#so i just love the idea of v2 describing how this or that feels in full paragraphs with the minutest detail

[muzzleroars]

I feel like Michael would be very cuddly (not in the soft sense but the touch starved sense) too v2. I'm just imagining him like a cat in the middle of the night just haveing wrapped himself around v2.

Also, are angel feathers soft in your au?

ouuughhh touch is such a huge minefield for michael at this point due to his inability to really feel anything - his body is mostly numb, yet he DOES deeply want to be able to have physical contact since he regrets how he denied it when he had sensation. so in the early stages of their relationship, he really doesn't allow any touching outside of what v2 needs to do in order to help him and learn more about him. he's just...too uncomfortable otherwise, his mind always trying to fill in the blanks of what he would feel, what he should feel, what he could have felt if he hadn't done this to himself. but it's still increasingly obvious that he wants that contact in spite of it, and he wants this body, as it is now, to be treated with affection. and this is essentially how he goes about it lol v2 can pick up on it pretty quickly since it's not as subtle as michael hopes, and it begins telling him what it feels like (sharp and hard, though it tries to keep its metal smooth - but it's warm too, hot air spilling out around its vents and it has a greater weight to it than he might expect) v2 does this as much as it can, it gets better at its descriptions and soon, when michael holds it close to him, there's phantom sensation in its presence. and he thinks there's something special in experiencing touch in this way, shaped entirely by how v2 describes itself and how his mind interprets those words. it's an unexpected kind of intimacy, and i think it's something that further helps michael to accept the body he now has.

as for angel wings, i think of them as light made material - they're like airy, warm, barely there glass, so while not exactly soft they also aren't hard or sharp due to how vanishing they are to the touch. v2 finds them pretty interesting, and doesn't mind when michael wraps them around it for sleeping - it can shut out the light they blast in the room, and it knows mike has a very clear idea of what they feel like so it's a comfort for him.

#honestly think v2 loves describing all this stuff #bc it LOVES talking it wants to talk all the time!!! #and mike is actually a very good listener since he's pretty quiet #so i just love the idea of v2 describing how this or that feels in full paragraphs with the minutest detail #while mike listens the entire time in rapt attention #cake answers #michael #v2

[invested-in-your-future]

Is Yang a people pleaser?

I think it's bit more complicated than just that.

I think it's the only way she knows how to function.

Even going by just what has been said in the first three volumes (because everything after makes her VERY inconsistent and messy in terms of characterization), there are five things we know about Yang:

She lost her mother figure at a young age.

Her dad shut down in depression from what happened.

She was left with her little sister to essentially take care of themselves(and to be each other's emotional support) for indeterminate period of time.

At some point in time Yang found out that her mother figure is not her biological mother, which, for a child, threw lot of her life and interactions into question, shaking the foundations of who she saw herself as.

At some point her need to find her mother has put her sister in danger (the cabin incident), which essentially taught her to protect her sister, but also seems to have taught to put the needs of others above herself.

Yang puts the needs of those close to her above her own because she derives self-worth and value from that.

She grew up as her sister's protector, and Yang never stepped out of that role, even when it came to other people. She never really developed a goal for herself or any real reason for who she wanted to be. How Yang handles Oobleck's question shows that - her first answer is utilitarian, with her just restating the technical meaning of being a huntress, and her "real" answer is easily the most unclear and reliant on emotion and impulse - it's devoid of the ideological side of things. Unlike the three others, her reasoning lacks any ideological core - there's no future-tense "goal" there - she says she wants to do what she always did - and that's not a why. And even before that - you have Yang equating being a Huntress to fighting with how she's disappointed Oobleck is not doing "pro-huntsman things".

Yang is still running on auto-pilot, essentially taking damage for others so she can protect them and prove her own worth to herself that way - even her semblance, as it's described in the first three volumes, places her in front of any danger coming at people around her - she's there to get hit.

It's truly fascinating that the characters view her as "a party girl" - which speaks miles about how closed off Yang is. On one hand, she dedicates herself to others - on the other, she avoids her problems via a rush of adrenaline that chaotic situations cause her - the first time we see her in the Yellow trailer, she gets into a fight with an entire mafia nightclub.

Yang loves avoiding actual self-reflection or dealing with her issues. She keeps chasing her mother, but all she does is get into unrelated bar fights and the like (and she needs Qrow's confirmation that it's her mother once she actually encounters her meaning she could have passed her in the street and she would never know) and when Qrow offers her to help to meet her? Yang outright ignores that until she suffers something horrifying.

She likes the idea of finding her mother but not so much of acting upon it - she likes having a dream and having a goal, but when asked about it, she has no concrete thoughts on what those are - she likes the IDEA of a goal, but doesn't have one.

But she does open up a bit once team RWBY gets going - I genuinely feel that honest conversations like the one she had with Blake in V2 are too far and few in between.

It's no wonder failing Blake at end of Volume 3 should affect her a lot - ALL of those things come crashing down at her all at once.

She's unable to protect Blake at all and ends up being protected by her instead.

For once she can't just "crash" through her issues anymore.

She's unable to protect her sister from traumatic experiences.

The people she opened up to all "leave" her.

The entire world views her as some awful person who broke her opponent's leg.

Yang acts like a people pleaser because she doesn't know who she wants to be, and the only inherent value she could find for herself till now was in how others view her.

I think it's interesting to explore where she goes from there.

It's why it's so disappointing how the show treats her after V3 - the brash loudmouth whose issues and trauma are ignored (because, according to her VA, "it's boring"?), the relationship is not given a proper build-up and whose loudness is treated as development instead.

It's actually one of many reasons I started putting up the AU idea I am writing.

#yang xiao long #rwby #blake belladonna #ruby rose #rwde

[vegasolari]

V2 is an Ultrakill character and I have many feelings about them: here's why

I think we can all agree that Ultrakill didn’t exactly explore V2 as a character much. Sure, we have some basic information about them, but we’re pretty much left to fill in the blanks ourselves. And, oh boy, are there a lot of blanks. Well, here’s my ridiculous essay filling in those blanks for myself in a way that (hopefully) makes sense in the scope of Ultrakill canon. TL;DR: here are my V2 headcanons because I’m insane.

During my first playthrough of Ultrakill, I didn't think much about V2. They seemed like the classic “evil twin” and not much more, testing your skills as a player in a unique way. I’m the good guy and I have to beat up the evil version of me, y’know? But, as I got more into the lore of Ultrakill, I couldn’t stop thinking about V2.

V1 was built with a clear purpose in mind: war. I’m certain anyone can agree with that. But, when the whole war business fell apart with the New Peace, V1 quickly became obsolete. If whatever entity developing V1 wanted any chance of recouping the cash dumped into V1, they had to pivot. But we have this great war robot just lying around! Alright, how about this: we’ll make a new version of this robot with decreased combat capabilities, but increased human interfacing capabilities. So, a new model was made. It was very similar to the previous one, switching out the fancy plating for regular tough stuff, plus installing some friendlier software. Despite the rush job, it was a pretty damn good android. But, with all that high-end tech came a big price tag that the market deemed unreasonable.

Now, this leads to an interesting idea: if V2 is sentient (observing their behavior in-game, they likely are), how would that make them feel? Certainly, they would know that they were essentially the living embodiment of a hollow gesture; being nothing more than an attempt to recuperate funds, being a commercial failure, being what most would consider a weak imitation of their predecessor. I wouldn’t be surprised if V2 went after V1 based on sheer jealousy alone. Their creation was underdeveloped and sloppily done. V2 wasn’t wanted for whatever skillset a highly advanced security bot could offer. V2 wasn't wanted… V1 was. The second iteration is supposed to be better than the first, and V2's existence is defined by being a cheap copy.

Regardless, V2 is here and they can still serve some function. While V1 and V2's hardware may be nearly identical, I have to imagine their software is very different. Remember, V1 was made for war. Their software is probably highly specialized for efficient killing. In terms of a highly advanced society dependent on specialized androids filled with precision AI, that must be pretty simple. Just boot up good old “shooty_mcshooting.exe” and we’ve got ourselves an AI that can quickly identify a target and attack its weak points. V2, on the other hand, was made for peacetime efforts. Sure, security was kept in mind during their development, but overall they were made for human cooperation. A peacetime machine would certainly have been developed with a natural affinity toward humanity, right? This leads me to believe that V2 was made with an innate affinity toward humans. Hell, maybe they were programmed with a desire to socialize that matched the strength of our own innate socialization needs. It would certainly make their job much easier.

Despite this, I feel they still had to do some warming up to humans. After all, humanity did them quite a disservice. Whether they made peace with the circumstances surrounding their creation and loved humans despite it or simply ignored the troubled emotions surrounding their creation, I’m not certain. Regardless, their core programming spurred them on. V2 learned to cooperate with humans, with their reward system to guide them. Eventually, their reward system must have led them to feel something that could be best described as affection towards humans, forever being driven to be curious and friendly towards humanity. I love imagining them joking around and laughing with their coworkers on whatever security job they were assigned to. Maybe they'd even have fun chatting up the scientists working on their development, learning more and more about how humans interacted and communicated with one another.

Speaking of which… what if V2’s job expanded past security? Say a building were to collapse with people trapped inside; what better tool than an extremely durable, strong, highly intelligent robot to dig through the rubble, locate survivors quicker with specialized software, and even administer first aid?

Just as V2 adored humans, one must imagine V2 being adored by humans.

As V2’s software spurred them on to learn more and more about humans, they would come to appreciate the things humans appreciated. Perhaps V2 came to appreciate the beauty of art or the marvel of science in the same way humans did, or perhaps they simply liked these things because they were human. Imagine V2 learning everything they could about cooking despite never needing those skills, just to be able to bond with humans. They’d even surprise the scientists developing them with delicious treats that V2 themself could never eat, all to fulfill their role as a friend to humanity.

Humanity's extinction must have been devastating for V2.

I imagine after humanity died, V2 simply tried to make do with what they had. In my mind, it’d make sense that they'd try to avoid using blood from animals at all costs (humans loved animals, after all). Instead, they'd take fuel from other machines. That fuel was already taken from its rightful owner, and there's nothing that can be done about it now. May as well put it to good use, right? Considering V2’s love for humanity (and by extension, all living creatures), they must have come to loathe their fellow machines. Machines sustain themselves off of harming humans and other living creatures, after all. Of course, there is the irony of V2 being just like every other machine, reliant on blood to survive.. I'll try not to get sidetracked with that one though -

I lied. I'm getting sidetracked.

V2's love of humans combined with their reliance on their blood as fuel would have been difficult for them to accept at best, and devastating at worst. I was going to put a comparison here but it made me genuinely sad, which goes to show how this likely made V2 feel. Sure, taking blood from humans doesn't necessarily require violence, considering blood donations exist, but it still couldn’t have felt great. Besides, it seems very possible that not all machines were interested in taking that fuel peacefully.

During their time in Hell, seeing their fellow machines happily and greedily tear through husks in Hell (which, I'd like to point out, are human souls) must have enraged V2. Considering their love for humans, I can't imagine them using husks as fuel. Instead, it would make sense for them to kill machines only. In fact, V2's terminal entry explicitly mentions killing machines (...V2 dove deeper into Hell, killing other machines for their blood to help its recovery…) but doesn't say anything about killing husks. I will note that the Ultrakill Fandom Wiki entry for V2 does allude to them killing husks, but there wasn't a source so I'm disregarding it (yes I am so Ultrakill brain-rotted that I am asking for sources on Ultrakill lore).

