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iikisa · 1 month

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part 1

so. this is part one of a red dragon!krs fic ive been building up… this first chapter doesnt really have much much interesting scenes as of right now, and I’d love love love the input from everyone on how to continue, ideas for characters, and if theres anything i should consider changing!! that doesnt mean that i’ll be changing everything according to commenters, but i’d value all opinions to help build this plot 🥲

I’ve already finished around 3 similar length chapters and recently got stuck, so think of these posts as drafts and final revisions will probably go officially on AO3. thanks everyone 🤪

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Oh, Pitiful Dragon (1)

Ever since his birth, the child longed for death. If it could take away his pain and grant his freedom, he’d trade anything he had so scarce of already. And on a particularly horrible day— the day that terrible man decided he would rip out his heart and use it for evil— the little child met a god.

The God of Death.

He thought it was ironic, seeing how soon his own demise was due soon. But this God didn’t come to reap his death, rather it came to propose a deal.

And the red dragon would accept any deal to be free of this pitiful life.

Kim Roksoo awoke suddenly from his slumber. His vision was black and only began to adjust to his blurred version after continuous blinking. Why was it so dark? And how had he fallen asleep? He was just finishing Volume 5 of The Birth of a Hero series and now— wait, are those chains?!

His eyes blew open and his vision was finally adjusted to the pitch darkness that surrounded him. He tried to stand but winced when pain spiked all across his body. Only then did he realize just how badly injured he was. Why was he so weak? Had someone kidnapped and beat him to a pulp?! He was completely blinded by the inexplicable pain that he hadn’t realized something much more important. No— wait, pain is important! It’s definitely concerning! But… why was his whole body covered in crimson scales?

‘Oh geez, well isn’t this new.’

Shortly after he had that thought he passed out from exhaustion and shock.

When Kim Roksoo woke again, he was practically being strangled. He quickly gasped for air and focused in on his current situation. He was being held up tightly by a metal collar on his (very, very sore) neck by some strange man in front of him. His hair was a long, spiky mess of blond and didn’t look very well-maintained. But his eyes… they were bloodshot red and had a crazed glint to them.

‘Crazy bastard…!’

Roksoo’s breathing was beginning to strain more and more, and suddenly he felt something prick beneath his scales painfully. He looked down and saw a clear tube running from his body all the way through an open passageway not so far from him. His blood began flowing through it.

‘Blood— They’re.. taking my blood?’

His thoughts were becoming even more incoherent by the second but after securing the clear tube into the little red dragon, the crazed man dropped him to the floor.

“You’re blood is so pure and vibrant, it’s so beautiful.. just like the color of your scales! It will definitely aid our liege and his cause. Haha!”

All Roksoo could think of was how crazy this lunatic was. He was still heavily panting, because honestly when was he not at this point, but thankfully he hadn’t passed out again. Instead, he glared with all his being towards the crazy bastard standing above him. Unfortunately, it only seemed to excite the lunatic even more.

“Maybe I really should visit you more. That look in your eyes gives me chills!”

Mumbling to himself, the psycho soon left the room through the very passage his blood was being drawn towards, and Roksoo was left alone; unprotected and cold. He hated feeling this way. These people didn’t seem to want him alive for so long, considering his “luxury” treatment. He was going to miserably die at their hands sooner or later. And he was too weak to do anything about it.

His eyes suddenly flashed with memories— no, records— of his fight with the second unranked monster to plague Korea. Lee Soohyuk and Choi Jungsoo… he had let them die. It was his fault and he knew it. It was something he’d regret for the rest of his life. But… they had told him to keep living. To keep living for them. He couldn’t die. It didn’t matter how he got into this situation. He’d rather crawl in shit than die this pathetically. He’d survive his new predicament— this new life that’s been granted to him. He’d survive.

He’d definitely survive to smack these bastards in the back one day.

Roksoo had spent weeks in that dark hell. His blood continued to flow from his body to somewhere unknown, he was paid violent visits by that lunatic, and he got weaker and weaker because of it. But his will didn’t waver for a second. Whenever someone came in to check on him, he’d mark it in his mind every time. Soon enough, he learned their patterns and found openings. He finally had a plan to escape this hell, no matter how many holes there were.. it was a chance.

With his limited information, there was only so far he could get, but somewhere deep inside him, he knew he’d manage. So, he followed his instincts. The minute his opening came, he used all the strength he had gathered and focused.

‘Concentrate. Concentrate on that feeling you’ve been accumulating, Roksoo!’

Suddenly, Roksoo felt as if he’d achieved some sort of enlightenment like the ones described in murim stories. He felt an overwhelming warmth spread throughout his body and a rush of adrenaline pumped through his veins exponentially. This power… He didn’t know where it had suddenly manifested from, but he was sure now. He could get out of here using it. His mind and body began working beyond their limits, and eventually everything around him felt like it was moving at a snails pace.

‘Instant..?’

His second ability from his past life, Instant. Time would seize and he could move freely for a short while. With a heavy cost on his body of course.

