story doesn't remember Pietro exists either. His daughter is DEAD and he hasn't been on screen since Episode Five, let alone there when she passes.

I had my own list going in, including such expectations as "Ozpin bb you got done dirty please acknowledge this" and "Queer baiting, queer baiting… you’re on thin ice at this point, RWBY. Just skate on over to the queer snack bar before you fall straight into the lake." Obviously these needs were not met.

So what, given this mess of expectations, did we end up with?

Our finale — for some reason — breaks the one word title trend with "The Final Word." It's an expression that refers to the final word in an argument or a discussion, the idea of winning by making a last, devastating point. It can also refer to making the final decision on something, which is the best way I'm able to apply the title to this episode (outside of any “final” comparisons). Penny's death is certainly all about choice and making some kind of decision... but on the whole, this title doesn't feel like it fits well. Not like "Worthy" or "Creation" or "Risk." The two latter titles had obvious connections to the episode in question through dialogue and plot, while the former was a deliberate callback to Watts' speech. "The Final Word" feels... less obvious in what it’s trying to say.

That's a minor nitpick though. Let's get into the meat of the episode.

We open on the grimm whale still disappearing, which is weird. I get that it's massively bigger than any other grimm we've seen, but they all turned to dust near instantaneously and it's been, what? At least an hour since Oscar blew it up? Likely longer when we factor in their walk back to the manor, the fight with Ironwood, fixing Penny, and this entire evacuation. It certainly makes for a nice visual, but like so many details in RWBY, it raises unnecessary questions along the way.

The important bit though is that amidst the whale carcass a blob of evil is swirling about. Salem, obviously.

She’s not reforming in time to actually do anything though, don't worry.

Instead, we cut to the Ironwood vs. Winter fight and there's at least some dialogue this time. Ironwood yells that he's sacrificed everything to keep Remnant safe. Winter yells back that he actually sacrificed everyone else. Obviously, Ironwood should be called out for things like, you know, his unprompted murders, but instead they have Winter listing stuff that she was never shown to have a problem with before. The embargo? "Squeezed Mantle until it broke?" She, as Ironwood's second hand, understood and supported both the decision to close the border and the need to collect resources for a plan designed to take out Salem. I hate that no only did she turn without an ounce of hesitation or grief, but now they're having her act as if Ironwood forced these decisions on everyone, rather than everyone supporting him through them. We all remember Volume 7 when Ruby pressured him to finish Amity, right? And in trust RWBY fashion, most of these words are meaningless. Mantle "broke"? What does that mean? The class disparity did not come about through Ironwood: that's been in the works for generations. The lack of resources made things harder, yes, but when they were reclaimed by Robyn nothing improved. Watts is the one who turned off the heat and Salem attacked Atlas, leaving Mantle alone. Now, all the citizens have escaped through magical portals. So how is Mantle "broken" exactly? More importantly, why is Winter upset over this vague, nonsensical dilemma when she could be yelling about Ironwood wanting to bomb Mantle?

Again: this woman watched Ironwood shoot the councilman, shrugged, and continued to believe in him up until she realized his bomb threat was real. That was one of the main reasons why I thought the councilman might be alive, with Ironwood only shooting a warning shot past him. Because this is how you react to a good person unexpectedly killing someone else

whereas this is what we got from Winter and Harriet.

Hell, Weiss has more of a reaction to Yang telling Ruby things aren't super great right now.

So either Ironwood didn't do something that bad, thereby justifying these tame reactions (unlikely, given where his character ended up), or we should believe based on the animation that everyone was super chill with him killing an unarmed civilian. Which is then directly contradicted when they're like, "You're going to shoot Marrow? Bomb a city?? How could you do such horrible things??? 😲" Friends, buddies, fictional pals... you already watched him murder a dude.

The point is, there's a lot for Winter to be upset about, but she's not upset about that. There's a lot that Winter herself believed in, but the writing has forgotten that. This entire arc went off the rails a volume ago.

Also, why is Ironwood fighting with that giant gun? This is his final battle, presumably ever, and he's wielding this awkward, sluggish weapon we saw him randomly pick up two episodes ago? Let him use his regular guns! Give us a fantastic battle like he had with Watts! Instead, RWBY's final showdown consists of him using this no-name weapon as a unwieldy club in some of the most boring choreography we've seen to date. It doesn't help that this fight needs to share time with three others. Instead of an epic showdown, we're given glimpses of the battle before continually cutting away from it.

During that first cut we return to the Team RWBY battle where Penny, doing her best to stay out of Cinder's reach, is whisked away on Weiss' wasp.

Too bad she didn't do that for Yang...

Jaune and Nora watch this horror unfold until Jaune says, "Priority one!" and they split. Except... what is priority one exactly? Helping the civilians? I guess, because they don't enter the fight until the very end of it, when everyone else seems to have made it to Vacuo. And you know what, I like that. For once it feels like the group — or at least the B Team — is acting like huntsmen, putting the needs of the people over their own, personal desires. I'm sure Nora wants to help the group after Yang's (presumed) demise and that Jaune would like nothing more than to get his hands on Cinder, but they put those grievances aside to do the work they signed up for. Good job!

My only real gripe is that we don't really see this struggling in the animation, I'm just assuming it's there. In particular, there's a moment when Jaune sends Nora through the portal for reinforcements — not knowing they can't return — and they seem a little too jovial when, by this point, three friends have died.

There's letting your cast be supportive, and then there's having them ignore that three teammates have perished in an abyss. It really doesn't help to sell the idea that Yang, Ruby, and Blake are in any danger here.

But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Penny tells Weiss that since Cinder is really just after the Maiden powers, she can buy the rest of the group time to escape. Weiss, obviously, isn't fond of this idea... and then the both of them are blasted off the wasp by Cinder's fire. Which they deserve, frankly. They're just having this casual conversation about sacrifice while in the middle of a battle. Did they somehow forget that Cinder can fly too?

Note that multiple attacks from Cinder, another blast, and a hard landing on the pathway gives their auras a knock, but doesn't break them. The primary defense for Yang's aura shattering in a single, simple hit was that everyone is exhausted and running on little to no power... yet here the rest of the cast is, tanking multiple hits as we've come to expect. There is no explanation for Yang's defeat except that the writers chose to ignore the rules of their world for a dramatic death scene... even though that drama was erased a week later as half our team falls into the void too.

We'll get to that though. For now, Cinder corrects Penny's belief with "I want it all" and proceeds to try to finish them off, only for Blake to arrive, having made her choice from last episode about who to help. It's a legitimately nice attack, but I happened to pause at the bEST MOMENT

Anyway.

We leave that fight to return to Qrow and Harriet who have, off screen, started an entirely different battle. What I mean is, last we saw Qrow had broken through the windshield of the airship, roughly pinned Harriet, and was taunting her about getting the fight she wanted. Now, suddenly, he's going “You’re making a mistake, Harriet, what happened to Clover—” as if he's been trying to talk her down this whole time. It's jarring, especially when we consider that Qrow had a volume long "kill Ironwood" arc that was dropped because... Robyn reminded him that murder is bad? RWBY feels like a storytelling pinball machine. Characters bounce from one personality to the next, one perspective and another, round and round until you don't know where they'll end up.

Harriet screams for Qrow to just shut up already and honestly? Same. I love Qrow, he's one of my favorites, but I can't deny that he's been done dirty like so many others since Volume 6. I love who Qrow was, not the mess RWBY has created the last few years.

Time to delve back into fic after recapping!

Sadly though, this strange dialogue wasn't the only "wtf" moment. Harriet is still trying to drop the bomb — which is its own mess of confusing motivations — when Vine and Elm show up on Harriet's ship. Elm begs Harriet not to do this "because you’re our friend!”

Am I glad that they finally acknowledged that the Ace Ops have always been friends? Sure, but why did we spend two volumes claiming otherwise? They were friends, a fantastic team, then Harriet announces that's a lie and we get a bunch of "Team RWBY is superior because they're actually friends" messages. Except this entire time we're still watching the Ace Ops be kind and playful with one another. But they're not friends, the story says. Not friends as they fight these battles. Not friends as they grieve for Clover. Definitely not friends as they react in horror at Ironwood nearly shooting Marrow. No, there's nothing there... until Elm claims there is! Then Harriet reacts in shock. I have friends?

Except Elm was labeled the one "just following orders" by Yang. Elm is the one who shook off Vine after the whale exploded. This isn't the story of one character, Harriet, thinking she was alone and then realizing that people do care for her, this is a story that, seemingly at random, had this group being BFFs or acting like they hated each other — and at each point the visuals are contradicted by the story's message. When they act like friends, we're told they're not friends. When they don't act like friends, we're told they really have been this whole time. I mean, do any of them even care that Marrow teamed up with Qrow and Robyn to take them out five minutes ago? All three were going along with Ironwood's scheme until they were physically stopped, but now Elm is convinced this is a bad decision she needs to talk Harriet down from with the power of friendship?

None of these characters are characters, they're just slapped together reactions based on whatever the plot needs. Who is Elm? I've got no clue. Her personality changes every episode.

Also, love that Qrow moves to stop the bomb from dropping and Harriet screams at him to "Get out of the way!" rather than just... attacking him? She even throws her hands out like she's having a temper tantrum. This feels like schoolyard bickering, not a life or death struggle.

Even though, you know, the audience is aware that the people of Mantle have already been evacuated and Qrow's group is aware that Atlas is falling on top of Mantle as they speak, so... why does the bomb matter? It's going to, what? Destroy the city thirty seconds before Atlas does? Oh no, the horror.

Things then, if you can believe it, get even worse. The bomb is still about to drop, so instead of doing anything to stop it — I mean seriously, we know it takes four people to shoulder the bomb's weight, but you're telling me Qrow and a reformed Harriet can't snag it in a pinch? — Qrow sits there, looks at Clover's pin... and the bomb careens towards the side of the airship instead, stopping.

Because I guess Qrow has good luck now? Or always did and somehow never noticed it? Or his semblance evolved?? Again, we don't know, but it's a bad moment any way you slice it, imo. Qrow has always been defined as the guy with a bad luck semblance and, much like Penny's android struggles, the allure was in watching him overcome those challenges, not having the show erase the challenge entirely. Especially when we don't even understand how it was erased. Qrow just... stops drinking, stops caring for Ironwood, stops wanting to kill Ironwood, stops causing bad luck, I guess. RWBY takes major character traits and flips them off like a light switch, leaving the audience with no emotional tether. We didn't watch Qrow overcome his drinking, or realize he can't bear to kill Ironwood, or discover a way to live life with the horrible hand he was dealt, he just blinks one day and those things are gone. Why? No one is sure. Not even the writers, I'd wager, because otherwise they would have written explanations into the text.