This leads to a stark contrast between V1 and V2, despite seeming so similar on the surface. V1 was made with the sole purpose of killing, and I do not doubt that humans were well within their scope. V1 is an especially efficient killing machine, with their rampage in Hell enough to draw the attention of Heaven. We know V2 tried to fight V1. What if the reasons for stopping V1 went beyond preserving fuel resources or getting revenge? V2 wanted to save the remnants of humankind. V2 didn't fight for themself; they fought for humanity.

Despite this, one could indeed make a very reasonable argument that V1 is doing the denizens of Hell a favor. Ceasing to exist does sound much more appealing than eternal torture. But, seeing as it's implied V2 has only been in Hell for a few hours, it's likely that they just haven't thought about this. Think of it this way: they've just rediscovered the one thing that gave them purpose... it's unlikely they'd be willing to let that go easily. Or perhaps V2 did think about this. Maybe V2 wanted to build a better life for the people of Hell. We know they made it to Greed, so they almost certainly heard of Minos' and Sisyphus' attempts to rebel against Heaven. I think it's likely that V2 wanted to follow in their footsteps; they wanted to build a haven for humanity.

But unfortunately, we all know how their story ends.

V2's existence was one defined by failure. V2's life was one riddled with "what ifs?" and "could have beens." An overwhelming theme of Ultrakill is tragedy, and I'd argue that this take on V2 is just about as tragic as one can get.

Also V2 isn't dead because they live on in my heart and I will not accept any attempts at convincing me otherwise.

#ultrakill #v2 ultrakill #ultrakill v2 #i love my little blorbo #vegarambles

[strqyr]

A thing with Raven leaving us that we've never been given context more than Raven disagreeing with Ozpin or rather Ozma as to WHY though Ozna and lies have long been assumed. Also that she both loves Yang... And is really bad at the traditional mom stuff and before Summer's mission knowingly relinquished the role to Summer who was better at it. Raven will fight for someone but talk? Not her best strong suit. But given how much people don't talk about Raven and why she left...

It might be partly "Ozma secret war" and... Who says her leaving didn't start with an argument? Especially in regards to Spring. That's the type of thing no one could explain to Yang without revealing secrets - and would explain why no one told Yang other plausible if hard to hear truths like Raven just being extremely nervous about being a mother and leaving. Especially as... Well no one came out of the Spring incident looking good now did they

i think, with the way tai pinpoints that it was raven's faults that tore their team apart, there had to have been an argument or something. it's not like one day everything was okay and suddenly raven's gone, leaving no clue behind as to why.

and, going back to how qrow reacted to finding the truth—the truth that raven had already found back then and likely tried to tell her team about—like: "every choice i've ever made has led me here, and i've dragged you along with me. oz, myself, the others... we're responsible for the mess the world's in now. i shouldn't have come, shouldn't have let any of you come... what was i thinking?!" he blames himself, but also oz and the others in the inner circle, for dragging these kids into a war that cannot be won.

i can imagine it was same with raven, back then; finding the truth and being like "what the hell are we actually doing here???", especially if she was in any way in charge of spring who has been described as a child—not that we have any idea what exactly that means, she could have been anywhere from 10 to 19 for all we know but still, being a maiden, that's permanent. there's no way out of it, and if qrow reacted like that to kids who aren't keys to the vaults being involved, imagine the horror raven must have been going through.

i also feel like they need to tie the reason for raven leaving into the summer mission somehow cos like. it's a question yang has been asking since V2, long before there was any reason to solidly believe there was a need to question summer's final mission, and if they give answers to the latter and then just, idk, tack raven's reason for leaving on top, completely unrelated, it would feel a bit... weird? so if spring is on the other side of that mystery portal, it's definitely the strongest connection based on the information and hints we already have.

#grundpfeiler #ask.strqyr

[miserablekingsteve]

Miserablekings Steddie Fic Masterlist; Part one

Hi! I'm Sage and have been collecting fics since the bright early days of June 2022 and this is my masterlist! If you don't see one on here please send them my way!! But also, these don't include the oneshots or WIP's I am awaiting the ending of!

Without You I am the Last of Our Kind by Twiceasfar

Summary: Steve Harrington and Eddie Munson have been best friends since they were six years old. Over the years, they drift apart. This is the story of how they slowly find their way back to one another. Will they ever get it right? My Thoughts: This fic absolutely destroyed my heart and soul but I will forever recommend not only this author but this work specifically!! No one dies, it doesn't follow V2 canon but there are other ways you can cry and feel angst. And this was all of them.

Lovesick in Loch Nora by Redoaktree

Summary: Even though Eddie's name has been cleared legally, he's still very much on trial in the court of public opinion. Dealing drugs isn't a lucrative occupation anymore, and getting a legitimate job in a town who still considers him a killer isn't much of an option, either. Eddie is beginning to think skipping town and starting over somewhere no one knows his name is the only chance he has left. Steve has another idea. AKA: Steve gets Eddie a job as an anonymous columnist at a local newspaper. My Thoughts: I look back on this fic almost every day, it's just so...hopeful? in a way. Y'know what I mean? This one smells like the dew on fresh grass and feels like the first pull on a morning cigarette as the sunrise heaves over the treetops. I love this fic.

Give me a Reason to Believe by chubbypeachhh

Summary: It's 1996. The world has long been saved, and Dustin Henderson is getting married. When he asks Eddie's daughter to be the flower girl, it brings up one little issue. Steve Harrington has no idea Eddie's daughter exists. My Thoughts: This fic literally wrapped me in the warmest hug I've ever had the privilege to be apart of. It is the embodiment of 'What have i done to deserve this' by the pet shop boys but in the dance floors clearing and only your close friends are left there kinda way.

The one in which the time loop is fucking exhausting by badpancake

Summary: The one where Steve Harrington is stuck in a time loop, and Eddie Munson is really fucking hard to save, or: fuck Volume 2, these bitches are in love. My Thoughts: Do not touch me. My coworker and I opened one morning in July together and they started to describe a fic they started to read that I had to read and the moment they said one detail about this fic, I finished their sentence and stared with glassy eyes. We then proceeded to yell about it the whole time we opened our work and then they had to take a break from fanfiction after that.

Some Nice Young Satanist by theuniversesaidiloveyou

Summary: it's 1991, Robin and Steve have moved to the big city and have an annoying metalhead neighbour who may or may not be someone they haven't seen in about 5 years. My Thoughts: You haven't read this?! I am sorry who are you? This fic is where I hope to be living in the next few years, I think I based more of my personality on Eddie Munson from this fic for it to be okay.

The Kissing Thing by thistledome

Summary: Five times Steve drunkenly made out with a boy that wasn’t Eddie + one time he soberly made out with Eddie instead My Thoughts: This little number was tension as a piece of literature; I am in fact a lovely little whore for that though so I did indeed gobble this in a few hours. It is fantastically enough plot and enough camaraderie to be more than 1 chapter and by God am I glad that it is.

if i dont make it back from where ive gone (just know ive loved you all along) by theoddapocolypse

Summary: On his thirteenth birthday, Eddie Munson received his first kiss. Steve had snuck out from his home, just to bring Eddie a cupcake and the gift he’d made for him. A guitar pick with a hole drilled into the top so that Steve could make it into a necklace. Eddie had immediately put it on and had felt overwhelmed with how much he loved his best friend. My Thoughts: I have made some feral fluff noises and then I made whatever it was while reading this. I don't know how I didn't suffocate myself from screaming into my pillow.

Do you Mind? (Will You Mind?) by Greenofclubs

Summary: Look. It’s not Steve’s fault. It isn’t! It’s just that someone can only get hit on the head so many times before their brain starts cracking, and Eddie Munson is always thinking so GODDAMN LOUD. My Thoughts: Look... I am a sucker for this kind of shit. You put mind reading in front of me in any media? I will literally gobble back that like chocolate pudding.

#these obviously include some of the bigger well known ones #but thats how it be #good things are great things #pls read these #uhm especially without you i am the last of our kind #:) #steddie fic rec #fic recs #steddie #eddie x steve #steve x eddie #stranger things #ao3 #this is also part one i will be posting more but my brain got juiced and i want to be able to put my whole into writing how i felt about #these fics #bc i love them

[daisy-dooodles]

About me :D

hi, hello! to start this blog off I think it would be nice to introduce myself a little, so here go a couple of basic questions about me...

What's your name? I go by Daisy in English (cause it's way cuter and easier than my original name in Polish lol and I really like flowers). But let's say my initials are MP, that's why I sign my artwork with it :D

What are your pronouns? She/Her

How old are you? I'm 22 years old, living that early 20s crisis lol

Do you have a degree in art? Nope, I went to uni for Romance Philology, cause I really enjoy languages, literature and different cultures too. But I've always liked art too as a side project!

So why this blog? Well, I don't really know what I want to do in life, so I decided to make this to start taking it more seriously as a possible actual job or just a way of having a place less chaotic than my insta to show the art I'm proud of sort of like a portfolio (and maybe even some behind the scenes I never shared...)

And what would you like to work in? I feel like a creative space would be cool. Maybe like editorial work, maybe designing stuff for books... idk, but I like the idea of being able to work on many different things instead of doing the same for years on end...

Do you do original art or fanart? Both. I have many ideas, sometimes I get obsessed with a show or something and want to try making fanart for it, but I have many original ideas too!

Is it traditional or digital art? Well, I enjoy both immensely. Because I sort of moved to Poland from Spain I don't have many of my supplies, so I'm resorting to digital more. I use the XP-Pen Deco 01 V2 tablet to draw. The program I use is Medibang Paint (and I am thinking of buying Clip Studio in the future when I have more resources at hand, cause I heard it's really good!) Unfortunately, my laptop is not great at colours, so I really like Medibang for letting me upload to the cloud and letting me deal with the colours on my phone :D (none of this is sponsored btw, I'm just sharing my experience)

How would you describe your art style? "I'm just trying" lol. I don't have one, I just try new and different things and supplies and programs as I feel like it. Many times it depends on what feeling I want the piece to have, so that makes me try and learn new techniques and I really enjoy doing that :D

Do you do commissions? Maybe a store? No, I don't. I'm not ready for something like that yet. Maybe down the line uploading stuff to pages like redbubble could be an option, I don't know much about how any of this works, I'll be figuring it out slowly

Can I message you? Please do, for anything! You wanna be mutuals and share with me silly posts or about a fandom we share? Go ahead! Do you need advice or vent to someone? DMs are open :D

What fandoms are you in? Well, I was in Sanders Sides for a long time, but I don't really go there anymore, maybe when we get more content I might just jump back in, though I still follow Thomas and check his content when I can cause I still enjoy it! I do enjoy figure skating and follow a bit on Yuzuru Hanyu, mostly Then we have my most recent fandoms I am kinda obsessed with: MDZS and BTS. Yeah, wild stuff. Have I drawn anything about them? Not yet really, I do have one MDZS sketch I'm working on, and a couple based on BTS songs, so maybe soon I'll share those here cause I feel quite proud of them so far :D I do enjoy many other series and films, but I don't think I'd be able to just list them cause it's so random. You can always ask if you need a friend to whom you get to be weird to, no judgement, we all be like that! I ranted about BTS to my bestie who knows basically nothing about them for almost a year now and they still love me nonetheless hahahah

(...yeah, so let's leave it at that for now, will update when new things pop in my head)

see you around 💜

#artists on tumblr #daisy talks #introduction #i ramble a lot #and use many parentheses #probs won't do that here as i did on insta before #it's just tiring lol #but tags are kinda fun... #we'll see what happens...