‘But this… it’s similar to instant, but it’s not completely it. I think— No, I can definitely handle this much better than what I’ve been able to before in Korea.’

His new body must’ve integrated Instant into another power. And this new power was about to help him escape. A small smirk graced his torn and bloodied face. Perfect.

Shackles that were tying his limbs down shattered beneath the little dragon’s feet in the blink of an eye, and in a literal instant he was darting across the passage with his slashed and scarred limbs.

‘Keep going. I have to keep going and get out of here!’

He was sprinting through the corridors, and if anybody had looked his way all they would’ve seen was a long, red blur. A bright light was beginning to seep in between the cracks in the ceiling of the dark man-made cave he was confined in.

‘Screw the consequences, we’re blasting through!’

With incredible speed, Roksoo was right beneath the seeping cracks of light and expanded his unused wings for the first time. His wingspan barely fit within the wide corridor as he spread them out and up, blasting off from his spot on the ground and flying like a rocket towards the ceiling. He was making it out.

Just as he impacted and the dust and debris had shot up everywhere, he spotted a few individuals standing far off in the sunlight. The most notable was a red haired main of fairly tall stature completely frozen in place by Roksoo’s sudden escapade. He wore a strange white mask over his upper face, his eyes a bright red with hints of brown. The person looked far to similar to Roksoo. His prominent crimson red and his own piercing reddish-brown eyes. They would’ve looked entirely the same if it weren’t for Roksoo’s current form.

He only locked eyes with the man for a split second, and continued shooting up into the sky. He began to hear shouts and alarms blaring within his vicinity. He had been encaged in a mountain with a large encampment stealthily surrounding it. He’d remember this exact spot.

Massive fireballs and arrows began piercing the sky in an attempt to bring Roksoo down, but he clumsily maneuvered around each and just barely grazed a few on his crimson scales. Suddenly, a blinding white spear had crossed his vision. And before he knew it, another had pierced right through his wing, tearing it open a considerable amount. Roksoo stifled the cry of pain that threatened escaping his lips, and instead gritted his teeth and continued to fly towards any kind of safety. Anything other than here will be safe, he just needs to lose these bastards first. The adrenaline rush he had originally received numbed all the pain in his body, but he knew that wouldn’t last with his current levels. He had to make use of every last bit of this power that he had in him.

He flew over an ocean and kept flying as far away as he could. Eventually he reached the mainland. The forest underneath him was dark and vast, a perfect hiding spot. He glides over the tree-line and with his remaining strength he just barely managed a suitable landing right by a flowing river. His landing was a little on the rough side and he was still so sore, but… he had finally made it out. He was successful. Now, he could truly live a slacker life! Wait— he still needs to get back at the bastards who had tortured him in the first place. Ah.. he also needs to secure enough funds for his slacker life as well.

Sigh.

Roksoo had much to do before he got to live a peaceful life.

‘But first, let’s just lay here a little while longer…’

Roksoo succumbed to his exhaustion and pain, entering a deep slumber.

———

THANKS FOR READING to the end !! please let me know ur input, things i could change, add, etc, i lack a lot in this field and value ur feedback ! 😋

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rendy-a · 29 days

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amh if possible could hoy make hdcns for the dorm leaders ( separately ) reacting to their mc fem explaining the marvel universe and then puts them to watch the movies hehe ( ..also mc's fav hero is dead-pool ;) bc it gives me laugh imagine their reactions about this xd) , thanks in advance and take care<33

This certainly ended up being a little bit of a crack fic but it ended up amusing. Hope you enjoy it.

At first, he scoffs as such a time-wasting thing as wanting to watch dozens of movies. Where is the educational value in this?

He is just too polite to refuse to listen, so he’ll end up letting you describe all your favorite scenes to him.

You are better off if he doesn’t take an interest because, if he does, he is going to turn into the worst sort of comic book geek. Be ready to have him quote lore from issues of source material at you during any discussion on this from now on.

What do you mean who would win? In Volume 3 #3, Thor clearly defeated Iron Man. Don’t get upset Prefect, I don’t write the lore, I just recite it.

Doesn’t appear to be interested but, if you pause long enough, he’ll prompt you to go on. It’s important to you, so he’ll try to care at least a little.

You’d never tell him this, but you love to banter with him because it reminds you of your favorite character. Sometimes you wonder if he’d be pleased or offended to know who you remind him of.

Movie marathons? Not only is he willing to do them with you, but he is also often the one who suggests them. Don’t be deceived though, it’s not for the movie but for the quality nap time on the couch with you.

Don’t turn that off, Herbivore, I’m watching it. What do you mean I don’t know what’s going on? This is the part where we learn her mom isn’t dead after all. So quiet down and keep the lights off.

Please, he is in Board Game Club with Idia. You think this is the first time he has hmmm’d himself through a conversation about fictional characters?

Wait, you say that this makes a ton of money? Tell him more about this merchandising and licensing. Especially that, what do you call it…ah, Happy Meal.

You can eventually talk him into watching the movies with you for ‘research purposes.’ When you do, you can’t help but notice how teary-eyed he gets at the sad scenes. He’s just so sensitive!