Many in the fandom insist that any basic information provided by the story amounts to "hand holding" when in fact there is a massive difference between the sort of unnecessary exposition that bogs down a tale, and having facts enough for the audience in its entirety to be on the same page about what is actually happening. For example, recently someone argued strongly that the "Penny is human" take is incorrect because Penny isn't human, she has an inhuman body made entirely of aura... yet where in the world does this exist in the story? Ambrosius may have been unsure about what Penny would be prior to removing her robotic parts, but that ambiguity is gone once her body forms, the equivalent of worrying about that gun only for a flag with 'BANG' to appear instead of a bullet. Worrying about something doesn't mean that something actually occurred. Penny appears human, expresses human sentiments, and then, this episode, dies as a human. If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck and succumbs to the mortal peril that all ducks face... it's probably a duck. As I said in a recent ask, I implore the fandom to stop writing RWBY's scripts for them. Or rather, do so in some amazing fanfics. Don't do it on critical posts as a means of insisting that your revision is canon.

So Qrow has good luck now, maybe, but this character change doesn't amount to anything because Watts remotely starts the bomb's countdown.

At least he’s entertaining and competent. We had that for a time.

Back to the main battle, Neo is kicking Ruby's ass. Why? Because there's no consistency in power levels in this show. The ancient woman who hasn't fought in decades dances circles around Neo, highlighting how weak she supposedly is, yet now Neo dances circles around our main character. None of us should expect fights to follow the logic of the world, only what drama the plot wants to stir up. Ruby is eventually knocked down from a hard hit — yet her aura's intact! — and is saved at the last second by Weiss tossing Neo into one of the portals.

Far more of a problem than the power leveling is that Ruby gives no indication here that Neo just murdered her sister. Again, that's what the characters are meant to believe, yet Ruby is as stoic as she would be fighting a bunch of White Fang grunts. If you showed this scene to a RWBY fan on its own and asked, "What do you think happened prior to this?" the answer would be, "Uh... nothing? Ruby is just fighting Neo like she did on the airship in Volume 3." Nothing about this scene — from dialogue to animation — sells the idea that Ruby just lost the person most important to her in the world.

When we do finally mention Yang, it's Weiss who goes, “Come on, we have to do this for Yang” and the delivery is... meh. Honestly, I normally don't pay much attention to the voice acting, but I had a problem with most of Weiss' lines this episode. The "Leave her alone!" during this fight and later a "Get back!" as she attacks Cinder both fell really flat for me. Given the devastation and charged emotion that's supposed to be here, we can't give her anything better than generic cries that, again, she’d throw at any grunt? In that later scene the animation absolutely helps sell Weiss' distress, but the dialogue is common and the delivery has no emotional punch, leaving it feeling like Yang is just hanging out in Vacuo and they promised they'd beat the baddies before catching up with her. No one but Blake is acting like Yang died.

In fact, we see more emotion from Ruby when Weiss shoves her back, taking the brunt of Cinder's blast.

Weiss' aura breaks, not that that's a danger or anything. Everyone falls before they're injured, Winter gets the Maiden powers, Ren barely has to fight. Losing aura in this show used to be a moment of peril, where just last volume Winter was bruised, bleeding, and now needs an assistive device because she had to continue a battle with no aura. Now it's a joke. Aura breaks left and right across the volume with no repercussions attached to that.

We see a bit of the Blake and Penny vs. Cinder fight where Cinder blasts Blake off the edge. Penny rushes after her because at least one character remembered that they can fly.

Ruby, meanwhile, remembers that she can fly when it benefits her. After getting hit down onto a lower level and watching Crescent Rose plummet, she taunts Neo into an attack with a move that's actually quite good. I like the confidence with which Ruby riles her up and I like the strategy of darting behind Neo to knock her off the path instead. “Whatever you wanted, I hope it was worth it."

The only thing I don't like is that this speed and ingenuity had to disappear to justify Yang falling.

Cinder breaks Ruby's aura from behind though, sending her over too and grabbing onto Neo's leg. In an obvious moment born of the trope, it looks as if Cinder is reaching to help Neo, only for her to snag the Relic instead. “You should have never threatened me," she tells Neo and to Ruby: "you should have never been born.”

Love that they erased all that cool growth from last episode! And by "love" I mean "hate." As I said last recap, I'm not going to pretend that Cinder's character isn't riddled with problems, but realizing she was stronger by teaming up with Neo and Watts was one of the best things they've ever done for her. It made Cinder dangerous again and showed Watts' speech having a clear impact. It also made her more entertaining, creating a new dynamic among the three villains. Now though, Cinder is just... Cinder. The same boring, stupid Cinder we've had since Volume 4. She betrays Neo and then later betrays Watts.

So Cinder kicks Neo and Ruby both over the edge because why would we want to make her interesting? Neo falls, but Ruby has friends there to catch her! Unlike Yang. Jk. Weiss’ aura is gone and Blake actually tried both times, so major kudos for her. Using momentum supplied by Penny, she snags Ruby and hooks her weapon into one of the pathways... only for Cinder to cut the ribbon. Both plummet and once again Penny has a more believable reaction to all this, just like she did last week

Speaking of reactions, does anyone else find it weird that Cinder finally succeeded in killing Ruby and... doesn’t seem to care?

No? Just me?

At least we get that good animation with Weiss I was talking about before, even if the dialogue is lacking. I love that she snagged Blake's weapon and uses it to try and take out Cinder, shaking the whole time. Those are some great details.

Back to the bomb, Qrow is trying to escape, but Harriet says there isn't enough time to get out of the blast range. "I've killed us all." Vine has the solution though, using his semblance to wrap up the airship, thus containing the blast when it goes off. His final words are to reassure Elm that he can give his life, "if it means saving all of my friends." Just in case you missed the part about the Ace Ops being super close this whole time. Even though they also weren’t. Trying to eat your cake too, RWBY?

Frankly, I didn't feel much of anything during this scene, not when Vine made the sacrifice, nor when Elm and Harriet look on sadly while Robyn pilots them away (that's her contribution this episode).

All I can say is, good on RWBY for not killing one of the three dark skinned characters, or just murdering the Ace Ops as a whole. What the story is going to do with them though, who knows.

Jaune and Nora have that ‘You can do it!’ moment after three of their friends have presumably been killed. I swear, about 80% of Jaune's scenes do not work tonally and oh boy, things only get worse from here.

First though, I like his entrance. He slams into the fight against Cinder and lines up with Penny and Weiss, who is still dual-wielding her and Blake's weapons. That's an epic shot.

It looks as if they stand a decent chance against Cinder — Weiss' lost aura notwithstanding — except then Cinder's arm starts going crazy and she gleefully announces that Salem has returned.

Working on a time limit now, Cinder unleashes a volley of attacks that Penny steps in to protect the other two from. It's here that Cinder grabs hold with her grimm arm.

It's here that Penny dies. Again.

For the third time.

Friends, I am tired. This moment honestly deserves the most epic of rants, but that, in turn, requires energy. Energy? In this economy? Ha! That's hilarious. Taking this seriously though, the problem here can — as usual — be boiled down to a single question: What was the point?

Penny died in a horrible attack that shook the cast and audience both to their core.

That emotional impact was erased through her resurrection.

The resurrection did not create a new emotional impact for our heroes to grapple with.

Penny is given the Maiden powers, solidifying the fact that she's always been a "real girl."

That lesson was erased when the story decided to make her human for unexplained reasons (because no, she never needed to be human to survive the virus).

Penny then dies, passing the power to Winter... who was set to get the power in the first place.

We have, once again, come full circle. You can take Penny out of the story and nothing changes. Does Ruby lose any lessons or emotional growth? No. Does anyone survive who would have otherwise died? No. Does her getting the powers lead to someone unexpected snagging them upon her death? No. Penny's existence was filler. She was put in the story to take up time and, that done, was removed from the story once again. It's a choice that wouldn't be half as horrible if that filler hadn't done so much damage along the way.

First is the obvious: that Penny didn't deserve this. As a character, she didn't deserve to be brought back just to be killed off again, seemingly without narrative purpose, serving only to draw in viewers who RT knew loved the character. Second, keeping her in the story led to her entire arc unraveling. Initially, Penny died as an android in the world's eyes, but those who actually knew her — Ruby and Pietro — mourned the girl she really was. Now we have this horrible message that being a machine isn't real enough, so she has to die as a human being. It's a disservice to her character and, as an allegory for many minorities, downright insulting to the audience. Third, this offensive 'better to die as a human than live as a robot' message is wrapped up in the claim that Penny finally gets to choose something — “Let me choose this one thing. Trust me” — but she already did that when she chose to take the Maiden powers. We already had the better written version of this last volume!

And the fourth issue...well.

Fourth and fifth are the real kickers. Fourth is that Penny's death was an assisted suicide. She explicitly asks Jaune to kill her so she can ensure she's thinking of the right person when she passes (never mind that her thoughts would probably be on Jaune while this is happening) and that's... pretty horrible. Look, I'm no purist. I like a great deal of dark, gritty stories whose plot exists to make us uncomfortable. That's a valuable emotion that fiction can generate. The problem is not that RWBY is tackling a sensitive topic, but that they aren’t tackling it well. Yes, they put in a content warning and (from what I've heard) a suicide helpline as well, but providing the already necessary resources is not the same thing as writing that kind of scene with respect and care. All of the above tells us that, no matter what RT may have intended, that respect and care weren't communicated to the audience. Like Yang, they didn't even bother to keep Penny's death within the rules of their world. Jaune is right there ready to heal her and Penny says no, there's supposedly not time.

Um... since when?

Jaune's aura boost is instantaneous. The second he amplifies aura is the same second the healing starts and their talk could have been spent saving Penny. There was certainly time to save Weiss in Volume 5. To have a character go, 'Nah, it's too late' when the solution is right there is the ultimate cop-out. Suddenly announcing that the solution will no longer work For Reasons is not a legitimate limitation and it's made doubly insulting that RT didn't simply use the limitations already available to them. Jaune has been running low on aura since the whale. He then expended a great deal of aura boosting Penny to keep the virus in check. Every other ally has had their aura broken in this fight so, there. That's your solution. Have Jaune take a few hard hits from Cinder, his aura breaks, and then when Penny is mortally wounded he no longer has a semblance to heal her. It's that easy! Yet instead they had Penny reject help so that she could ask to die. That's what's offensive here.