[mach-speed-spin]

Beyblade character designs analysis: Max Tate

Last time I went over Yuki Mizuawa. Now for Max Tate (requested by anon)

Max’s hair is blond. He’s (part) American. There really isn’t much here beyond a common stereotype of Americans in Japanese media (which was more prominent 20 years ago)

He wears a green shirt and orange overalls. The green shirt is there to match Draciel’s color scheme, but the overalls don’t match Draciel at all. This part of his design always confused me, but I guess the simplistic look of the overalls (solid color with no ornate designs) could be referring to his defensive style of battle, which isn’t flashy, but is effective. I still don’t get why they went with orange

The green wrist bands compliment his shirt, and help add more green to his design since the orange overalls cover most of it up

The black belt goes with the overalls being simple but practical

Green shoes are green because Draciel is green. Like most footwear in this universe, it’s nothing really special

In V-Force, Max’s hair is somewhat darker, but that can be attributed to the change in art style rather than any purposeful design change. He keeps the green shirt, but its even less visible now

The blue sweater is oversized (not so noticeable here but very obvious in many scenes. Like the overalls, I have no idea why they chose that color. Personally I would’ve given him a dark green shirt (like Draciel V2) and a light green sweater, but I digress

The red borders look nice and go well with blue, but again I don’t understand why. Draciel has no blue or red at all. It’s green, with a black/purple bit-beast, and the bit-chip background is yellow.

The stars are yellow because Draciel has a little bit of yellow. It’s not much, but enough to be considered Draciel’s secondary color

The size of the sweater is probably meant to evoke an almost childlike innocence, which kinda fits his personality. While I wouldn’t say he maintained his innocence from the beginning of season 1, compared to the rest of the characters, he is much less cynical

Blue wristband because? I know that gloves and/or wristwear are a staple of Beyblade characters, and some characters only have one on the hand they hold the launcher with (in Max’s case, his left), but why blue?

Grey shorts because? I feel like I’m missing something here because Max’s color choices make no sense to me

Blue and red shoes that go with the sweater but don’t match Draciel. V-Force designs are weird to me in general, but this has me more confused than the usual

Max’s hair reverts back to it’s original color. Nice

His shirt is green and yellow, with a little bit of orange and a red M. The M (probably) stands for Max, and the orange is a callback to season 1. The green is finally visible enough to truly match Draciel, and the yellow looks nice, and compliments Draciel. Love it

Max’s gloves kinda look like artist gloves in how they’re partially fingerless, but not quite. The green is there for Draciel. As for why they’re somewhat fingerless, my best guess is that fingerless gloves are a staple of bladers, but by having some fingers fully covered, it can reference Draciel’s defensive capabilities

He has a belt where he keeps his bey and launcher. Pretty standard blader equipment

His pants confuse me. Not so much from a “why was he designed like this” standpoint, but more in a “what is he even wearing” way. I cannot even describe what is going on just above his belt

The orange is again, a callback to season 1. Nothing really new there

Green shoes that match Draciel’s color scheme. Again, nothing really new since it’s very similar to season 1

#beyblade #max tate #Max Mizuhara #Character Design Analysis

[dragynkeep]

Holy shit I still can't believe I've seen more people believe that KF thread accusing Sheena of killing Monty with their cat than people who believe the letter. I also hate how RWBY fans let the letter get co-opted by Vic stans so now if you bring it up they assume you're part of them. Also since you brought up how Monty and his brother weren't that close, there is some stuff to back up that monty wasn't that close with his family. In a post he wrote on his personal website (which has now been archived) there's a post where it talks about his mother's funeral and he mentions how he's been described as off the grid and that he's family was expecting little response from him. ( the whole post is a great if sad read here's the link)

https://web.archive.org/web/20180928220018/http://montyoum.net/archives/602

The other thing is how when Shane's letter came out, Chivy, one of Monty's brothers made a response and said that he didn't even know Monty was in a relationship until he met Sheena at the funeral so Monty didn't even tell his family about Sheena.

Another thing is how in the special thanks for V1 and V2 for RWBY while people put their family in the special thanks, Sheena was there and Monty's family wasn't. Come after his death for V3 and Sheena is gone than from V4 onward The Oum Family is there.

it's all an incredibly uncomfortable, distressing & ugly situation & one that has obviously been taken advantage of by certain pockets of fans to their own ends. i honestly don't know how people still deign to believe sources like kiwifarms when it's barely a step up from the likes of 4chan & has only ever served to cause more issues than they "claim to solve."

reading that archived post of monty's was very sad, especially because i never had this nostalgia for him or his work as i came into the fandom long after his death & really can view this without that colouring my perspective. the way he talks about needing to work because of his parents immigration to the us & how his siblings would accuse him of not making time just feels really sad in retrospect. because like i said in the other ask, this overworking & this need to drive himself beyond the limit was more likely the pressing factor contributing to his death than he & his wife wanting a pet & him getting allergy shots for it. the death itself was wholly a freak accident & yet sheena is perpetually, still, cast as this conniving, gold digging villain who murdered her husband & it's so heartbreaking.

i think a lot of rwby fans buy into the fact of crwby "doing their best in monty's honour" despite the company ousting his wife & deriding his best friend's mental health because of the narrative formed by the kiwifarms posts; as well as the inherent idea that your blood family knows you best. neath being in the cast is seen as a sign of good faith that what they did in the aftermath of monty's death was right, even though by neath & monty's own words they weren't close. there was nothing more than a slight familiarity there only due to blood, monty had his family & it wasn't his siblings. it was his wife, it was his best friend.

it's just very uncomfortable to see this brought into because this is what happens to so many people, our blood family speaks over the family we chose by virtue of that blood relation & nothing else; & like i said, i don't know how i would handle that if it were my best friend, or my husband's family speaking over me when i knew i loved them most. the rwby & by extension rooster teeth fandom really needs to remove the blinders they have because of this cult like adoration for rwby & see what was being said years ago in a new light. especially since shane's claims were validated by rooster teeth themselves in the exposure of the crunch & yet so few in the fandom thought to actually follow through & question if the rest of his claims were true.

#anti rooster teeth #shane newville #sheena oum #owl.txt #answered #q

[okay-victoria]

What do people think of Tanya? AKA: Actually, a lot of people agree with Lehrgen

Summary: WHOOOOO BOY. You know it’s going to be fun when my subsections have to have their own subsections. Briefly, there is the Good [people who like Tanya both personally and professionally], the Bad [people who like/love Tanya professionally but not personally], and the Ugly [people who ideally, Tanya will never speak to, look at, send mail to, or be in the general vicinity of ever again]. 

I would say most people fall into the “Bad” category - they recognize her value as an officer, sometimes to a worshipful degree, but on a personal level range anywhere from thinking she’s a creepy child to actively disliking her. Unfortunately for Tanya, the people that fall into the Ugly category are as a rule higher-ranking than the ones in the Good category, and most people in the Bad category seem to like her specifically in her military role, and it is questionable they’d want her as even a coworker outside of that, let alone as a friend.

The Good

People who’re in here: People who have only ever heard of Tanya in the context of the Silver Wings award, people she interacts with in the Imperial Navy; rando soldiers; someone kinda high up in the later-war Eastern Army command; Ugar

People who only know her from Silver Wings:

V1/C1

Describes the nice aura people would see in someone who wins the Silver Wings.

The Navy

V3/C2

A naval officer does assess Tanya as having a predatory look, but doesn’t seem to think particularly badly of it, he just notes it, and then says “Degurechaff was a fellow soldier he could be proud of, which was why he extended his hand in utmost seriousness to wish her well.”

Rando Soldiers

There’s no real good single quote on this, but over time Tanya comes in to reinforce various units and leaves behind various impressions, ranging through Good, Bad, and Ugly, but anyway, there almost have to be low & middle ranking officers and soldiers who are presumably nothing but grateful to Tanya for rescuing them, even though we never get much of anything from their perspective.

Others

A superior officer of Tanya’s in Eastern Army command, in V5/C1, gets a transfer request for Tanya’s unit and reflects he is sad to be losing her.

Ugar - I don’t have down any specific pieces, but IMO it comes across in the LNs that Ugar is generally well-disposed to Tanya and doesn’t have the positive professional/negative personal thoughts that most other people close to her do.

The Bad

People who’re in here: Tanya’s academy/war college instructors, the 203rd battalion & later Kampfgruppe, Zettour, Rudersdorf, Generic Superior Officers, Romel, Lehrgen’s professional opinion

Tanya’s Academy & War College Instructors:

V1/C1

Tanya’s zeal during academy scares her instructors.

V1/C4

The instructors scrawled “abnormal” across the top of Tanya’s file.

“In the academy, we were told over and over – and, for some reason, over again – to love our troops. Weirdly, now that I think about it, I feel like they emphasized this the most when talking to me.” <= Tanya...you’re...you’re so close.

V1/C5

Mentioned that some teachers in the academy are on Lehrgen’s side of the What The Fuck Do We Do With Tanya debate.

V3/C5

Romel’s summation of her personnel assessment notes that at least on paper, the academy and the war college gave good overall evaluations of her.

203rd Battalion:

V1/C3

[Visha] “The moment she turned her icy cold eyes on us like we were objects to be appraised, I shrank from her in spite of myself. People might laugh at me for being afraid of such a little kid, but those eyes reminded me of the way a cat looks when it’s playing with a mouse, which creeped me out”

[Visha] “I was different from Lieutenant Degurechaff, who could calmly nail fleeing soldiers in the back with optical sniping or explosion formulas. I was relieved because I wouldn’t have to shoot.”

V1/C5

[Visha] “Was she an agent of the devil or of God? It had to be one or the other. Ahh, I can’t believe I have an ally more horrible than the enemy. She’s not human. I would bet my life on it. Me and a few others saw it once. During training, one of our teammates dropped like he was dead. The captain gave him a good kick, and before we knew it, she was back on his feet. I had been staring into the abyss of death myself…the captain heaped abuse on me. But I know, I saw it: she charged into the avalanche to save me. Even after my friends told me that she tossed my busted body aside like a used rag, I believe. She is definitely a good commander, even if I’m not sure about her as a human being. Of course, we all laugh and bad-mouth her…if the captain is an apostle of God, then only the devil can possibly exist.” <= in good news, Tanya, you are currently winning on your quest against Being X and mostly making people believe that he’s the Devil for allowing you to exist!

V2/C1

[Weiss] also refers to Tanya as a vampire

[Weiss] thinks Tanya is arrogant

[Visha] “her thought is That’s so low, Major.” <= this is in response to Tanya pulling out her child voice to announce they were going to bomb Dacia’s factory.

[Weiss] “Weiss has only known her for a short time, but even he can pick up the displeasure his superior doesn’t bother hiding. Her mood is as dangerous as nitroglycerin. When Weiss quietly takes a step back, everyone discreetly follows suit. Nobody wants to be so close to Major von Degurechaff when she’s irritated.”

V2/C5

[Grantz] “If the devil exists, it has to be our instructor, the commander of the 203rd Aerial Mage Assault Battalion, the legendary Major von Degurechaff. The way she smiled. The way she looked at us like we were maggots. The way she seemed thirsty for blood. I’d believe she had tried to kill a rebellious underclassman or crack his skull open. If I screw up on the battlefield, she’ll definitely kill me. That’s how threatened I felt by the instructor who just had to also be my advisor…I wanna cry.”

[Grantz] “This was the major who had once said during a speech at the academy that deadweight should be killed…This is crazy. No one said it aloud, but it was the look on everyone’s faces. This was a nighttime mission to abduct enemy soldiers…Magic Second Lieutenant Warren Grantz realized he was shaking. My survival instinct was screaming. I wanted to avoid the war, the combat, the killing. I was hesitating. But one glance from Major von Degurechaff was enough to subjugate that instinct. She was far more terrifying…I was so terrified I hardly felt like myself anymore…How could the major just calmly sing a hymn?”

[203rd banter] Visha asks if anyone wants to trade places with her so she doesn’t have to be with Tanya all the time, and Weiss and Grantz are not itching to take her up on the offer.

V2/C6

[Grantz] Is really, really bothered by how chill Tanya seems to be about Arene.

V2/C7

[Weiss] Reflects on all the horrible things Tanya has put him through, but ends his reflection on the note that he understands why it was necessary to prepare them for war.

V3/C5

“Apparently, the troops serving directly under her thought she was a great field officer” <= Romel re: Tanya’s personnel file

V4/C5

“‘Please have the 203rd be part of your Kampfgruppe. All of us in the battalion wish to continue serving under you.’”

Tanya doesn’t get what she wants, is then pissed, and it gives off weird abusive-parent vibes where all her children try to flee and not be present, and for the ones who have to be (Weiss & Visha), they take it by flinching, cowering, praying to God for Tanya not to explode, etc.

V5/C4

[Visha] “Reality is far too unreal. She’s crazy. There’s something strange about her...The colonel cackled – no, she giggled, smiling like a child. It was positively surreal to see her eyeing the enemy with her tender gaze and licking her lips. She snickered, but what was so funny? She was terrifying...Dripping red liquid. Pink things that used to be humans, flying everywhere. And opposite that scene was a beaming little girl. It was so surreal, it made more sense for me to suppose I had gone insane. No, maybe I really did go insane. The sight of my superior officer nodding with satisfaction and beginning a confession of her faith was horrific. I didn’t get even a glimmer of madness from her beautiful, innocent eyes. They were the eyes of a stubborn servant of logic, full of pure reason. But that’s what was horrific: those eyes stuck on that doll-like face.”

V5/C5

Tanya has some good banter with her Kampfgruppe soldiers and it seems like everyone’s getting along.

V8/C4

T: ‘Are you saying you throw yourself into the slaughter purely, justly – sane and sober? Don’t make me laugh. That’s a broken man talking. Going to war after downing some liquid courage with a grimace is much more human.’ He frowns for a moment, perhaps thinking to argue back, and then whines, ‘So are you drunk, then, Colonel?’ <= yes, a random officer from Tanya’s Kampfgruppe just asked if she was drunk and that’s why she’s always throwing herself into battle so excitedly.

V8/C5

T: ‘Glad you’re safe, Lieutenant.’ V: ‘Thank you, ma’am. That said, I would have rather you spared me from getting caught up in that attack.’ T: ‘What choice did I have?’ V: ‘What is that supposed to mean?’ Serebryakov puffs her cheeks out in a pout, which is surely a sign that she’s feeling better. <= Tanya, Visha wanted you to apologize, not excuse yourself, damn!

Zettour

V1/C5

“He doesn’t know whether they should praise her original ideas or call her insane.”

“Apparently, she hasn’t forgotten that she once said she wanted a battalion. She, a first lieutenant, to a brigadier general…something liable to provoke antipathy? She’s already done that.”

“The smirk on Tanya’s face reminds Zettour of some unpleasant rumors he’s heard about her.”

V2/C5

Zettour both remains horrified that Tanya was able to speak so frankly about a world war, yet he is sympathetic to the fact that she could do it because she understood what would happen.

V4/C3

Tells Rudersdorf that he “unwaveringly trusts” her military decisions.

V4/C5

Tanya comes to Zettour to request better units than he’s given her. He finds the request beyond arrogant, seeing as how pressed they are for men, especially for the fact that this is shortly after the Moscow situation and her battalion has “gone too far and been a handful”.

“Somehow, he didn’t think there could be that many damaged kids in the Empire like this young teen back from the battlefield. And actually, regardless of how he felt about it as a soldier, personally, the idea of interacting with them was terrifying.”

“But Degurechaff was unfazed and inquired about their experience with killing people. She saw people as products, and she was asking if they had been tested – that was the nuance. Could such a completely utilitarian view of people even be taught? Certainly, the army is an organization that pays attention to individual functions. Substitutability and cost consciousness are two factors hounding everyone. But can you really judge a human being by those criteria alone?...That innocent face and her straight back made her look something like a surreal doll. Doesn’t…Doesn’t anyone think this is strange?”

Zettour is mentioned to have originally had the same doubts about Tanya as Lehrgen, but after her performance he claims he is ready to “swallow any pill, no matter how bitter” (I think working with Tanya being the bitter pill) to win the war.

Zettour gives Tanya a little discretion to commandeer some equipment, she takes a lot of discretion. Zettour sort of laughs at off saying “this was Degurechaff” but does also mention that Tanya’s actions “amounted to a borderline interference in Supreme Command.”

V8/C4

Zettour is impressed with how Tanya has trained Grantz and thinks that if she wasn’t so good in the field, he’d put her in education.

“Sure, Degurechaff may have been broken, but not as an officer.”

Rudersdorf

V2/C1

Rudersdorf says that Tanya has a “distinct” [read: probably means difficult] personality, but if he just divided people into useful and not useful, she was useful.

V4/C3

Zettour and Rudersdorf debate Tanya, and he mentions that he only thinks she is talented in the military realm.

Generic Superior Officers

V2/C5

Tanya has a misunderstanding with her CO on the Rhine front. He wants her to train some new recruits normally, she mistakes it as saying “well, kill as few of them as possible, but do what you gotta do,” she gets kind of reprimanded over it.

V3/Intro

“Performance Evaluation: Major Tanya von Degurechaff:

Counselor’s Notes on character and conduct [this is printed normally]: Abundant loyalty and excellent fighting spirit. Follow regulations to the letter. Devoutly religious.

[this part is handwritten] Has a bad tendency to take matters into her own hands. Competent but as difficult to handle as a mad dog.”

V3/C1

“Some of the officers even added another thought in the back of their minds: Major von Degurechaff might actually be able to wring out even better results.”

V3/C3

Tanya goes wild on her base commander when he won’t let her sortie to Brest to prevent the French army from evacuating. <= Oddly, IIRC, no one ever like, apologizes to Tanya for not believing her, which is kinda rude, so mostly the incident reflects negatively on her instead of being a balanced: ok she did violate some rules, but...maybe if we’d listened to her we’d have avoided the rest of the fucking war, so seems like it might have been called for?

V3/C5

“The most important evaluations during a war are the ones from the battlefield, and those were all over the place.” <= Romel, re: Tanya’s personnel file

“The second was that although the evaluations were contradictory, she had achieved enough that she was considered an outstanding soldier. Awkwardly, regardless of how she was as an officer, as an individual mage, she was thought very highly of. Her number of kills was among the highest on the Rhine front.” 

“In any case, strictly as a mage, she was unrivaled. As an officer, too, she was by no means incompetent. So they must have been giving her to him as reinforcements and as an excuse to get her out of their hair. Honestly, he felt like they were foisting off their problem on him. ‘They’re telling me to take a mad dog out on a walk with no leash?�� He let slip a complaint. Maybe it was just prejudice, but that wasn’t what it felt like to General von Romel. After all, he was basically being asked to bet on a bad hand.”

V4/C2

Everyone on the General Staff realizes the huge amount of fallout from Tanya attacking Moscow. The backstory of this is that when Tanya asked for permission, the General Staff thought she was just going to do a fly-by and freak them out, not attack the city. It pretty much kills any opportunity they had to negotiate a quick settlement with Russia in the cradle.

Romel

V3/C5

Romel’s first meeting with Tanya pretty much goes: “so arrogant it’s invigorating...unbelievably insolent...in addition to her self-important attitude, it exuded heavy sarcasm...not only was she arrogant, she was clearly horribly warped.”

“Any commissioned officer would understand just from hearing her make that one comment why the Northern and Western Groups couldn’t control her. Having a mage battalion drop out of the command structure was almost like losing a whole division” <= ie, Tanya’s previous superiors must have really disliked her to give her up.

“She simply decided she would be a patriot if it was good for the nation. In short, she’s a capable lunatic, but the bad part is she doesn’t realize she’s twisted…She’s crazy. And competent. And more sincere than anyone I’ve ever known.”

“Without a doubt, she’s going to end up being the most horrible person I know. And she’ll probably also be one of my most reliable friends on the battlefield.”

V3/C6

Romel reflects that she is a mad dog, and that she is an ego-crushing entity for the average officer. <= while Romel never brings this up, this has a *ton* of important real-world implications for Tanya, especially assuming men still have more than a little trouble listening to women outside the military. Even if you believe the best rumors about Tanya, you still might not want to hire her because she’s going to be better than you, and most people hate that feeling.

V4/C1

Tanya goes to the Eastern Front, and Romel reflects that he is sad to lose her and that once you got used to her, he found her easy to work with.

The Ugly

People who’re in here: Lehrgen’s personal opinion, Some wartime randos, OG Eastern Army Command, OG Northern Army Command, Imperial Government, people who mostly know Tanya from her Arene reputation, Western Army Command; Implied Future View of Tanya

Wartime Randos

V1/C5

“Some of those who had been on the front lines had a strange reaction to the name [the 11th Goddess] we picked. They claimed it was the worst joke they’d ever heard.” <= ie, Tanya was the Devil, not a goddess

V2/C1

Tanya is happy that Dacia has zero airpower. She displays her happiness by smiling maniacally and skipping around her tent. Everyone thinks Tanya is happy that they just got invaded again and the war is growing and she can go kill people. 

V2/C5

A kinda random infantry guy is still having nightmares about Tanya in like, 1960, and reflects back on how he felt when he heard Tanya casually call for friendly fire to go right through where her men are flying. He questions why anyone listens to her.

“But when I replay the memories in my mind, I can’t help but shout, You monster! A hero, a star, and outstanding magic officer. You, ma’am, were a great officer. To all of us imperial soldiers serving on the Rhine lines, you were a god...Yeah, she’s a god – an immensely powerful one who presides over life and death. Her words, brimming with a spine-chilling anger, swept over the area as if she was planning to attract all the enemy hostility like moths to a flame. Major von Degurechaff had bared her fangs. It invited a violent reaction. The Republic wanted to hunt the devil. In other words, they devoted all humanity’s wisdom to killing the god of death. Gods don’t die, but those of us next to them? …They were right to call her a god of death. She killed the enemy, and the enemy killed our men. Then the noble major, with a glance at all the dead in the mud, took her leave. Fucking hell.” <= and you thought Lehrgen hated her. But, again, real-world implications of this could very well be that post-war, Tanya is a total persona-non-grata as someone that had a high degree of influence on how rabidly everyone fought against the Empire, and how the Empire was treated in the aftermath. I don’t make it out quite that bad, but it could be really rough if someone wanted to make it that way.