Finally, reason number five... why is this moment given to Jaune? That's another easy solution: Jaune has gone through the portal and can't get back to heal Penny. There. Done. But logistics aside, this scene should have gone to any other character. Who is Jaune to Penny? Or Penny to Jaune? No one! They don't have a relationship. I get that the writers didn't want any of the girls at her side because then it would be hard to justify Penny not passing the power to them (which I get: making one team member a Maiden changes the show drastically), but you know who should be there instead of Jaune?

Pietro.

Pietro, who built Penny as a weapon and who was never given the chance to apologize for that. Pietro, who told Ruby he could only rebuild her once more, setting up an expectation that he'd sacrifice himself for his daughter (despite the complicated racial issues that would bring up). Pietro, who watched Penny plummet and has no idea what happened to her, let alone that she's been made into a human girl. Pietro should have been at her side, saying goodbye to his child and helping her complete her last wish.

And it would be so very easy to pull off. All it takes is a single line where Penny remembers that her father exists, asking Ruby to ensure a portal opens up in Amity. There's a quick reunion along the pathways before Cinder attacks. We hear a cry of despair as Penny falls and she looks, seeing her father racing towards her, though she thought he'd already made it out. There, you’re done. We open ourselves up to a lot of attacks whenever we say, "Why didn't RWBY just do ____?" because those who vehemently defend the writing like to go, "Oh, you think you could write RWBY better?" and no, I don't. I struggle with long-form storytelling and massive casts. I don't think I could do justice to the sort of show RWBY wants to be, but I do think I'm a decent enough writer to spot when there are major problems like this. The question of "Why doesn't Penny remember that her beloved dad exists?" and "Why, out of that massive cast, is Jaune the one to do this deed?" are both things that a newbie writer can spot, and a sometimes okay writer can figure out how to fix them both simultaneously. A good writer will start thinking about themes — what might it mean for Pietro to kill the creation he made? — and a great writer will find a way to pull that off without having that insulting, discomforting feeling pop up. At this point, our RWBY crew feels less like new writers making mistakes (because they're not new, not at all), but rather just writers who haven't bothered to learn from their mistakes after eight years. That's a lot harder to watch.

Because putting Jaune here doesn't just mess with RWBY's internal rules (not using his semblance) and it's not just useless in terms of Penny's development (she doesn't know him outside of "dude who boosted my aura for an hour"), but it also falls back into a pattern I thought RWBY had finally broken from: making Jaune the story's emotional center. This is not the JAUNE show. It's the RWBY show. Yet here, once again, we have Jaune in the spotlight. Why, after a whole volume of Ruby avoiding making decisions, does Jaune finally make the hard call? Why, after a scene where Penny asked Ruby to kill her, does Jaune do that deed? Why, after a divisive arc where all the grief for Pyrrha went to Jaune, is Jaune now set to shoulder the grief of Penny? At least Jaune had a relationship with Pyrrha, even if Nora and Ren did too. Yet with Penny he seems to be there solely because the writers can't bear to keep him out of that center spot for long. All of Team JNOR make it through to Vacuo... except Jaune. Jaune falls into the abyss too because, if the show goes this route, we apparently can’t have a volume just about Team RWBY, the main characters. The main characters are separated from the rest of the team and it's Jaune, not Oscar and Ozpin with a connection to the lore, not Nora or Ren whose development now hinges on them learning who they are without the other, it's Jaune who follows the title characters into a new dimension.

The issue is not whether Jaune deserves to grieve over the truly traumatic thing he just did now that he’s done it. He obviously does. The issue is the writers setting up a scenario where Jaune is situated to do that emotional work in the first place.

I like Jaune as a character. I don't like how the writing uses him as a character. RWBY is built on the idea that these four girls are the heroes of this tale, not the expected blond, blue-eyed, sword wielding guy we’ve seen in so many other stories. So why does that guy get the most important scene of the finale? Yes, Jaune had much less screen time this volume than he did in the past, that’s a good thing given the number of important characters RWBY has to balance, but that hasn't erased the problem of him being given significant moments that should be going to title characters. Does Ruby’s team rescue Oscar and take on Salem? No, Jaune's team does. Does Ruby's team save Penny? No, Jaune's semblance keeps her grounded and then holds the virus off. Not everything is a problem — we've also got good choices like having Ruby defeat the Hound and Ruby's team take on Cinder for the majority of the fight — but that doesn't erase that Penny’s death wasn’t something Jaune should have been a part of. Not unless he was going to heal her. Doing better than they have in the past doesn't mean that RT isn't still slipping when it comes to giving him undeserved focus.

They took one of the most controversial characters, controversial because of how much emotional focus he's gotten in the past, and had him help a fan favorite commit suicide while he cried about it, showing more emotion for a near stranger than our title character showed for her sister. This is a character who, up until two or three episodes ago, had no connection to the victim and still has no reason to thematically be the one committing this act. That is why the fandom goes, “The crew loves Jaune and does everything they can to put him in the center of the action.” Ruby, as main character and Penny’s first friend, is the obvious choice here. Pietro, as Penny's father, would be a good choice too. Hell, Nora is a better option given their moment in the Schnee manor this volume. Or Winter given their moments in Volume 7! Have her escape Ironwood, find Penny, receive the powers, and then finish him off. Literally anyone would be better than Jaune, not because Jaune is a bad character, but because Jaune has no emotional stakes here and putting him in a position where he could heal Penny but doesn’t is massively stupid. No one should be surprised that a lot of the fandom is upset about this. It was one hell of a reach to give him this moment and, since Jaune's problem has always been getting too much screen time and emotional nuance compared to our main cast, it's no wonder this act brought up a lot of bad memories. RT fell back into an old pattern after two volumes of improvement and they did so at the worst possible time.

The tl;dr is that Penny's third death is a writing travesty, just like her second. I shouldn't be surprised, given that this is the same volume that tortured a kid and the only thing they did with it was have him blindly trust his torturer... yet I find myself surprised nonetheless. Because Penny had such potential as an android Maiden and, as much as I personally hated it, potential as a former android learning to be human too. But why explore any of that when you can kill her off instead? Again.

As a final, far smaller note about this scene, we have the continuing problem of what purpose Cinder's arm is serving. If everyone recalls, its threat comes primarily from the fact that she can "siphon off" power from other Maidens.

She did it to Penny during the Amity battle and now she does it again, a great deal of green energy absorbed into Cinder. So what's left to give to Winter? Why doesn't Cinder become noticeably stronger with each successful theft? Like so much else in RWBY, we're told it exists without actually seeing the impact of that. Winter isn't a weaker Maiden for having lost power and Cinder isn't a stronger Maiden for having snagged it. It's just.. there, hanging out and looking vaguely menacing, I guess.

Outside of this unnatural not-transfer, we get to see how the power normally passes as Penny meets with Winter in some in-between place. It's a soft, heartfelt scene... with the exception that Winter says, “You were always the real Maiden at heart. I was just the machine. Just following orders."

I don't know how any viewer can doubt that RT now believes machinery = evil. Penny's machine body is magicked away so she can be a real-real girl. Yang announces that the arm she worked hard to make a part of herself is just "extra." The man with half a metal body is made this volume's villain and losing his second arm is, by the authors' own admission, a symbol of his lost humanity. Mercury with two metal legs remains a bad guy while Emerald and Hazel are hastily redeemed. Tyrian with his cybernetic tail is the most devoted crazy of the bunch. Maria, blind and in need of assistive lenses, is so forgotten by the story she was left in the tundra nine episode ago and won't be mentioned again until next volume (if then). Pietro, the guy in the wheelchair, is forgotten too, despite it being his daughter who dies on screen.

Now Winter, also bearing an assistive device, says that she's the real "machine" here and tells Penny, now human, that she was always the "real Maiden." I don't know what happened to make RT do a 180 lately, but the disability rep is no longer what it was.

Penny reassures Winter that she'll always be a part of her and then passes on, for good this time.

The rest of the episode feels lackluster, if I'm being honest. Images of Cinder beating Weiss are intercut with Ironwood beating Winter, getting her to a point where her aura breaks.

But then the powers appear and, as we'd expect, she easily turns the tide.

Gorgeous animation there.

But RT once again rewrites earlier scenes by having Ironwood claim that the "destiny" he chose for Winter has finally arrived — isn't that Cinder's MO? — and Winter shoots back that he chose nothing, this was a "gift." Except, it was never about destiny or orders? This was why Weiss' anger in Volume 7 was ridiculous. She acted like Ironwood forced Winter to accept the powers and Winter told her point blank she chose this. Ironwood didn't decide anything, he offered and Winter chose... kind of like how Penny is choosing now. I hate how nearly all of Ironwood's character has been ignored or, during times like this, outright lied about to make him seem super duper evil. He tried to bomb a city! You don't need to make him seem evil anymore, that job is done! Like their sudden change regarding disability, RT now seems to be allergic to nuance. Heaven forbid Ironwood be allowed to have valid points like he did in Volume 3. No, if you've got an antagonist every single thing they've ever said must be twisted into a display of their evilness.

Unless you're Hazel, who Oscar trusts for #reasons. Unless you're Emerald, who the group immediately embraces. Unless you're Cinder, who gets to cry on a rooftop and secures the trust of her allies long enough to betray them again.

But Ironwood? Nah, screw that guy.

Salt aside, the fight is pretty boring. Winter literally just throws up a wall of ice and Ironwood's blast rebounds, taking him out.

Winter flies through the portal and we return to Jaune. His sword is broken by Cinder, so weapons should be quite the problem in Volume 9.

There's a bit of sword vs. sword Maiden battling — this episode really pulled heavily from both Volume 3 and 5's finales — before Cinder gets smart again and attacks Weiss, currently trying to escape with Jaune. Weiss goes right off the edge and Winter isn't able to reach her in time. That's the entirety of Team RWBY, lost to the magical void.

Kudos to Winter's VA and the writing here though. This feels like an appropriate reaction to losing a sister. Screaming, sobbing, falling to her knees and beating the floor... Ruby, take notes.

A roar sounds through all the portals though, the sort of roar a pissed off witch might give. Jaune convinces Winter they need to leave Cinder behind, but before they can escape Cinder... makes a new wish?