V4/C5

“The Guard Division had been on many assignments dealing with formal events, so we had experience…But what is that? That absurd, expressionless, doll-like creature was giving orders to people who appeared to be bloodthirsty mages just back from the war zone.” 

“Could it really…could it really be possible for a child to wear such a smile?...Her hands were soft and would have looked more natural holding a doll, but instead, this odd, human-shaped creature spread her arms as she delivered a welcoming address. No one. None of the high-ranking officers present could raise an objection to this thing. The veteran mages all obeyed this inhuman being in the form of a person.”

OG Eastern Army Command

V1/C5

“The members of the eastern army had been openly angered by her annoyed look until days before, but now their faces were pale. She said exactly what she thought: ‘Incompetent, pitiful, lazy, arrogant, unprepared, mentally disabled, inattentive, no powers of observation’ and her conclusion was that ‘all mages of the Eastern Army group require reeducation’”

“The ranking officers from the regional field armies who had come to protest ended up bearing the brunt of the General Staff members’ critical glares.”

OG Northern Army Command

V2/C3

“With no idea when Colonel General von Wragell might explode in his seat at the head of the table, Lieutenant General and Chief of Staff von Schreise was inwardly annoyed, but at the same time, the atmosphere was so tense he wanted to bury his head in his hands.”

“Schreise couldn’t be the only one thinking that he would have thrown her out immediately if she weren’t a representative of the Central Army’s view.”

“‘You’re very humble, aren’t you?’ one of the staff officers murmured, curling the corners of his mouth into a smile that was more of a sneer.”

“Schreise had never seen a major with such a big head without making light of him…without hesitating even a little, she – a mere battalion commander – matter-of-factly gave her opinion to the staff and even had the audacity to disagree with them. Even with the sacred, inviolable General Staff’s power behind her, she was nearing an inexcusable challenge to authority. A head could be allowed to swell only so far. There’s a limit to what can be tolerated, even for recipients of the Silver Wings Assault Badge!...the major, though still rather new, was readily crossing a line of which all graduates from the war college should have been aware.”

V3/C5

“There was a pile of especially severe criticism from the Northern Army Group. They said she was transferred after voicing a clear objection to those in authority.”

Imperial Government

V2/C5

Tanya sinks a Commonwealth vessel, she is court-martialed, the military says she did nothing wrong [which I agree with], but the diplomats want to punish her to appease the Commonwealth. After the not-guilty verdict, Tanya’s smug-ass smile makes everyone go: umm...should we really have let her get away with this??

V4/C2

She then further makes the diplomats hate her over her Moscow raid.

V4/C3

Rudersdorf warns Zettour that Tanya going overboard is earning Zettour criticism from the government.

V4/C4

During her second court-martial, Tanya doing the most in Moscow manages to fracture the relationship between the government/supreme army command & the guys more in charge of the day-to-day war, like Zettour & Rudersdorf.

International Post-Hoc View on Arene

V2/C6

“They gunned people down like they were so many targets in a firing exercise. They got ‘points’ for shooting people. People had blocked themselves in, so they used heavy-explosion formulas to bombard whole districts. Those are all painful memories of the tragedy being shared today. Even counting only the confirmed deaths, the city of Arene lost half its population that day. In order to avoid the heavy responsibility for each soldier that would result if they went into the city and had to visually confirm their targets, they aimed to cause widespread fires via artillery bombardment from positions surrounding the city. A portion of the documents shows that they had chosen targets that were likely to spread the flames as proof-of-concept for firestorm.” <= the reporter doesn’t know this, but Tanya is the person that comes up with that proof-of-concept for creating a firestorm, as well as the person that creates the case to make it legal to repress a civilian revolt with a military. To me it seems like Arene is presented as the Tanyaverse Bombing of Dresden, except how it would be viewed if Germany had won WWII.

Tanya thinks about how if the Empire loses, her reputation is in the toilet if it becomes known that she did this.

Western Army Command

V2/C6

[The Lt. General or above that is in command of the Western Front] “A terrifying report or a proposal from hell. The one who thought of this was either a lawyer so cunning the devil would invite them to join forces or a criminal. This way of thinking is practically inhuman. Only a devil who forgot their reason and conscience in their mother’s womb could come up with such a tactic. That someone would equate having the technical capabilities for an operation with actually doing it…Are they deranged?”

“Luckily, an army corps commander summoning a mere major is extremely rare. Exceptional though it was, it meant there was a chance he might have to summon this monster again someday…Doing his best not to look directly at the monster straightening her posture in front of him, the army corps commander accepted that it was for work and met her.”

“The principles behind the actions of this major in front of him were impossible to understand using anyone’s logic or emotions. Her inorganic eyes compelled you to conclude that her thoughts, her frameworks, her way of being were all warped.”

This guy keeps going on and on more than I have here, tbh he’s one of Tanya’s main haters. It’s fine Tanya, it’s only the guy in charge of Western Army Command, who listens to him?

“I hope no one noticed that I just flinched, thought the army corps commander, sensing that he was distinctly afraid of her…No worries about what? He deeply wanted to ask what she was planning to do, but he held back. He told himself it was surely better not to know…But there is probably no one more suited to being a soldier than you. Perhaps you feel at home in hell on the Rhine front.”

V3/C5

“The Western Army Group declined to evaluate her, saying her good and bad points neutralized each other, so it was difficult to rate her. Furthermore, she had attempted to resist orders.”

Implied Future View of Tanya/The Parable of the Salamander

V4/C5

“From what I heard, the Salamander is adorable and very clever. If you show it affection, it’ll get attached to you. Like a German shepherd, it can become a trustworthy member of the family. Sometimes it begs or plays tricks, but apparently, everyone ends up overlooking these things. Of course, Mrs. Legen grew angry and screamed that it went too far, but…Well, in the end, everyone doted on the Salamander. Because when it’s even more reliable than a German shepherd, how could you not? At some point, though, the Salamander’s requests and pranks grew to be too much. But what do you think happened when no one was sympathetic to dependable Mrs. Legen, who had continued to angrily scold it the whole time? That’s right. No one was able to stop the Salamander! Of course, the Salamander loved and cherished everyone. But sadly, there was no one to teach it right from wrong. So the Salamander never realized that everyone disliked it. Soon it had exhausted everyone’s patience.” <= for reference, Tanya commands the Salamander Kampfgruppe; this is told as a cautionary tale that Andrew says circulates throughout the future Empire.

Your Author’s Take on Tanya’s Reputation vs Reality

The above should have real-world implications for Tanya’s personal life as far as friends, and for her career both within and beyond the military once the war is over, because, you know, people talk. Anyone who phones up an old pal because said old pal had some quality time with Tanya and they’re curious what she’s like is probably not going to receive a glowing personal recommendation, and the higher up those people are in society, the worse it is likely to be. 

Even for people who think she has a genius applicable beyond the military sphere, outside of extreme circumstances people generally don’t want to employ anyone, no matter how smart, who is known for being unpredictable, uncontrollable, arrogant in the extreme, abusive towards coworkers, manipulative, possibly just straight up evil, etc etc. Within the military, after the war I would expect her to be hampered by the fact that a lot of people won’t want to work with her unless there’s a really pressing reason they need her skillset.

I can’t believe I’m bringing this show up from years past, but she’s sort of in the same position as Dr. House from the TV show - famously talented; famously toxic in the workplace; only one place will employ him, and at a much lower salary than his reputation should command, and even so, thinking that he could get away with that in real life is pushing the suspension of disbelief for the show. The same goes with friendships - very few well-adjusted adults are willing to befriend The Cool Asshole in real life.

When it does happen IRL, those relationships usually aren’t healthy & happy, and can easily end up with borderline-emotionally-abusive undertones because the follower is afraid of losing the leader, and molds themselves to fit what the other person wants so as to be an unchallenging, uncritical presence in the life of their idol.

For a story about an adult man reincarnated as a young girl fighting in magical WW1.5, YS manages to put a surprisingly interesting twist on the Main Character is a Cool Asshole Without Consequences model, with Tanya getting away with it in the present due to extreme circumstances, not realizing that the war is the only reason she’s getting away with it, and facing many implied future consequences for it.

While it’s entirely possible and often completely necessary to handwave Tanya overcoming this for storytelling purposes, as you can’t go many places story-wise if Tanya is as screwed as it sounds like she’s going to be, standard reality is that she’s gonna need to do some serious legwork to dig herself out of the hole she’s in, both personally and professionally. 

I appreciate that the crux of a good Tanya story is often Tanya thinking normal reality will apply to her but then bypassing normal reality to end up somewhere she never intended on being, much to her chagrin, and readers therefore may feel adhering to realism violates the reality of Tanyaverse. 

For the purposes of this story, I have chosen to stick with where the preponderance of evidence leads and apply a good amount of normal reality to Tanya, because that is exactly what allows me to proceed along a different avenue of Tanya misunderstanding things and ending up somewhere she never intended on being, keeping to the spirit of Tanya stories. Plus, Tanya doesn’t seem very intent on growing as a person in the absence of consequences and I need my character growth drivers.

...and I can’t avoid admitting I still end up handwaving some portion of those consequences for Tanya, since, as stated above, it’s...hard to go anywhere with a story if you don’t.

#LN Reference

[littlemisssquiggles]

Sooo…about my predications for the RWBY V8 Finale…

While I voiced before that I wasn’t going to make a finale bingo card, I did say that I wanted to share my predictions or rather hunches for the events of the finale. As always, like with anything I do, these are all just ideas of how I personally believe things might end based on all that’s happened for this season. Well some of them are, others are just things I’d personally love to see happen for the finale and you could probably tell which ones those are by simply reading them.

….And now for some squiggly predictions for the V8 finale….

 Oscar uses the rest of the kinetic power stored in the Long Memory to aid his friends and the refugees of Atlas and Mantle against the Batman Grimm which conveniently alerts the attention of their allies from Vacuo (meaning SSSN and CVFY) who arrive just in time to finish the job in the most epic of character reentrances, calling back to the finale of V2.

 Penny EITHER suffers another chillingly gruesome death (for pure unadulterated CRWBY showrunners messing with the audience shock value) at the hands of Cinder Fall, far worse than the one she endured back in V3 OR…conveniently gets knocked straight out of the final fight to Vacuo to return as a (minor) supporting character for V9 since her story is officially complete.

 Cinder gains another win for the villain side as she succeeds in claiming the Relic of Creation for Salem, pilfering it right from underneath Penny’s nose.

 Winter kills Ironwood and has an emotional moment where she mourns his death, crying for the first time ever in the series.

 Pietro Polendina magically reappears for the finale after eight episodes to stop Watts in a last minute battle of wits like the opening foreshadowed.

 Salem conveniently returns in the final scene of V8 but SURPRISE MOTHERF***KERS, Salem will not be the main antagonist moving forward to V9 because Cinder; now armed with the power of the Staff of Creation; decides to betray Salem; no longer desiring to play noble pawn but make herself queen instead; thus proving it was meant to be her all along as the final villain of RWBY and the Cinder fans rejoice because their girl did not die this season despite the NUMEROUS fan theories proclaiming that she would!

 Harriet Bree dies as a result of her own ignorance and Qrow, despite his semblance, gets to live another day because the showrunners still need him alive for the inevitable STRQ flashback backstory that was teased for V9.

 RWBY EITHER all fall prey to the void and end up separated in the Other World with the season leaving us on Ruby alone in a mysterious Other World OR…only WBY fall to the Other World and Ruby is the lone survivor to make it to Vacuo on Remnant, no longer having her team by her side because the shot from the opening of her falling through darkness still reaching out to the light of the Staff of Creation as the Grimm drag her down was meant to be taken more symbolically---to symbolize Ruby losing her unquantifiable spark of hope and falling prey to depression and other negative thoughts and feelings as a result of her teammates “dying” before her very eyes.

 The Rosegarden duo DO get to share a hug before V8 officially concludes after all but it’s Oscar offering Ruby one in comfort after she is left traumatized by the “death” of the team; providing a nice callback to the first RG moment to kick off this season. V8 started with Ruby coming to Oscar’s aid and being there to comfort him during their ride back to reunite with their friends in Mantle. So imagine how interesting it would be if V8 ended with Oscar coming to Ruby’s aid emotionally, returning the same comfort she provided him before. Just a thought.

 And that’s all folks!

Look, now I am no ways a psychic of any kind. I’m just a humble squiggly squiggle meister who is very curious about how this season is going to clock out and wanted to share some ideas of how I think it would. Since the V8 opening has been flashing the whole “Happy? Never Again” in our faces all season, there is no way in SH*T that I’m not gonna assume this season will end on a not-so positive note for our heroes.

I really wish to believe that the “Happy? Never Again” line was directed towards Ruby specifically. I really wish to believe that V8 will end on Ruby never being the same “happy go lucky protagonist” full of hope ever again after this season.

While she’s definitely matured a lot over the seasons, at her core, our little red rose has always maintained her spark of hope up until this point. While we saw this season challenge Ruby on that notion; it didn’t quite really go anywhere concrete. This is why I’m thinking that the finale will end bad for Ruby---at least on an emotional level.

I’d like to think that V8 will end off on breaking Ruby to the point that she won’t be herself ever again. She would lose her spark and V9 would be about her recovery---slowly regaining it through the love, care and aid of the loved one she still has who she has helped and inspired over the seasons.

At least…that’s how I would love V8 to end. Words aren’t enough to describe how much I want V9 to focus on Ruby.

But like I said, this is how I’d like for things to shape up. How the actual canon will end is dependent on the showrunners. So for what it’s worth, I hope it’s good. That being said, see you guys tomorrow for the finale.

 ~ LittleMissSquiggles (2021)

#rwby #ruby rose #oscar pine #rwby volume 8 theories #rwby theories #rwby volume 8 spoilers

[pleaseshutupaboutsatou]

Before and After Ajin Volume 1

Part One

Since Tsuina Miura’s Tenkuu Shinpan is getting an anime now, I can’t help but think of the contributions they made to Ajin initially and what could have been. I believe they left the story to Sakurai after volume 1 as the chapter titles begin to change and the first chapter of Vol 2 is called ‘A Fresh Start’. I also notice a shift in how the characters act and are portrayed from that chapter onwards.

Also, note volume 1′s credits.

Just Sakurai from Vol 2, onward.

Out of curiosity, I re-read volume 1 and tried to look at the characters and events as Tsuina Miura might have intended, keeping in mind other works of them I’ve read such as the horror oneshot, Yumeoi and part of the long-running series, Tenkuu Shinpan.

Yumeoi is a suuuper short horror oneshot in which the protagonist dreams of a slender-man-like guy who kills people he knows and when they die in the dream, they die for real.

Tenkuu Shinpan is kinda hard to describe but here’s a synopsis:

High-school girl Yuri suddenly finds herself on the rooftop of a high-rise building. She's trapped in a bizarre world surrounded by skyscrapers, where a masked man cracked open a man's head with an axe before her eyes. Finding a way to survive this bizarre world, find her beloved brother, and escape becomes her top priority, but she is beset by danger not just from the mysterious Masks, which possess both inhuman strength and cruelty, but other survivors turned cruel or desparate by the insanity of the high-rise world.

For funsies, I took some screenshots and did some minor analysis. I can’t pretend this will be without bias because I love Ajin but I definitely want to avoid jumping to the conclusion that the story would not be as good if Tsuina Miura had stayed. One can only guess tbh. Anyway, take this with a grain of salt.

I have a document with this stuff but it’s too much to stuff in one post so I’ll split it into parts. SPOILERS AHEAD. 

I will also be referring to Tsuina Miura as TM sometimes.

This post has three parts:

Eriko and Kei

Kei’s Mom

Satou

Right away, I think what all these stories have in common with Ajin is the horror element and a protagonist who tends to have a sibling that plays a part in the story.

Before Volume 2: Eriko and Kei

In Tsuina Miura’s other manga and especially Tenkuu Shinpan, the relationship between siblings is heavily emphasized. Yumeoi touches upon it a little but it’s there. I wonder if they planned on making this relationship more important to the story?

Kei is quite actively protective of Eriko in these flashbacks.

After:

I think Sakurai toyed with the idea of having Kei’s care for the wellbeing of his sister be totally insincere 

But in the end I think he just made it more natural and realistic.

Before V2: Kei’s Mom

Like many anime/manga parents, she’s kinda there if she has to exist and doesn’t even have a face or a name. I wonder if TM specifically asked Sakurai to not show her face. Perhaps there were plans for her too or maybe they wanted to emphasize the emotional distance between Kei and his mom. It’s not a very important relationship in volume 1.

After:

Kei’s mom has a name now, Ritsu, and she used to be a doctor. She’s pretty smart and the scene between her and Tosaki was her playing a bit because she seems to find the government’s handling of Ajin suspicious.

Before V2: Satou

Okay, so this one is fun and I’m surprised at the possible implications of what Satou could’ve been because it’s hard to see him in any other way besides how Sakurai wrote him.

This is Satou’s first ‘appearance’ I believe. He appears to be genuinely concerned with what’s happening to Tanaka. Perhaps, this Satou actually would’ve cared about Ajin rights???

Also he might have been intended to be middle-aged if he says stuff like this. Also, perhaps he was supposed to be cool and charismatic? Like a Bond villain?

After:

You know...

The Transition to After:

In the first chapter of Volume 2, Satou’s actions become more clear.

I wonder if manga readers read this as sincere back in the day. I feel like the anime makes it more clear that Satou’s tricking Kei.

Satou starts to joke around a lot more after Vol 1. He and Tanaka have a playful back and forth.

The real reason for all this theater:

That’s all I have to add for now. I want to get into Kai, Tanaka, Izumi and more later but this is already so long.

#ajin #spoilers #'analysis' #lmao #i barely proofread im sorry

[muzzleroars]

hc V2 almost met Gabe in Gluttony but they heard the 'Machine, turn back now...' and decided that they had to obey the one authoritive human voice they heard in hell and backtracked to Limbo.

How do you think their friendship would develop when they do meet? V2 would probably be glad to talk to someone who is somewhat sane, and maybe they would appreciate Gabe's human form or would that be a source of awkwardness?

sjdhfgfg absolutely love the idea that for ONCE gabriel's whole little speech...works. like the only reason he does it is just a left over of his chivalric values even though it seems to have no meaning to the machines - give them the chance, he guesses, but it's become an automatic script of no consequence. until v2 is like "oh...ok. understood." it's glad in a way to get some direction while gabe is like ???????? IT LEFT?????? and he can sort of feel good for a bit that maybe his words mean something to somebody still. even some machine. at the very least, it was worth keeping it up until then.

i've talked about what i think their relationship would be like a little before, but i genuinely believe they have a lot they can relate on if given the chance - they are both based in violence yet are meant to act as protectors...and ultimately, they have both failed. however, this common ground hardly means they would get along at first - they see all of their flaws in the other, they see what they perceive as their own worthlessness, and that causes plenty of friction at first. what is v2 good for, still chasing after peace down in hell? humanity is gone and it has no one left to protect, yet it's still adhering to orders and programming that has absolutely no place in this world. it's small wonder v1 bested it twice. and what is gabriel good for? an angel without a god, still behaving like some kind of knight when heaven itself as rejected him and hell is being destroyed by machines. it's no wonder v1 bested him twice. they hate seeing themselves reflected back so plainly.

they wouldn't keep it up forever as they both come to terms with their realities, both taking one too many shots that just gets turned right back on them by the other. and gabriel would eventually see it's ridiculous, how he wants v1 to have a relationship with v2 yet he refuses to be civil; and v2 realizes how dumb it is to keep throwing insults at the one guy left in hell that might still appreciate the finer parts of its mind, the part that dreams, that has aesthetic senses no other machine does. And so they would slowly become more open to one another, the ice melting between them as they find more to share in than just their failure. yet there is something comforting in that foundation, one they don't touch for quite some time - they were both made for a singular purpose, and that purpose is now gone. they exist as beings never meant to be adrift, beings that should be discarded the minute they are no longer useful.

however, i think what proves to be most important for both of them is the far more human-like connection they find in one another - v2 was trained on human social models far more than any other machine and gabriel comes from the same creator as humanity. no, neither are an exact match as v2 is still very much ai, still a war machine with a coat of paint applied, while gabriel lacks much of humanity's creativity and power to fully self-direct, but it's a far closer approximation than either would have otherwise. v2 can finally talk about its imagination, about its dreams, with someone that understands (and even helps it interpret its more metaphorical simulations)...and honestly, i think v2 would like seeing gabriel's human face. he would apologize for its appearance now, knowing that the frostbite might be jarring - v2 doesn't really mind that either, though it does have protocols telling it how it should help him it has to keep ignoring lol it likes listening to the stories he tells it, describing all the humans this face knew and the simple things he would do with them even as an angel. over and over gabriel speaks on the kindness of the humans he met (of course, he was sent from god), how he was invited into their homes and shared food with them, how they always insisted he leave with a gift no matter how he refused. it's clear he misses them in a way many angels don't, but a way v2 does despite never really getting its chance to know them. so really their connection is one filled with a lot of mourning, a lot of grief for who they were and what they lost - it's outlet for feelings that had no other place before they met.