Look, it works on all the major fronts. Cinder has the staff, check. We've basically established that Ambrosius can make an unlimited number of things per era, check. We know the previous thing disappears when a new wish is made, check. My only question is the timing. In all honesty, I'll have to re-watch the scene to be sure, but at the time it felt like the portals began disappearing almost the second Cinder left. Did she really have time to summon Ambrosius, deal with his explanatory nonsense, and get him to make a new wish without any fiddly concerns? Sure, fire is just fire, but it still felt like way too much happening too fast off screen.

Either way, the portals are gone and Winter makes it through in time, but Jaune does not. He falls through the void along with Team RWBY. And Neo.

Neo is the only addition I'm looking forward to here.

We get a few shots of our other characters as Winter arrives, saving the day by taking her grief out on the grimm. So glad something came of Ren breaking his aura again! Maybe they'll be more fighting at the beginning of Volume 9? If we see any of this group outside of 9's finale. My worst fear right now is that we'll spend an entire season away from the main action — remember how I said it would be stupid for Team RWBY to go on a side adventure while Salem is attacking the world? — and when they return there will have been some major time skip. Salem has destroyed most of Remnant, only pockets of survivors remain, it's all dark and dystopian... and oh look, every bit of character development happened off screen. How did Nora discover who she is without Ren? She did it while Team RWBY was gone. That merge we've been teasing for five years? That happened while you were gone too and, btw, Ozpin has ceased to exist. So sad, right? Not that anyone will actually mourn. Just take comfort in the fact that his last line was an "Oh no" about Ambrosius and his last major scene was apologizing for how the group treated him. Emerald's redemption? Off screen. Winter's grief? Off screen. Any and every one of these challenging beats to tackle can be waved away with, "We went through that arc while you were lost in the magical realm. Just get to know our new, improved selves now!"

Please, oh writing gods, don't let that happen.

Though I do worry because my last prediction came true.

But we all knew we’d end up here. My current theory? The portal should still be open at the vault. Winter will fight Ironwood, escape through it, and it will close right before he escapes too. He’ll fall with Atlas and everyone will act as if it’s some beautiful, poetic justice for him to perish with the city.

Ironwood didn't make a break for the portal — too busy being unconscious — but we got everything else. Winter left him, he falls with Atlas, and this is some poetic justice, I guess. Really, it's just an undignified death. I'd hoped for a sympathetic kill, something that showed the characters still cared about him even if they knew Ironwood had to be stopped. Baring that, I'd hoped for an epic battle that took him out with style. Instead, no one even bothers to kill him. Ironwood is now beneath the entire cast, not even worth finishing off. Winter casually tosses his blast back at him and leaves. Cinder throws out a "that's checkmate" and leaves. I don't think Salem even looks at him. Ironwood (presumably) dies with no one and nothing, just a casualty of the city Team RWBY made fall. And I say "presumably" because the audience isn't even given the satisfaction of being sure he's passed on. Like Hazel, Ironwood's death is this weird, ambiguous moment that, based on the other character reactions, isn’t meant to be ambiguous. Is he dead? Most likely. Is it possible, based on what we've seen, that he'll pop up two volumes later like

Yes and, memes aside, that sucks. I don't want to be wondering for the next couple years if Ironwood survived and if they'll bring him back just to drag his character through the mud again. Move on.

But no, we don't even get that.

I've spoken at great deal about Ironwood both in these recaps and on my blog more generally. Last week, I said I'd covered it all and there was no need to rehash it all again. I stand by that, so let me just conclude this travesty with a final note: if your bad guy's final moment is using the last of his strength to point a gun at the actual villain of this story, and you don't realize the problem of how this image contrasts everything else the story has insisted about his character? … I just don't know what to do with that.

Oh, actually, final-final note: Ironwood’s semblance is officially a Schrodinger's semblance. It is both canonical and noncanonical simultaneously. Wooo.

Cinder tells Salem she used her wish to "add more flames to the first of Atlas" and we cut to Watts, trapped in a roaring fire, unsuccessfully trying to break his way out. Wow, I hate that too! Next to Tyrian, Watts was our last remaining, entertaining villain. He carried a lot of the last two volumes and, I had hoped, was going to add some bright spots to the coming volumes as well. Apparently not.

Just another waste.

In addition to this casual, second murder of her ally, Cinder successfully convinces Salem that Neo killed Ruby and Ruby used the Lamp's last question, but she's back in her good graces since she snagged the Relics anyway. “You’ve done well, Cinder. Our work here is done" and they leave, blasting off like a less cool Team Rocket as Atlas plummets into Mantle.

Let's spend a second to tally things up then, shall we? What happens if Ruby, instead of throwing a moral fit, says, "You're right and we never should have lied to you, or betrayed you. But we want to help now. You get the Relics and the Maiden to safety in Atlas, if you can, we'll defend the people of Mantle"?

Well, they can still tell the world about Salem and call for help, much more easily now since Ironwood would likely just give them the code rather than them needing to spend an episode stealing it.

The Staff at least may not have ended up in Salem's hands and the group could have actually focused on getting the Lamp back (also solved if they'd been smart and just put it in the vault to begin with).

Mantle would still have been safe because Salem was never interested in Mantle to begin with.

Atlas wouldn't have fallen.

Ironwood wouldn't have died.

Penny wouldn't have died.

Even Vine wouldn't have died!

Our heroes unambiguously made the situation worse. Rather than banding together with their allies to fight the real enemy, Salem, they pushed until they made enemies of Ironwood and the Ace Ops both. Then they asked for help — which a pinch of logic said would never arrive — and twiddled their thumbs waiting for it. When it was clear none would come they...did nothing. They sat around, upset that the people were in danger, but not willing to do anything about it. It's only when one of their own, Penny, is threatened that they kick into high gear, hitting on a solution that they could have posed to Ironwood from the very start if no one liked the fly away plan. Yet instead of taking a few minutes to brainstorm other ideas — doing anything other than denouncing Ironwood to the rest of the group and attacking the Ace Ops — they spent two days sitting around, fixing minor messes they’d helped to create, then rushed through the portal plan, messing up the wish and stranding an entire kingdom in a sandstorm, with only Winter now to protect them from grimm.

Fantastically done, team.

The villains won, yes, but not because the villains were smart and compelling. Watts' hack on Penny and the heat petered out to nothing and Salem... well, she sat around for the whole volume, expending energy only to torture Oscar and try to (unsuccessfully) stop some escapees. Neo and, miraculously, Cinder did the most damage, but only in the final hour, with this "damage" being that our characters fall into a void that we now know looks remarkably like a paradise! Everything bad that happened was a result of our heroes being stupid and stubborn. That's a compelling story to tell... but RT isn't trying to tell it. Our heroes caused so much damage, yet that damage goes unacknowledged — or worse, ignored into silence like with Ren — and everything else is waved away with the magic wand the series claims isn't there. The cold doesn't kill anyone. Oscar has no problems walking off the torture. Nora hops back out of bed. Ruby one-shots the Hound. The civilians lost to the void must have survived too. The entire kingdom successfully makes it to Vacuo... unless you count the massive army we never saw making use of the portals, but who cares about them, right?

The villains won, there was indeed something resembling consequences, but none of it was emotionally satisfying. Not even when the series tries so hard to insist that emotion is there.

Qrow watches Atlas fall, mouthing Ruby and Yang's names, but it's too little, too late. Where was this care for his nieces when he was obsessed with killing Ironwood? When did they care about him? Was it when Ruby shrugged at his arrest, when neither cared that he was missing, or when they were designing an escape plan that didn't include putting a portal where Qrow could reach? RWBY markets itself around the found family-ness of its cast, but they're done a poor job in recent volumes (not others) of convincing me that most of these characters care for one another. We went from Ruby denouncing all adults, to Ruby pulling an Ozpin with Ironwood, to Ruby watching blandly as her sister falls to her presumed death. This is my hero? This is the simple soul we're supposed to rally behind? Ruby doesn't feel like a character who cares about other people anymore and, given that she leads the charge, neither do most of her friends. Or, when that emotion appears, it's jarring and undeserved. Jaune cries over Penny's death? That's tonally and characteristically backwards.

This volume was the culmination of so many mistakes over the past two years. No, Covid couldn't have made things any easier for the crew — the fact that they got a volume out at all is amazing — but the pandemic isn't to blame for the problems in the story. These seeds have existed since Volume 5, with some (like Jaune) going back even farther. I don't think we're ever going to get that flawed, but emotionally fulfilling RWBY back. The show has dug too deep and unless it somehow manages to create a clean slate — those time travel ideas get more and more alluring! — there's nothing they can do but keep on digging. At this point, I can only hope that the series does wrap up within the next two volumes, rather than dragging RWBY to a Supernatural-esque length.

Our final shot of the episode proper feels fitting for what this volume has been. Atlas and Mantle flood rather than exploding, something that makes a certain amount of sense, sure, but definitely wasn't what I was expecting. And after all these shocking images — Penny dying, the grimm attacking, our main characters disappearing in a puff of gold dust — we end it all with bits of random debris. It's strange and underwhelming. Out of everything you could have done with the options you had, you choose to do this?

Of course, RWBY always has an after-credits scene (RIP Raven's, still amounting to nothing). Here, the sounds of water return to show us a beach. Crescent Rose imbedded in the sand, mirroring its classic pose in the snow.

There's a tree. It's a very different kind of tree from what we saw in Volume 6, but the height and shape is nevertheless reminiscent of Light's domain.

A tree of life, anyone? After all, the group has fallen into a dimension created by a Relic, the gift of Light himself. It certainly seems as if RWBY is heading towards another encounter with the Gods, though what that will look like and how narratively satisfying it will be remains to be seen.

As for our bingo board, RWBY certainly pulled its weight! Only three squares got gold stars: Watts and Jacques didn't manage another team up because both are dead, Oscar didn't apologize for getting shot because he was too busy being tortured, and Qrow didn't drink likely because he didn't have access to any alcohol across the whole volume. Can't say that's a stellar result. The final image is something to behold though lol.

What a mess.

And on that less than exciting note... we’re done. This has been the volume of desertion, with a large number of fans telling me that they will no longer watch RWBY, but baring something entirely unexpected in my future, I'll be back next volume, for whatever that's worth. It never ceases to amaze me that even one person would give these nonsense recaps the time of day, so in all seriousness: thank you for reading. You rock.

Now go forth and fill the hiatus with great RWBY content!