#they do also absolutely trade stories of their fights with v1 lol #though v2 does NOT understand how this made gabriel fall in love...weirdo!!!!! #but i just really like the idea that gabriel finds his future in v1 and finds his past with v2 if that makes sense #they are his emotional support machines #gabriel: are there any other....v-series- #v2: you will not have an entire team of v therapists no #cake answers #gabriel #v2

[danielxrk]

𝒃𝒆𝒕𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒇𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒇𝒂𝒊𝒕𝒉 —— empty enigma’s first album * ( 𝘀𝗽𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗳𝘆 ) ( 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗯𝗲 ) ( 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗺𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗰 ) ( 𝗺𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗻 ) ( 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗯𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 )

released may 4th, 2019 alongside music video for lead single “immortal”, “between fear and faith” is a metalcore album, and the band’s first since beginning in 2015. cameo was brought on as bassist for the group in 2017, replacing their former member, and joining vocalist squall, lead guitarist alpha, and drummer brand. rhythm guitarist reign is their most recent addition, making his debut in the band on this album. all members of the band feature on at least one song on the album, joining squall as vocalists. investigation into the bands’ true identities has proved fruitless thus far. for now they remain mysterious, with only a select few knowing the truth (unknown at the time of release: they would all reveal their identities on the fifth season of the mgas)

𝗑 𝗌𝗊𝗎𝖺𝗅𝗅 (𝗌𝗎𝗇𝗀𝗐𝗈𝗈𝗇) 𝖻𝗋𝖺𝗇𝖽 (𝗐𝗈𝗈𝗃𝗂𝗇) 𝖺𝗅𝗉𝗁𝖺 (𝗄𝖾𝗇𝗍𝖺)                       𝖼𝖺𝗆𝖾𝗈 (𝖽𝖺𝗇𝗂𝖾𝗅) 𝗋𝖾𝗂𝗀𝗇 (𝗆𝗂𝗇𝗁𝗒𝗎𝗇) ( all songs co-produced by heunjeok )

╬═ 1. immortal (lead single)

written by: squall, cameo, alpha, brand, reign & heunjeok lead vocals: squall drums: brand bass guitar: cameo lead guitar: alpha rhythm guitar: reign

╬═ 2. ways to disappear 

written by: cameo, alpha & heunjeok lead vocals: squall drums: brand bass guitar: cameo lead guitar: alpha rhythm guitar: reign

╬═ 3. find yourself

written by: squall, cameo, brand, apha & heunjeok  lead vocals: squall drums: brand bass guitar: cameo lead guitar: alpha rhythm guitar: reign keyboard: squall

╬═ 4. deadly conversations

written by: squall & heunjeok lead vocals: squall drums: brand bass guitar: cameo lead guitar: alpha rhythm guitar: reign piano: squall

╬═ 5. sleepless in phoenix

written by: squall, cameo, brand & heunjeok  lead vocals: squall drums: brand bass guitar: cameo lead guitar: alpha rhythm guitar: reign keyboard: squall

╬═ 6. the realest

written by: cameo, alpha & heunjeok lead vocals: squall rough vocals: cameo drums: brand bass guitar: cameo lead guitar: alpha rhythm guitar: reign keyboard: squall

╬═ 7. this light i hold

written by: alpha, reign, cameo, brand & heunjeok lead vocals: squall rough vocals: alpha drums: brand bass guitar: cameo lead guitar: alpha rhythm guitar: reign keyboard: squall

╬═ 8. g.o.a.t.

written by: brand, alpha & heunjeok drums: brand bass guitar: cameo guitar: alpha guitar: reign keyboard: squall

╬═ 9. high & low (**second single)

written by: squall, brand, alpha & heunjeok  lead vocals: squall vocals: reign & brand drums: brand bass guitar: cameo lead guitar: alpha rhythm guitar: reign keyboard: squall

╬═ 10. the bomb dot com v2

written by: cameo, brand, alpha & heunjeok lead vocals: squall drums: brand bass guitar: cameo lead guitar: alpha rhythm guitar: reign

╬═ 11. stay still

written by: alpha, reign & heunjeok   lead vocals: squall drums: brand bass guitar: cameo lead guitar: alpha rhythm guitar: reign piano: squall

╬═ 12. dancing with demons

written by: squall, brand, alpha & heunjeok  lead vocals: squall drums: brand bass guitar: cameo lead guitar: alpha rhythm guitar: reign keyboard: squall

╬═ 13. condition // comatose

written by: alpha, reigh & heunjeok  lead vocals: squall drums: brand bass guitar: cameo lead guitar: alpha rhythm guitar: reign keyboard: squall

╬═ 14. sakura blues

written by: cameo, alpha & heunjeok lead vocals: squall drums: brand bass guitar: cameo lead guitar: alpha rhythm guitar: reign keyboard: squall

╬═ 15. starving for friends

written by: cameo & heunjeok lead vocals: squall vocals: cameo drums: brand bass guitar: cameo lead guitar: alpha rhythm guitar: reign

╬═ winter everywhere (hidden track on starving for friends)

written by: squall, reign, alpha & heunjeok  lead vocals: squall vocals: reign drums: brand bass guitar: cameo acoustic guitar: reign electric guitar: alpha

THANKS TO

SQUALL

it’s been a long time coming. 

 empty enigma started as a dream—with a different group of people. if you’ve been with us since the beginning, you probably remember. frankly, we sucked back then; we were just were just a bunch of guys who thought we could do whatever the fuck we wanted without knowing shit about what it was that we wanted to do. we fought, we failed, and eventually most of us just left after that, because fuck tenacity, right? 

 i don’t think about the old empty enigma much anymore. i don’t even know if i can call that—whatever it was—empty enigma. so much of this band is what our current members have made it. alpha, the first addition to the group, who impressed me from the beginning with his sick guitar skills and continues to impress me every day with how amazing of a person and performer he is. brand, who i could almost be convinced to share the spotlight with (kidding, it’s mine) and who i know i can always trust to have my back whether musically or otherwise. cameo, who was supposed to be a temporary fix and ended up sticking around—well, you know how i feel about you already, right? you’re the reason for and the inspiration behind one-third of the album. take that however you will. i do know none of this would’ve been possible without you, so i’m glad you’re permanently ours. our newest member, reign, who stepped up to help us out of a tight spot, who i sometimes unfairly butt heads with because i’m not used to sharing—i’ll work on it. all of you are empty enigma, and without you, i’d be nothing. all this? would be nothing. i owe you guys a lot, maybe more than i’ll ever admit, but for right now i just want to thank you for coming on this journey with me. here’s to many more albums.

i also want to thank my grandparents for raising me, and my little sister for being a pillar of support. and my best friend, heunjeok, who produced all the good parts of this album (well, aside from me)—love and miss you, buddy. thank you to all our fans as well, whether you stuck with us through thick or thin or are new here. if all works out we’ll have plenty of chances to perform for you again. if it doesn’t, it’s been a wild ride. kidding, you can’t get rid of me that easily. i’ll be squall till the end, so let’s meet again!

ALPHA

thank you to the breakfast sandwich i had this morning, it was really tasty. oh and also to the lunch reign bought for us on the day we recorded most of these songs... this album was brought to you by FULL ENIGMA and reign's FAT wallet!

 ...i'm being glared at and i guess that means i should actually write something nice about the members so here: hi empty enigma, you're sexy  cameo, brand, squall, reign and heunjeok, your alpha is proud of you!! this album is literally the coolest thing ever created and i know each of us is going places. (specifically, out to dinner hopefully? i made myself hungry...) 

and lastly, thank you to burger king; you made me who i am today. i'm sorry that all of my sad songs are about you - i'll write you a pretty song one day too, i promise! あなたのことは決して忘れない. i miss you.

BRAND

thanks--you know i mean it.

CAMEO

first of all, i need to thank god for working everything out so we would all end up here, which feels like at least some kind of miracle. it’s a miracle that we’re still together at the very least-- i’m just kidding, i would stay with this band forever if i could.

thank you to squall, brand, alpha and reign for being not only the best band in the world, but the best friends. thank you to heunjeok for his hard work and all of his help ironing out our messy tracks, and to my old friends who taught me bass, and alpha for teaching me guitar (and being the first person in this band i ever met, and one of the best people i’ve ever met) because without that i would’ve never been a part of this. thank you to everyone for letting me join the band, and for the fans that accepted me as a member, whether that was from the start along the way, and thank you for waiting for us through our hiatus. thank you to reign for killing it on this album without being with us for long, and for taking care of everyone so well, and to brand for making my songs better, and for always putting up with me. i’m glad squall didn’t give up on this thing and saw it through in all of its iterations, and i need to thank him for making the stage feel like home for me even when i wasn’t sure i had a place in the band or on stage at all. i'm grateful for all of the help everyone gave me on this album: writing lyrics with me and listening to my ideas and building on them-- for brand and alpha’s knack for composition, and for being willing to help me get the hang of it too. also thankful that i’m a quick learner, but that’s not as important as the rest.

thank you to my parents for raising me well and not supporting me doing music so i would know how much this really meant to me, and so i could take the fire that lit in me and put it into this album. thank you to everyone these songs are about, and proving that every experience can be good for something in the end. i’m really proud of how this album turned out, and it feels good to finally share it with everyone. i hope you enjoy it.

REIGN

honour. n.  [COUNTABLE] something you do that you are proud of.

i believe the word about sums up my feelings on the whole project,  the heavy feeling in my chest i can only describe as a sense of pride.  i have not been with the band for long,  not really in the retrospect of things,  but empty enigma in its entirety represents something wholesome to me.

it is home.

the appreciation i carry is one i can’t begin to phrase;  for the process,  for the support,  and especially for the other members,  who welcomed me with open arms.  the journey as reign has been a relatively new one,  but it’s one i will hold dear for the rest of my life.  

individual acknowledgements to everyone involved  –  to alpha,  who has been by my side since the beginning,  always there to help even if i struggle asking for it.  to brand,  my number one till the very end,  you’ll always be my favourite of the bunch.  to cameo,  who does everything with his whole heart on the line,  always inspiring me.  to heunjeok,  who once proposed a perplexing question i never got around to answering  –  you asked what music is to me.  perhaps the answer is you.  to squall,  who has challenged me to do more every day since we first met,  i’m better for it.  to the fans,  nothing would be possible without you.  

                                                                                                                                       * all songs written in korean ic; songs in playlist used only as reference                                                                                       ** high & low will be released as a follow-up single alongside its music video after mga season 5 ends

#;ee #rkxsungwoon #rkkenta #rkpwj #rkminhyun #;hc #;cameo #( * literally what do i tag #we've been working on this for literally months #and ee has since october #SO SO EXCITED to finally post it #thanks @ ee for deciding it should go up on my blog it's an honor #and for doing such an amazing plot w me ily #everyone please enjoy!! ) #( haru did gfx btw i can't believe i forgot to mention...everyone had huge input #could not have done this without them it was so fun ) #;betweenfearandfaith

[canmom]

that was an interesting episode of Planetes. they introduced a couple of new characters and the thesis seemed to be that like, rocket scientists obsessed with the development of space must be deeply horrible people.

there's this scientist guy who's developing engines for this ship that's going to Jupiter. in the episode before, Hachi had a crisis of confidence after a space accident and he got the impetus to recover when he looked at this fusion engine. in this episode we meet the guy who's developing it, and he just doesn't give a shit when he learns the engine test he ordered blew up up a few hundred workers; he knows his job is secure, and he's right!

at the same time they also introduce Hachi's dad who's like, a brilliant rocket engineer but a totally neglectful father, with some weird ideas about like, why one should be in space; and he's been working very hard to avoid getting roped onto the Jupiter ship project but when he sees this callously inhuman rocket scientist give a press conference and not even try to hide how little he cares about his workers’ lives, he's like, ok then sign me up!

so by the end of the episode Hachi - who’s heavily implied to be training to fly on the Von Braun - is actually like, wondering whether he's the same kind of person, and they explicitly connected it to Wernher von Braun and his development of the V2 rocket with no concern for the lives he destroyed along the way. (Though oddly, while they mention that the V2 was a Nazi weapon used to bomb London, Hachi doesn’t mention that it was built by Jewish slave labour from a concentration camp under deadly conditions, even though that seems to connect directly to the thesis)

meanwhile we have the arc of Claire who's like, an immigrant from a country that's been explicitly crushed by imperialism and civil war, and she's been demoted, and she's dealing with this question of like having joined the 'lords', the ruling class, and how she can't enjoy it 'if the peasants who made it were starving'. and i feel like there's this implied contrast between these like, callous rocket scientist men neglecting their families and the lives of workers to chase dreams of exploring the solar system, and someone like Claire (or indeed Tanabe) who's more responsible, and i'm very curious how they're going to resolve this. but, they seem to be saying already that this system - very clearly analogous to present day capitalism - rewards totally cruel, immoral people and punishes people like Claire, which is in line with previous episodes dealing with Claire’s (fictional) country and the injustice surrounding it

for a show that is on some level about like, how cool space is, that puts an enormous amount of love into accurately depicting space hardware and correctly describing space physics, and clearly the makers put a lot of study into the history of spaceflight, it’s got a very surprisingly critical attitude to that development of spaceflight. i’m not sure where it’s going with this but it’s directly confronting it in a way that a lot of scifi just brushes over.

it reminds me of the villain in the recent Blade Runner sequel who talks explicitly about how, he claims, every great step in human progress required a totally disposable population, which is why he created Replicants. people have said that’s kind of too on the nose and maybe it could be handled better but like, as far as describing the way capitalism has developed, it’s not wrong: capitalism is built on the bones of enslaved and colonised people, that’s the original (and present) basis on which all our present wealth and comfort is built. it’s become a cliché to point out that our electronic devices such as the computer I’m typing this on were built for barely any pay in appalling conditions produced by a global ‘race to the bottom’ of manufacturers competing with the tacit approval of western capital. Blade Runner 2049 wasn’t really interested in developing the critique beyond having that villain throw out that line, or considering any sort of alternative, and I guess it wasn’t that sort of film, but I’m curious about where Planetes is going to take it.

this isn’t a very coherent post but i’ve been up a long time and i’m off my ssris so, maybe i will rewrite it and repost later

#planetes #shoah cw

[shittyshittyshitty]

Kickstarter: 7 Questions with Christian Byard of Relativity Cards

Mutineer is a pirate-themed deck currently seeking funds on Kickstarter. The fully custom deck is illustrated by Christian Byard of Relativity Cards. According to the campaign page,

Mutineer playing cards are a souvenir-style, walrus-and-carpenter-esque look at piracy with an unhealthy helping of dehydration hallucination.

The card back prominently features the Jolly Roger and the face cards feature illustrations of all different ships and items of the Pirate Era, from the cannons, hooks to the Kraken and Man-o-War. The familiar yet strange courts feature these items on one-half of the royals. 

A few days ago, we had a chat with Christian about his design background, inspiration, and design process behind the fascinating Mutineer Playing Cards. For those of us who don’t know, can you tell us about yourself and how did Relativity Cards came to be? As a developer at a tiny design firm, I wear a lot of hats. Video work, copyediting, print management, production design--if there's something that needs doing, I'm probably doing it. I like the continual learning that comes with diving into the required discipline of the moment, even if it means I rarely do development! Ellusionist is to blame for my interest cards, reigniting that childhood fascination with magic and cultivating a love for custom cards. 

I was there when Jackson Robinson came onto the scene, and I ate it up! Fast forward a number of years I'd rather not think about (although I can at least take comfort that Jackson Robinson is older than me... hooray?) and a couple of decks, in a really weird way, made me decide to start designing: OPC's Peelers v2 and Tavern on the Green. Something about the simplicity of the one and the complexity of the other, plus some specifics of the design (like those half-gold pips that I still can't get over) gave me ideas for a really stupid deck project. But one that I wholeheartedly wanted to execute on! I knew that if I was going to make this effort, though, I didn't want my first deck to be a joke. So I started working in other directions. My first vector was the decision that the world needed more orange playing cards. That was the genesis of Singularity, spurred by the EHT Collaboration's First Image of a Black Hole. Galactic Paradise, a collaboration with Tanner James, followed, and now here we are. 

Can you describe the Mutineer Playing Cards and why you’re passionate about it? Mutineer playing cards are a souvenir-style, walrus-and-carpenter-esque look at piracy with an unhealthy helping of dehydration hallucination. They are familiar and strange, unglamorous and fascinating. They are exactly what they say on the tin, and so much more... and so much less. For the expectations of some, they will be off-putting. That's not the intent of the design, though, rather there is an invitation to maybe not take things so seriously. Look at that card back! I've heard a bit of feedback that it's too goofy, it should be a real pirate flag. You may not believe me but I do value consistency in design. So goofy it must be. I don't think I could have made a serious pirate deck anyway, and there are enough of those already! The piracy theme has been begging some kitsch if you ask me. Walk us through the process you took to design the deck. How did you come out with the idea? It began as a joke, and that's the sorry truth! I saw certain decks out there, popular souvenir decks, with public domain flags for backs. And, well, with a setup like that, what else was I to do? A different flag, a rhyming name, pointed erosion of piracy's romanticism, and here we are. It would have ended there, but I showed it to people who saw beyond the joke. They made me make it real. 

What was your most brilliant breakthrough when designing the deck? It was definitely tying dehydration hallucinations into the theme. I wanted to customize the courts of the deck non-traditionally and semi-haphazardly. "Really bad pirates running out of water" gave me the license to get surreal. It gave the "why" I needed and allowed me to solidify the whole design with more purpose. With so many playing card projects competing for funding, why should potential backers choose your deck? Back what you enjoy! If you like the look of the thing, come aboard! And maybe you just want a really good-feeling custom USPCC deck for $7 that you won't feel bad if your trash! Also, I do have some special editions involving silver design elements since silver is a lifesaver for water purification. 

What’s next? Can we expect more deck designs in the future? New versions of Galactic Paradise are coming hopefully this summer, some typography decks I'm really excited about will be next year, and at some point, I may find the courage to release the third version of Singularity. I self-funded the second, so nobody seems to really know it exists (or they don't care, in which case I suppose its days are numbered!) I will say that I had a spark of an idea yesterday for a second edition of Mutineer, so I opened up my design folders and added the 28th deck. Will I do them all? No way! But some have promise, and maybe even that first deck that started it all will come to life someday... Finally, what are your favorite playing cards? Stockholm17's House of the Rising Spade: Cartomancer. I also love Art & Machine and anything done by Playing Arts. Decks that confound and delight during table games use find their way to the top of my list. 

Thank you for your time Christian. If you like what you've read here and want to support Mutineer Playing Cards, you can find it on Kickstarter Here!

The deck will be printed by the United States Playing Card Company on Premium casino stock, linen finish. Pledge starts at $7 on Kickstarter for a standard deck. 3 different editions are on offer: Standard, Thirst, and Shiny Buoy (gilded). [post_ad]

from Kardify https://ift.tt/31aZmph

[zyynnaaa]

Kickstarter: 7 Questions with Christian Byard of Relativity Cards

Mutineer is a pirate-themed deck currently seeking funds on Kickstarter. The fully custom deck is illustrated by Christian Byard of Relativity Cards. According to the campaign page,

Mutineer playing cards are a souvenir-style, walrus-and-carpenter-esque look at piracy with an unhealthy helping of dehydration hallucination.

The card back prominently features the Jolly Roger and the face cards feature illustrations of all different ships and items of the Pirate Era, from the cannons, hooks to the Kraken and Man-o-War. The familiar yet strange courts feature these items on one-half of the royals. 

A few days ago, we had a chat with Christian about his design background, inspiration, and design process behind the fascinating Mutineer Playing Cards. For those of us who don’t know, can you tell us about yourself and how did Relativity Cards came to be? As a developer at a tiny design firm, I wear a lot of hats. Video work, copyediting, print management, production design--if there's something that needs doing, I'm probably doing it. I like the continual learning that comes with diving into the required discipline of the moment, even if it means I rarely do development! Ellusionist is to blame for my interest cards, reigniting that childhood fascination with magic and cultivating a love for custom cards. 

I was there when Jackson Robinson came onto the scene, and I ate it up! Fast forward a number of years I'd rather not think about (although I can at least take comfort that Jackson Robinson is older than me... hooray?) and a couple of decks, in a really weird way, made me decide to start designing: OPC's Peelers v2 and Tavern on the Green. Something about the simplicity of the one and the complexity of the other, plus some specifics of the design (like those half-gold pips that I still can't get over) gave me ideas for a really stupid deck project. But one that I wholeheartedly wanted to execute on! I knew that if I was going to make this effort, though, I didn't want my first deck to be a joke. So I started working in other directions. My first vector was the decision that the world needed more orange playing cards. That was the genesis of Singularity, spurred by the EHT Collaboration's First Image of a Black Hole. Galactic Paradise, a collaboration with Tanner James, followed, and now here we are. 

Can you describe the Mutineer Playing Cards and why you’re passionate about it? Mutineer playing cards are a souvenir-style, walrus-and-carpenter-esque look at piracy with an unhealthy helping of dehydration hallucination. They are familiar and strange, unglamorous and fascinating. They are exactly what they say on the tin, and so much more... and so much less. For the expectations of some, they will be off-putting. That's not the intent of the design, though, rather there is an invitation to maybe not take things so seriously. Look at that card back! I've heard a bit of feedback that it's too goofy, it should be a real pirate flag. You may not believe me but I do value consistency in design. So goofy it must be. I don't think I could have made a serious pirate deck anyway, and there are enough of those already! The piracy theme has been begging some kitsch if you ask me. Walk us through the process you took to design the deck. How did you come out with the idea? It began as a joke, and that's the sorry truth! I saw certain decks out there, popular souvenir decks, with public domain flags for backs. And, well, with a setup like that, what else was I to do? A different flag, a rhyming name, pointed erosion of piracy's romanticism, and here we are. It would have ended there, but I showed it to people who saw beyond the joke. They made me make it real. 

What was your most brilliant breakthrough when designing the deck? It was definitely tying dehydration hallucinations into the theme. I wanted to customize the courts of the deck non-traditionally and semi-haphazardly. "Really bad pirates running out of water" gave me the license to get surreal. It gave the "why" I needed and allowed me to solidify the whole design with more purpose. With so many playing card projects competing for funding, why should potential backers choose your deck? Back what you enjoy! If you like the look of the thing, come aboard! And maybe you just want a really good-feeling custom USPCC deck for $7 that you won't feel bad if your trash! Also, I do have some special editions involving silver design elements since silver is a lifesaver for water purification. 

What’s next? Can we expect more deck designs in the future? New versions of Galactic Paradise are coming hopefully this summer, some typography decks I'm really excited about will be next year, and at some point, I may find the courage to release the third version of Singularity. I self-funded the second, so nobody seems to really know it exists (or they don't care, in which case I suppose its days are numbered!) I will say that I had a spark of an idea yesterday for a second edition of Mutineer, so I opened up my design folders and added the 28th deck. Will I do them all? No way! But some have promise, and maybe even that first deck that started it all will come to life someday... Finally, what are your favorite playing cards? Stockholm17's House of the Rising Spade: Cartomancer. I also love Art & Machine and anything done by Playing Arts. Decks that confound and delight during table games use find their way to the top of my list. 

Thank you for your time Christian. If you like what you've read here and want to support Mutineer Playing Cards, you can find it on Kickstarter Here!

The deck will be printed by the United States Playing Card Company on Premium casino stock, linen finish. Pledge starts at $7 on Kickstarter for a standard deck. 3 different editions are on offer: Standard, Thirst, and Shiny Buoy (gilded). [post_ad]

from Kardify https://ift.tt/31aZmph