✌️

#suicide tw #rwby #rwby spoilers #rwby volume 8 #mymetas #rwby recaps #rwby the final word

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belliesandburps · 3 years

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Tutorial: Belly Bloating for XPS

I’ve always believed that it’s better for the kink community when we all have access to the same resources and can give more content to our thirsty pals. :P

A question I’ve been asked multiple times is how I get a characters belly to look so bloated. Soooo, I figured, what the hell? Here’s a quickie tutorial! :)

Taking us along for this journey is the subject of today’s bloat, Ryuji!

So first, we import the model into XPS, and we get this guy:

The very first thing I do is scale up the “lower spine” bone. If the rig is designed to cover the entirety of their lower torso, then I go from there. But in most cases, it’s usually most of the lower stomach, but not all of it. And the end result makes them look like Popeye:

In that case, I do some work around. I still scale up the lower spine, as you can see, but I also scale up the “root hips” bone as well. This is the primary bone of any model; the one that controls their body. Once I scale that up, I scale down the “left thigh” and “right thigh.” This shrinks the legs and causes the pelvis and lower stomach to look bigger than the legs, which initially has a cartoonish look to it. But then, you start making work of the spine bones.

Next, I scale down the “spine upper” bone so the upper body above the stomach shrinks. Which initially gives them a really weird egg-shaped look that’s not at all appealing. So you gotta use the rotate option to rotate the "lower spine” forward to make the stomach stick out more:

From there, you rotate the “upper spine” bone forward and make this poor motherfucker look like he was in a horrific car accident:

Still looks weird, right? Well, you scale down the “upper spine” a little more so the stomach looks more proportionate. Then, you switch from ‘scaling’ to ‘move’, and then you move the “upper spine” bone down enough so that the body looks more reasonably proportions:

And then, to make the back look less horrific, you use the move option to push the “upper spine” bone forward a tad until it looks more even:

You kind of have to play with scale and coordinates to make sure everything looks right to you. There’s no real set numbers you go with, just dick around until you find something that looks right.

And from there, you have a pretty decent belly bloat, but as you’ll notice, some corners still look janky. Ryuji’s got a pretty high poly count, but his model isn’t remotely as high poly as most next-gen models. Which is why his spine looks so mangled and why there’s a slight bit of sharpness to his belly. Now, you can just cheat that, trying to mask it by rendering the image from certain camera angles:

But it will still be noticeable unless you zoom way in.

This is where things get a little more technical, and why I charge extra for more heavily edited panels, because it can get a lil time consuming.

If a model is low-poly or if their attire is too detailed to scale without looking too outta whack, I have to actually just rig a “belly bone” and do the scaling in different software entirely. And that tends to cost a lot more per bone, and more if it’s a more high fidelity model with complex attires that require specific scaling per vertex.

But for the models I tend to use, IF the model isn’t janky, as in, way too low-poly to even get the scaling looking right:

(Sorry Leon), but if the model has more leeway the way Ryuji or most MHA models do, then you can cheat the rest in your graphics software. In my case, I use Clip Studio Paint.

Now, as you can see here, Ryuji’s spine is ALL fucked up:

So what I do instead is I fill in the jagged empty space like I would a regular drawing:

This gets a lil time consuming because you have to match the color and shade of the model, and that’s constantly influx unless you’re dealing with a model that has absolutely no shade attached, which you CAN apply in lighting for XNALara XPS, but that looks too flat to even be appealing.

Same up front, Ryuji’s belly isn’t nearly as pointy or boxy as Leon’s because he’s a next-gen character model and Leon’s poly count is more PS2.5 than anything else:

So, I do two things, and this is a big part of why I use CSP, because in addition to filling the back, I can fix the pointiness using a feature called “mesh editor.” Basically, I get to highlight a part of an image which I can manipulate. And I manipulate it subtly and in multiple directions until I get something that looks smoother:

As you can see, I was able to expand Ryuji’s belly, making it look even bigger and also get rid of the pointy parts of his stomach as best I could. You’ll also notice his fingers are SLIGHTLY longer, but because it was a minimal increase, that’s fine. But you do have to be mindful of that because it isn’t like editing in XPS or other software, the whole area around that image gets impacted, and you have to be careful.

And as you can see, the spine is filled, but looks sloppy compared to the rest of the model. This is something you can resolve with blurring and finger tipping options to smooth out the janky colors I filled out in the spine to give the illusion that it actually gels with the full model:

It ain’t perfect, but that’s as good as you can get.

And that’s about it!

As you can see, there are limitations. Obviously, you can’t make a belly become a medicine ball unless there are VERY specific bones to a model. But this is how I do it since, more realistic bloats are my thing anyway, and the software is most equipped to handle that kinda bloat.

(This is also a pretty time consuming process. So if you’ve ever wondered why I charge more for comics that require additional editing, this is why. Time is money, kids. XD)

ANYWHO, that about wraps things up! Hope you found this the least bit educational, and hope you enjoyed seeing the process of everyone’s favorite “bonehead” getting his fill. :P

#xnalara xps #xnalara comics #ryuji #belly bloat #belly kink #poser #tutorial #xnalara tutorial #making this goddamn tutorial took longer than making a comic would've 'XD #so i better see some xps comics beyond my own out there dammit #oh shit it's HOW late?!#i don't even think i can finish typing this se

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crushzone · 3 years

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Nin! I’ve been seeing this around recently, but I would love to see you ship your moots if it is ok! ♥️

Hahaha hey there, sure thing! It’s so difficult to be bias free because I know my moots’ crushes, but I shall do my best! I’ll mostly likely pair you guys with someone outside of your crush, just to introduce some new potential partner to your life ;). If I had left anyone out by accident, I am SO sorry!!

✨ Shipping my Moots ✨

@scorpiosanssexy

Sugawara Koshi - Lil sis, I am so sorry it is not Kei. I think Suga is absolutely hilarious and a sweetheart, I’m sure he loves it when you roast him here and there because he’d do the same right back at you. He’s also such a sassy man, so if sassiness is something you enjoy (*cough* like Kei’s, except he’s not a meanie 😠), he’s got it! If you do not know how to cook, neither does he, but you will get to suffer together. He’s also a teacher (which I know is also your thing), so let’s pretend he had to read so many books that he has to eventually get glasses! Will 100% dance real silly with you when you’re both tipsy, but please try to calm him down when he keeps getting ID’ed whenever he tries to buy booze, he’s got that forever cute baby face.

Look, I photoshopped him in glasses for u. ☝🏼

@ceo-of-daichi

Takeru Nakashima - Tbh, it was really difficult not to go with Daichi for this one. I know Takeru may not suit your appearance preferences, but I think you guys would be a very adorable pair! He is very family oriented, had grown up with a bunch of siblings, is a team captain (i know u like captains 😉), and seems like a sweet guy in general. So he will 100% be a fun pal to joke around with, but he’s also really responsible and will take care of u on your night outs. I can see you with his little family cheer squad, they are all just in love with you and consider you a part of their family. 10/10 husband material with that A+ domestic lifestyle.

@honey-makki

Saeko Tanaka - I shall pair you, my queen, with my other queen, Saeko. 👑 Together, you are unstoppable, and just the sight of you both hanging out together would make me run away because I tend to do that whenever I am near anyone attractive. Imagine Saeko picking you up on her motorbike just to go grab some dinner downtown together. All the jokes you’d share, how loudly you would laugh with each other, regardless if whether you are in a public or private place!! She’d probably help you proof read your fics and brainstorm any spicy scenarios with you too! Bet she loveees having you lay on her chest as she strokes your hair, alternatively, she also loves being your big spoon. 🥺

@heauxzenji

Kuroo Tetsuro - My other queen, I shall offer you my nerdy king, Kuroo. 👑 Idk man, appearance-wise alone, I already think you’d both be such a beautiful pair. You two are definitely the type of couples on Tik Tok (or whichever apps people use now a days LOL 👵🏻) with a bunch of “relationship goals” in the comments. He’d be a lot of fun to joke around with, will take great care of you, loves to smack your booty (respectfully) because he knows you are absolutely beautiful, and will call you the cutest nicknames. He also secretly reads your spicy fics without telling you, and will maybe try out a new thing or two from it the next time u guys baaaaang. 💥Spiciness aside, he cherishes all your quiet moments, just sitting next to each other as you sip on some tea, your books in hand as you lean shoulder to shoulder against one another.

@tedwardos

Azumane Asahi - idk, I think you both would be incredibly adorable! He is basically kind of like Yams but with a whee bit more softness. He absolutely loves to cuddle, play video games with you (but please go easy on him, he’s a little scared of certain games), and learn new things (e.g. playing DnD for the first time). Tbh, I think he would be great at DnD because he enjoys the imagination and character design aspect, bet his characters are always the best dressed one. Will help style your hair, cook you breakfast, give you shoulder massages, and just spoiling you in general, as long as you hold him close and tell him you love him every now and then to keep him well assured. You’ll never get cold during winter, he’s basically a human furnace who always make sure your feet are covered by the blanket when you cuddle on the couch.

@nonexistent-social-life-mainacct

Akaashi Keiji - I genuinely think this would be a wonderful match. Firstly, he is a wonderful listener, so he’s there for you to come home to after a tough day at work. If it is not something he can actually help you with, he will do his best to cheer you back up after you had gotten everything off your chest. Secondly, look at this 👇🏼

Girl, he will PROTECT you from all those mysterious bruises that tend to appear on your legs haha. Lastly, I know that when he loves someone, he will do all these adorably thoughtful things for you: like massaging your feet, leaving you cute post-it notes before he leaves for work and buying you flowers randomly. I just, I just want the best for u and I KNOW Akaashi will not disappoint at all.

@mer92

Tadashi Yamaguchi - ok hear me out! Baby boy had been crushing on you from a distance for the longest time, he just absolutely admires how you are so hardworking and passionate towards your dream job. He sees how much you care for your friends and he’d always wished he could be a part of your group too. Eventually, when you are both together, he is a wonderful listener, will go out of his ways to spoil you just to see you smile again. He will give you shoulder massages when you are being too tense, and if anyone gets in the way of achieving your goals, he will step up and defend you. Will also buy extra onigiris from Onigiri Miya and bring them to u for lunch, just to make sure that you don’t accidentally skip any meals because you’re too laser focused on your studies! Speaking of studying, he loves studying with you, and is actually a wonderful work buddy. (Always sneaks a glance at your adorable concentrated face)

@danibby

Kotaro Bokuto - Bokuto ADORES you with all his heart omg. When he catches you dancing or choreographing, he will straight up sway or beg you to teach him some moves, before proceeding to absolutely crush it. If he sees you trying out or applying some makeup/skincare products, he will ask you if he could watch or play with it too. Basically, he loves you so much, he just wants to understand and be a part of what you are doing, while he’ll also do the same where he’d teach you the little things he loves to do (will probably try to get you to play volleyball with him ahah). Is fantastic at cheering you up when you are not feeling too good about yourself, and will tickle fight you until you smile for him. Speaking of tickle fights, initiate it at your risk, because he is hella strong, he’ll pin you down or pick you up really easily to his advantage. BIGGEST HYPE MAN, you can walk out, wearing a trash bag and he would still be 😻😻😻.

@shhhlikeme

Aran Ojiro - I know I’m not being too original with this pairing because you actually crush on him to begin with, but you two are just perfect for each other tbh (was going to pick Toshi at first, but thought Aran would be a better fit)! Firstly, you are both absolutely S T U N N I N G ✨, I would be SO intimidated to come anywhere near this power couple. Secondly, you’re both so diligent, kind, and smart, everyone looks up to the two of you, wishing they could be you (Keep wishing, peeps 💅🏼) . Lastly, he seems like an absolute sweetheart, loveeeeees to spoil you with random hugs, kisses, and gifts, and will joke around with you a lot. He’ll find any way he could show you off to his friends, and they’d all be so jealous. It is nice to know that you can always lean on him if you ever have to, and he knows he could do the same with you. Bet your family absolutely LOVES him too, 100% the kind of guy you would want to bring home.

@bjbex

Yu Nishinoya - Noya is IN LOVE with you, he thinks you are freaking beautiful, is a hottie, and basically his queen. He’d keep crushing on you until you finally give him a chance. When you are together, he’d do anything to please you, ultimately, he just wants to see you smile and happy all the time. He’ll crack some jokes and be a little goof just to cheer you up! Also wants you to freaking DOMINATE him hahahah, trusts you completely, please do as you would like, he’s all yours. Loves getting his lil booty smacked and pegged, but is also always down to pleasure you. Just grab him by his hair (loves getting his hair pulled) and put him in any position you want him.

Will pull some “accident” like this often, so please prepare yourself. Will travel the world with you and take a ton of photos, then proceed to set photos of you as his wallpaper/lock screen on every device.☝🏼

@dymphnasprose

Tendou Satori - Tendou ADORES YOU, for real, he freaking ADORES you (But I adore you more, so he can back down 🤚). He loves to be your little spoon (will literary purr if you give him head rubs), boasts about you to his friends all the time (especially to Toshi), likes to endearingly tease you a lot, and will cook you some nice food all the time (he probably went to culinary school, after all, to become a chocolatier). The first thing he does when he gets back home from work? Hunt you down and immediately cling on to you as he pepper kisses all over your face with that oWo face, if ya know what I mean. Also LOVES to get freaky, this man is flexible, he just loves being intimate with ya, so tell him what you want to do and he will most likely be down to at least give it a shot. ;) Also loves to randomly buy you some cute clothes or jewelry you had been eyeing, he doesn’t do it often, but he’ll spoil you with it here and there when he can. Loves to sing random songs for you, “Dymph-nuhhh, Dymph-nuhhh, my darlin, Dymph-nuhhh~~”

@pleasantanathema

Akiteru Tsukishima - Let me start off by saying that I am absolutely in love with Akiteru, and because I love him so much, I shall pair him with you! Lauren, I am in love with you from the very first moment you’ve hit me up, I feel like our vibes match and because I feel the same way with Akiteru, I believe he would really vibe with you too! He’s an absolute sweetheart who will go out of his ways just to make you happy, you’d both spend hours chit chatting about the most random things, just giggling constantly, and before you know it, it’s already really late at night. He LOVES taking photos of you, and his phone is filled with photos of the two of you. Kei doesn’t really care much about you, but Akiteru will keep bringing you up in conversations with him anyway because he’s just extremely grateful to have you in his life.

@afictionalwhore

Ittetsu Takeda - Listen, as much as I believe Keishin is the perfect man for us you, Takeda is another husband material, adorable man who would also be just as perfect.

LOOK AT HIM REALIZING THAT HE IS IN LOVE WITH U. Also Keishin looking like a snacc right next to him, but this post is not about him mmkay?

Takeda is so weak for you, he’ll spoil you rotten where he can, and his affection bank is unlimited, will constantly remind you that he loves you. He’s also really shy, so sometimes, he’ll try to be “sexy” and initiate something, only to stutter and blush terribly when he attempts to execute it, so please be kind HAHA (I think find that really endearing tbh). Fully understands how tiring it can be to work with children, he is also a teacher after all, so at the end of each day, you’ll both take warm baths together, cuddling as you laugh about all the silly things your kids had done today. Sometimes he will help substitute for you too, if you ever need to take a day off.

I’m very proud of this list, ngl, I stand by my ships 😉

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felassan · 4 years

Text

Some DA4 BTS vid analysis

The sentiments in PW’s recent word on concept art applied and were sensible to bear in mind before the tweet thread was made, and are of course still important to remember now. Dissecting and overanalyzing what we’re given is still fun as hell though, so now that I’ve slept and had yet another pass at it with fresh eyes and a non-vibrating mind, and with the caveat flagged, here are some more thoughts on and speculation about the DA4 BTS video. For context and contrast, here’s some of my initial main thoughts. Cut for length.

Yes in places it veers into wild speculation bc why not

The domes and domed architecture here and here don’t say Tevinter to me. Tevinter architecture has strong horizontals and verticals; it’s more about spikes and boxy blocks than domes and curves. I'm reminded more of Rivain

or Nevarra.

The figure here is dwarven in build. I want this place to be something dwarfy in nature. What kinda technology are we looking at here? The structures actually remind me of the Vaults in Mass: Effect Andromeda. It’s different enough to Orzammar-style structures that I’m hoping we can finally go to Kal-Sharok.

This isn’t Dorian. :[ Crow-style armor (the distinctive metal segments on the arms and legs), sword at his waist. I’m not fussed about this fact though because Dorian is still clearly shaping up to be in the game anyway from the Trespasser slides, TN etc. This guy is instead reminiscent of Mr Longhaired Rogue. Compare the hairline, hair color, length, rogueishness, general clothing style. I think this is the same guy, and I still think this guy is Lucanis.

I wouldn’t be surprised if it turned out that third from the right “Ezio” from the lineup is him too - assassin’s hood, AC-style belt insignia.

The brunette here could be a dwarf from her build and the fact that the swordsman next to her (who incidentally has Inquisition insignia on his chestpiece?) is kneeling. She’s reminiscent of the Harding-like woman in the underwater shot, and indeed of Harding. Compare the cape and bare upper arms. Not a surprise, given Harding’s presence in the Trespasser postcredits.

Elsewhere in this shot, the architecture is Tevinter (that doorway and corner). As for the big guy, his clothing style bears a resemblance to Archon Radonis.

This and this follow in succession and look to be of the same place just from different angles. Wings, griffons, blue pennants, the desolate brown rocky environ. I think we’re looking at Weisshaupt in the Anderfels and I hope this means we can finally go there. The dangling Warden plot thread is begging attention what with the civil war, the Warden weirdness in TN, the return of the griffons, etc.

I’m not convinced that the presence of floating objects means the Veil has already come down. We’re going north, and in Tevinter there are buildings which float, so the magic capacity for buildings and similar objects to do is in the mundane world is established already. The boats are reminiscent of aravels though, and funnily enough, Dalish Keepers use their magic to allow aravels to move through forests. In Last Flight, Isseya remembers tales of how Dalish used their magic to float their aravels through forests, and fashions improvised aravels which are held aloft by magic and pulled by griffons.

Zooming in here, the silhouettes of these nearby animals have antlers. These are straight up halla (so they’re horns, not antlers), not horses. I think this image is of an elfy place, perhaps from ancient times, or like the places we travel through in Trespasser (the hills and landscape reminds me of what we can see in the distance in there in the elfy bits), or one of the mysterious ancient elven enclaves which still persist in Thedas to this day, or in the heart of Arlathan Forest.

Our new reptilian pal is potentially along the lines of a lurker, deepstalker or dracolisk (and Tevinter is fond of its dracolisks!). Compare the body structure to lurkers.

The pillars here look dwarven. I wonder if the snowy environment in that shot connects to the snowy environment from the now-infamous tree teaser, which is what follows next. This is unmistakeably dwarfy architecture too, but daylight in the upper levels? Somewhere like Kal Repartha, or perhaps upper halls of the Ambassadoria in Tevinter? The main part of the Ambassadoria is underground so the dwarves who work there don’t have to become surfacers, but there would have to be a part connecting it to the surface so that Tevinter diplomats and so on could go in to do business.

This guy bears a resemblance to previously seen dwarven statues (DAO, dotted around in DAI).

The Crow on the left here isn’t Zevran, I’m afraid. It’ll be another one like the blond lady in Crow-like armor, Lucanis, “Ezio”, etc. For the lady as an example, compare the waist sash and other aspects.

Moving on, there’s a flimsy similarity in this lady.

This place reminds me somewhat of DAI Temple of Mythal concept art.

“Ezio”?

The candle bois in this clearly-Tevinter scene strike me as wisps bound to the candlestick bodies by Magisters for the purpose of serving, like the lil spirit the Mortalitasi had bound to stir her tea in TN. People do that kind of stuff in Tevinter, see Dorian’s banters with Solas. Also in this image the machine-hand form of transport is super notable in terms of implications for technology and accessibility in Thedas (note: I don't mean like there will be a plotbeat based around this or a 'hand', I just mean I find it notable lore-wise that Thedas has tech/magic that can do this and find that important when thinking about accessibility as with Neve's prosthetic etc).

If this person isn’t Maevaris I will cry. The outfit in the middle’s color theme and shoulder features reminds me of her comic appearance, and the one on the right reminds me of her Trespasser epilogue slide appearance. The leftmost image is the least Maevaris-y, but the other two definitely strike me as Mae.

On guns: Not out of the realm of possibility for this world. Dwarves have lyrium-based explosives. Qunari have gaatlok, which is safer to use, and cannons. Varric’s Bianca is a repeating crossbow. An old Iron Bull concept has him with an arm-cannon. With technology like that in Thedas, guns aren’t far behind. Possibly a very recent invention in Thedas and still new to the vast majority of the population? In addition, the Sha-Brytol Earthshakers can manipulate lyrium into a unique explosive (though this is because they’ve drank lyrium and lyrium-infused armor has fused to their skin). Sha-Brytol Crossbow Bolters’ crossbows look very gun-like too, although they’re definitely crossbows, not guns (it’s in the name).

I’m curious about the plot implications of guns in the setting, if they are indeed a thing now. I don’t want them to be too OP or too modern, don’t want the high/dark fantasy vibe diluted, but curious about how they might level the playing field in a world with magic, or might turn the tide in one of the setting’s neverending battles (like the Qun vs Tevinter war). From the look of the possible gun in the lineup, it gives me a “guns in Fable”-gun vibe. Also, I wonder what Varric would think, considering how his past was much concerned with the issue with the secret to making a repeating crossbow and everything that entailed.

Second from the right in the lineup looks like a hornless qunari.

The skeleton entity appears 3 times, almost certainly the same entity in each appearance, and imo from its multiple appearances likely a companion. It’s not Cole (I’ve seen that suggested). If a companion it would be the designated ‘notable’ one on the roster in the way that Shale, Justice-in-dead-body and Cole were. If it’s a spirit inhabiting a body I’m glad the body is a skeleton, because we’ve had a spirit inhabiting a rotting fleshy corpse before already (Justice in Awakening), so that’s been done. I don’t think the green flame is Veilfire or Fade magic; in TN it’s noted that the Mortalitasi Myrna’s necro/Mortalitasi-type magic is emerald green. I like the notions that this is Audricuriosity from TN, a char a la Fane in Divinity, or a Mortalitasi that’s undead in that they (or a spirit mimicking them) have managed to ‘remain’ ‘in’ their skeleton after death, as opposed to just “this is a spirit inhabiting a skeleton”. Anyway, the focus we had in TN on Nevarra, the Mortalitasi and the undead is continued in this video - the dragon dissection looks like it’s taking place in the Grand Necropolis. Or maybe the Fade? The windows in the background at the top look upside down. Btw there is great dissection of the dissection image (ehue) which I recommend to check out here.

Compare his design with Nevarran styles.

Davrin? Suitably heroic, Warden-esque.

Rapier lady is surrounded by crows which reminds me of Leliana’s raven motif (not saying I think this is Leliana). She looks rogueish and assassiny so with that + the crows it wouldn’t be wild to assume Crow. However Mark Darrah retweeted this tweet which compares her mask to this Orlesian fashion.

The insignia on Solas’ new outfit in his concept art looks like the Mask of Fen’Harel from Felicia Day’s DA: Redemption.

This looks like the snowy environment from the tree teaser. Notice the statue of Andraste [?] in the background. The entity’s weapon looks like it would fit right into the Red Lyrium Weapons pack for DAI. Question: What happens when red lyrium infects a corpse or a corpse inhabited by a spirit?? Is that what we’re seeing here? elsewise it’s a darkspawn and red lyrium darkspawn.. [Mordin voice] Implications.. disturbing.

Davrin’s name is one letter off Davri as in Bianca Davri. Curious choice.

Hands-spider and the other Cetus-like monsters: Ghilan’nain, her original creations, and the Horror of Hormak.

The red lyrium tentacles being modeled look like what these guys are fighting off. Incidentally, with the sleek gold armor and advanced weapons/powers, maybe these guys are ancient elves.

The red lyrium environment from the tree teaser now returns. Remember the spirited discussions about whether these tendrils were deep mushrooms corrupted by red lyrium? :D

Then it jumps back to the ominous snowy environment with the statues of Andraste [?]. The statue does however also remind me of the elvhen statues in the Raw Fade in DAI. Note the sky here in the corner which looks kind of like a breach. As for the red lyrium egg - now where have we seen red eggs before? In the Crossroads in Trespasser. iirc Inky uses them to extend bridges in the Crossroads. The egg in the vid even seems to have bits of gold on it. Does the egg have something to do with the weakened Veil here? Is it red lyrium?

This shot is the same dwarven hall as before (see above speculation on the Ambassadoria, Kal Repartha etc). This time we can clearly see that the ceiling is open with ‘skylight’-type windows to the sky above. Possibly reaching, but the foreground structure looks like a dwarven take on the DAI elf tree statue asset. Some elves and dwarves did dwell together for a time in Cad'halash, and we find elven statues in the Deep Roads in Trespasser.

But this particularly sticks out to me because of the nature of Kal Repartha, how it was built on the surface (daylight from the ceiling), trees + Mythal, Mythal striking down the pillars of the earth and what some of the ancient elves did to the dwarves, Mythal + dragons, Kal Repartha + the urtok:

[quoting me] The scholar who was investigating Kal Repartha in the Hissing Wastes found pictures on walls of weapons with dragons (the urtok) worked into the decorations on them as part of an ancient crest. These were accompanied by an inscription of a verse that was passed down by Fairel’s ancestors for generations, from long before Fairel ever led his house to the surface and would have encountered dragons in the sky and from long before dwarves would ever have encountered Archdemons in a Blight. Curious. I suspect these are a holdover from when Mythal struck down the Titans and the ancient elves’ conflict with the dwarves/Titans. Given those events, it’s no wonder the dwarves of that time period had folktales about a dragon scourge.

Still with me??

Now here we are inside Weisshaupt or the Warden fortress from before. Note blue banners with the Warden griffon sigil again. I want to believe there are big open archways in the walls/out to landing-pad style ‘balconies’ in the way it’s suggested that it’s built here because in ye olden times you’d have Wardens on their griffons flying to and from the fortress. Is that Davrin? It looks like it could be the same warrior guy as before, only this time it’s definitely a Warden. What’s happening outside? Why is the light/sky outside sickly Fadey green? Reminds me of the sky in the corner of the egg pic. And of Fade Weisshaupt from DAO.

If he’s not a Lord of Fortune, perhaps a Raider of the Waking Sea. Might tie into why Isabela is there in the underwater picture, or why there’s an Isabela-esque pirate-type lady in that pic at least.

now

#dragon age 4 #the dread wolf rises #dragon age #bioware #video games #tevinter nights #tevinter nights spoilers #tevinter nights spoiler #spoilers #spoiler #solas #cole #spirit boy #gpoy #mj meta

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damfinofanfiction · 3 years

Text

Chapter 5: Their Night Out

Goodness! I thought it was an easier chapter, but it turned into a longer one. I hope you like this!

It’s been a couple of days since Gail heard something concerning about Buster Keaton that she should never know. Gail was in her room which was meant to be for a maid. It was 11 am, she decided to get up, get dressed, and apply her dark makeup. She tried to stop thinking about Keaton, but she couldn't. Why would he betray the mother of his children, The same woman who he cast in “Our Hospitality”? Then, a thought occurred to her, what if Mayzie is lying? It is hard to believe that she would make up a fib about one of Hollywood's elite. Suddenly, her train of thought stopped when she heard knocking on a door.

“Come in,” Gail answered, brushing her hair.

Sally slowly opened the door, sending Gail two pieces of toast because she missed breakfast. She said to her housemate, “Bae it’s unlike me, but, I’m a bit worried, you aren't yourself since after we got home from the Venice café last Thursday.” She went in to sit on the edge of the bed, “What’s eating ya?”

Gail turned away from the mirror to look at her, “Sal, how much do you know Mayzie?”

Sally shook her head, “Nah, I don’t pay attention to the whole gang.”

“Do you think she would ever lie to anyone?”

She leaned on the bedpost, “I do think she might have lied about her age.”

She took a deep breath before saying, “At the party, she told me she went out with a famous actor.” Sally’s face brightens up in astonishment. Then Gail continued with “And he’s married.” Her brows, then furrowed, “What?”

“She also told me not to tell anyone.” She moved next to sally, “What do you think?”

“If she were lying, she would say he’s a bachelor.”

Gail looked down feeling disappointed, “Well, I hope that isn’t true.”

“It doesn’t matter Bae, this is Hollywood, people sleep around.”

She turned to sally, “You sleep around.”

“Yes, but not to married people!” Gail wanted to weep if it weren’t, for Sally’s presence and her freshly applied makeup, she finally took the toast and ate it “Did Mayzie tell you who it was?”

Gail responded while brushing off the crumbs from her lap, “Yes, but I cannot tell.”

“Then leave it as it is.”

Gail puts aside the half-eaten toast and lies down, feeling aggravated, “I need to clear my head.”

Sally lies to join Gail when she suggests, “How about we go out for the night?”

Gail was uncertain, but, she nonetheless responded with, “So long as I get you home at a reasonable time, I think it's a good plan.”

Sally suggested, “We can go dancing and then to a speakeasy”

Gail nodded in agreement, “When’ll that happen?”

Sally responded with a blank expression, “Not if my aunt is occupied.” They realized that Lenore could get worried ill with both of them being out at night.

Gail said to her, “If she falls busy, We’ll see if that time comes.”

Sally held her hand, “It’s a deal.”

2 weeks later, Lenore was set to go to a friend’s house for a game of bridge, leaving the women free to go downtown. They went out of the house in their short evening dresses like flappers. Sally was dressed in red and wears her stockings rolled, unlike Gail, who left her stockings unrolled along with her black and white dress. They went by taxi for dinner and dancing. The nightclub they attended was not elite, but it was to their taste. They danced to jazz and the foxtrot. Before they exhaust themselves, they retreated to the Speakeasy by taxi.

After they are dropped off, Sally and Gail walked on the pavement until they reached the toy store. The blonde took out a tiny piece of paper from her clutch, “It’s got to be that address.” Gail detected the alley on the side of the store, “I see four trash cans lined up here”. Sally smiled, “Then this must be the Joint.” Located at the end of the alleyway, they climbed down the steps to get to the door.

Gail clung to the rail in caution, “How secure is it?”

“The speakeasy changes passwords every week, thankfully I remained in contact with my ex Roger. I hope he’s kept out of jail.” Sally knocked on the door. A pair of eyes appeared from the peephole. “Password?”

She replied, “Davis sent me.”

It was opened by a man in overalls, who padded both of their bodies thoroughly to make sure neither of them had police badges.

“Hey Jackass! Do you do this to all the patrons or just the women?” Sally squawked.

“Quiet that’s my business!” The man yelled as he examined their clutch purses. After inspection, he said, “You’re good to go,”

The friends were let into the room as Gail went curious when she noticed two passageways, then she was notified that one was to be discreet. They went through the main passageway to a chamber designed to look like a saloon. The Gin mill does not have a traditional clientele, as its patrons come from various races. The musician was Hispanic, while the bartender was Asian. Gail was intrigued at the diversity but remained cautious for rough drunks. They are only carousing men, hopefully not threatening.

Sally walked to the serving area to order drinks while Gail went to find seats for them. She found a booth in an area that was somehow unoccupied except for an overweight man sitting in the back. Gail thought that guy looked very familiar, but she prefers to enjoy her evening.

Gail raised her hand to get Sally’s attention. As she joins her on a booth, a server brought them complimentary potato chips and water. Though they were satisfied from dinner, Sally couldn’t help herself for a bite.

Sally was elated when the drinks appeared on their table. She handled her glass saying, “Oh I miss you.” before downing her giggle water. However, Gail was nervous since she had never had real alcohol before. “How can I be careful?” Sally told her, “Drink slowly”.” As she took her first sip she tingled to the burning sensation in her mouth and then her throat. Her reaction caused her friend to laugh, which infuriated her. Sally then congratulated her, “Welcome to my world.” And after a moment, they clink their glasses together.

Not long after, Sally nearly spits out her drink, whispered to Gail, “Bae, look behind you.” She reacted in surprise at the sight of Buster Keaton, who was shaking hands with the overweight fellow.

Gail nearly slammed her face on the table when she said, “Of all the Gin mills in Los Angeles at this hour of the day, he has to go here.”

Confused, she said to her raven-haired friend, “I thought he was your favorite.”

“I did before I hear-,” Gail paused before she spilled the beans.

However, Sally was quick to figure out, “Oh shit. That was Buster?”

Gail covered her face rather than admitting, but eventually nodded her head.

Sally did not react as strongly as her friend did but, was still in disbelief, “That explains why you’re feeling down and out.”

Gail is so upset that she took a few sips from her drink.

Sally patted her shoulder, “It doesn't matter if that's a bunch of crap or not, don't let that get your goat, you're supposed to sit back and calm your nerves.” She gestures to Buster, “Let that Keaton fellow hang out with the fat guy.”

She raised her eyebrows as she finally identified the man, “Sal, that’s Roscoe Arbuckle!”

Gail didn't recognize Arbuckle at first because he hasn't appeared on film for over 3 years. Before the scandal, he was a headliner in films under the nickname, “Fatty”, and he had previously worked in keystone comedies. Her first exposure to Buster was when he started his own film career working with him.

Sally went perplexed, “Huh, I forgot all about him.”

As Gail was touched upon Buster's appreciation for his friend during hard times, she concluded that perhaps something good existed in Keaton after all.

************

“How’s business treating you, pal?” Buster asked, sitting across his friend.

Arbuckle shrugged, “Better than last time. The Tuxedo Comedies had me directing another short. It’s a comedic take on John Ford’s The Iron Horse.”

Keaton lounged on his seat, “My guess is you would be working with good ol’ Al St. John.”

“You are correct Bus. Speaking of which, he asked me for a favor for you.”

Buster responded with a sure nod.

“You know that Rocket Train you used for Our hospitality, he wants to borrow the Locomotive for the short.”

Grinning, he replied, “Well, I got to use it anyway.” Later, joking, he said, "Next thing you want me to be in the movie as well?”

They laughed at the thought, but Arbuckle would consider it. Soon, their drinks show up with Buster having told the server that both of them are for him as he is worried they would be spit on by the server.

Roscoe asked, “Enough about me, How did Seven Chances go?”

Buster tapped the table as he responded, “I've got it, I came up with the perfect gag to end the sequence.”

Roscoe cheerfully said, “Good for you, how will that go then?”

Buster wiggled his finger, “Ah, You have to watch my film to find out.”

He raised his glass slightly, “Also I would like to thank you again for including Doris in Seven Chances.”

“No problem, chief.” 2 friends clinked their glasses together.

*****************

Gail was drinking water when she asked, “Are they still here?”

Sally looked behind and said “Yep.”

Seeing the waiter come back, Gail made a suggestion, “You know what, how about if I buy him and Mr. Arbuckle a drink?”

Sally smiled seeing her clever side, “Getting his attention? I like it” she chipped in, “Let me pay for one of them!”

Soon after, the server brought Buster and Roscoe 2 smaller glasses of liquor. Before they had a chance to speak, the server informed them that the drinks were paid for by the ladies at the booth. Gail shyly waved as the Server pointed to her and Sally.

Roscoe half-wittingly questioned him, “Which one of these dames you will be taking in?”

Buster was offended. “Stop that! You know very well my heart belongs to my wife!”

Roscoe half-heartedly said, “Yeah, the one you cheated on after she kicked you out of the bedroom.” Buster hushed him, concerned that someone would hear.

As Roscoe was apologizing to Buster, Gail recognized Buster’s body language, in a suspecting manner, perhaps Arbuckle knows something.

Within an hour, Sally had ordered another round and asked Gail to mingle with the patrons, but she preferred instead to observe the body language of a screen comedian and his rotund friend. By the time sally returned she felt intoxicated but not too drunk. Gail, who was now seated next to her, gave her chips to counteract the effects of the alcohol.

After all that carousing, Roscoe stood up and put on his hat and coat, “I’d better go home. Doris won’t like it if I leave her alone too long.”

The friends exchanged parting words and Roscoe left to the same door that his protégé had entered an hour before. Gail frowned seeing this, thinking that the stone face will have to leave as well.

Gail sighed, “And I wondered just how innocent Buster really is.”

Sally went, “Screw it, go talk to him.”

Gail was bewildered. She thought sure after the time she encountered the comedian in person, she is certain she will pass out again. She told sally “I don’t know, after what happened on the set-”

Sally patted her cheek, “Bae, you made it so far without blacking out, you’ll be fine.”

Gail feeling unsure, took one more sip to ease her nerves, got up from her table, and straighten her dress.

Sally also stood up to whisper to her friend, “If you do not find out anything about him, I can talk to that Mayzie girl.” Then she pats her in the back before sitting down, “Good luck.”

Gail got Keaton’s attention when she stood near him.

She waved and smiled when introducing herself, “Hi, my name is Gail Anders.” She was trying hard not to blush, “In case you didn’t remember me, I was on one of the brides in the chase sequence in Seven Chances.”

Keaton nodded, “Oh of course. I want to thank you for the drinks.”

"You're welcome, It's all we can do.” she pointed to sally behind her, “She helped pay for them. Her name is Sally.”

Gail had her hands on her back to hide her fidgeting fingers, “I want to tell you I’ve been a fan of your work. I even saw your films with Mr. Arbuckle.”

He didn’t say anything, he was studying her looks. He only nodded at her to respond.

Behind her happy expression, she was seconds away from telling him that he was with Mayzie and asking if he is dating other women when Buster finally chirped out, “Didn’t you work at the Café on Venice Beach?”

Her hands stopped fidgeting, “Yes, I used to be chorus girl with Sally. Why did you ask?”

“I was there once around last year.”

She went wide-eyed, “You’re, kidding? How did I not notice?”

Buster admitted, “I was on the very back. I was good at blending.” He also recalled, “I think it was that jump rope sequence.” Gail remembered that one. The chorus girls were jumping rope for the act. She was considered lucky to not have fallen out of the stage.

He praised her, “I thought you did very well.”

She blushed hearing this, “Thanks. I currently work at Mack Sennett’s studio.” Buster asked, “Have you played lead roles?” She replied “No I just work on background roles. Sometimes as a bathing beauty.”

“I think you deserved to be in the movies”

Gail was blessed hearing that, “Thank you again. Gail continued, “Oh, and I love Sherlock Jr. It’s such a great show. I saw it four times. My boyfriend didn't think it was that funny. Though the effects are amazing.”

Buster seemed thrilled to hear that considering it didn't make much money as his latest film The Navigator did. As Gail attempted to talk more about the effects, a clunk came from behind her.

Gail turned and saw that Sally drank up the alcohol left behind on the table, and tipped the glass. She turned back to the stone face and said “I think I have to get her home soon.”

He asked, “Is she your sister?”

She shook her head, “No, I just live with her and her aunt.”

He went puzzled, “Why here?”

Her eyes trailed off, “I don’t have an idea. Sally told me she wanted to take advantage of the growing real estate.”

Buster was close to chuckling, “No, no, I meant where are your folks?”

She sat straight as she told him, “They are in Nevada. They were nervous about me moving to Los Angeles after the scandal. I did so anyway and then sally took me in from that cheap unpleasant place.” she went, “Regardless, I thought it was a nice thing of you to check on Mr. Arbuckle.”

“Roscoe? Thanks. I owe everything to him.”

Sally whispered in her ear, “Has she told about me.” Gail didn’t know that her friend was so close to her that she frightened her. Buster stood up from his chair to get ready to leave “How about I escort you fellers through the passageway?”

Gail nodded at his gesture, “Sure just let me leave a tip first.”

With Sally seemingly drunk, Gail has her hold her friend to keep her in place while Keaton led them back to the entrance where they saw that the man in overalls is now napping.

After they reached the door, Gail turned to Buster saying, “Will I ever see you again, Buster?”

“As long as you catch me on Seven Chances,” he said. Gail giggled at his reply.

Her soft statement was, “Maybe I'll audition for your next movie. Goodbye now.” Keaton watched as they departed the Speakeasy.

As they got out of the alleyway Sally asked, “Well, did you find out anything about Keaton?”

Gail was raising her hand to attract a cab, “I can’t do it. I don’t care anymore. I know he is a very trustworthy friend.”

Sally went, “Okay if he is a cheat. He needs to stop that before he goes to hell.”

Gail was happy to chat with her favorite screen comedian but when she mentioned her boyfriend to Keaton she suspected that she might have struck his nerve. It is not clear that he showed it, but it is possible.

Soon, their ride home shows up and got on the passenger seat. As Sally leaned on her friend she commented, “Oh and you aren't kidding about the accent. Some night out huh?”

Note: that the film that Roscoe was talking about. it was the Iron Mule (1925). There is even an uncredited appearance from Buster Himself! Try to watch it!

also Gail couldn't hear Roscoe and Buster. that part is supposed to be POV for both Buster and Gail.

#buster keaton fandom #RPF fanfic #Buster Keaton #buster keaton fanfiction #silent comedy

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