Deadpool is also his favorite character. He feels a sort of connection to certain parts of his story.

So, she chooses to stay with him even though he looks like that? No, I’m not blubbering. No, I don’t need you to cuddle with me. Ok, fine. Just for a little while.

He doesn’t get it, but he still loves it. Sure, you have to explain everything to him three times, but he gets excited over your excitement. Call him any time to talk about your theories on how things would have gone if Thanos had made a different wish on the infinity gauntlet. He doesn’t mind if it’s 3 AM (just don’t let Jamil find out).

Movie marathons turn into parties. Why just watch the movies when you can have themed snacks and dress up too? Hulk smash cakes and Black Widow berry cobbler? Yes, please.

His favorite part of any film is the soundtrack. If he hears a song he likes, he gets up to dance along. It’s pretty disruptive when you are watching the movie but when you see how much fun he is having, you find you don’t really mind after all.

Sorry Prefect, Jamil says we can’t have dance battles in Scarabia anymore. Ooh! But come by the Pop Music Club later. I’m going to play all my favorite songs for Cater and Lilia. Ahaha!

You were worried Vil would dismiss your favorite Marvel films as inferior art, but he is actually rather generous about it. He believes the film should suit the audience and, as so, there is nothing wrong with films like this that serve to entertain the masses.

Still, he can’t help but be critical of everything while you watch. He doesn’t criticize the things you’d talk about with your friends but topics you’d hardly even notice while you watched like the set design and lighting.

You notice Vil seems secretly fond of Loki. You think the idea of the Villain that survives the main movies to get his own spotlight series appeals to him.

No, Potato, I’m just saying the angle isn’t right for this sort of tone. A shot from below would be more effective. Plus…wait, are you having more popcorn? I don’t think so, it’s past the time you can snack before bed.

You had expected Idia to be all in on the Marvel Universe but, at first, he is oddly resistant to it. He’d rather recommend you one of his own favorite hero movies. If you disagree on which is better, he is more than willing to fight with you over why his is best!

After a heated argument, he puts on some of the movies to watch so he can come up with targeted points about why his own shows are better. This does not work out for him as he gets sucked in himself. Next time you meet up, he wants to go over tiny bits of lore and speculate on future plot lines from hints in the past movies.

You might think his favorite would be Iron Man because they both are innovative engineers, but he is a fan of Ant Man. Shrinking down to a size where you can hide from everyone; it’s an introvert’s dream!

Prefect, this is serious business! I’ve drawn up plans. So long as we sleep only 2 hours a day and avoid taking any breaks for food, studying, and showers, we can finish at least three seasons this weekend. True fans like us need to be ready to sacrifice for the shows we love!

There are many things Tusnotarou doesn’t understand, and this is one of them. For starters, he barely knows how to use his smartphone, let alone how to stream movies and shows. So, before you can even start explaining the plot, you must explain the whole concept of series and interconnecting shows to him.

He doesn’t get it, but he is happy to watch with you. Your reactions to the show are far more amusing to him than the actual show. Plus, he feels like he learns so much about the human world from your conversations. A subway, how intriguing an idea. Humans are so fascinating.

Even though he watches politely, he isn’t very impressed. They can fly? Well so can he. Magic, lightning, superstrength? All just part of being a dragon. Perhaps instead of being interested in these superheroes, you’d rather learn more about him?

Lilia, do you think I am a superhero? The Prefect has been explaining this concept to me in great detail lately. I can’t help but notice the many things I have in common with these so-called heroes. Why yes, Lilia, now that you mention it, I am wearing a cape. Another point in my favor. Fu fu fu.

#twst #twisted wonderland #twst wonderland #riddle rosehearts #leona kingscholar #idia shroud #kalim al asim #azul ashengrotto #malleus draconia #vil schoenheit

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robins-egg-bindery · 1 year

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ever in your favor by @iron--spider

Peter startles awake when someone shakes him.

“Sorry, honey,” May says. Peter blinks a couple times and she comes into focus, her hair pulled back from her face. She’s trying not to look a certain way, but he can see it in her eyes anyway. She clears her throat, keeps talking. “But it’s…” She glances away, wets her lips. “You gotta get ready.”

He remembers what day it is, and his heart beats like a drum at someone’s execution. But he tries to put on a mask, make it all seem normal. It’s everything but, despite the fact that he’s been dealing with reaping day since he was born, between himself, Ben and May. That fear that one of them could be taken away. Sent to surefire slaughter. But now Ben is gone, taken despite never having his name drawn from a bowl, and May’s finally safe. Now Peter’s name is in there alone. The last Parker sitting on the chopping block. He doesn’t know how to be. He doesn’t know what normal is, when the Hunger Games are looming on the horizon.

fic by @iron--spider

art by @angel-gidget

624 pages / 153,984 words

Title Font: PP Hatton, Rustic Printed

Body Fonts: Californian FB, Moonglade, Bebas Neue, War Is Over, Architects Daughter

More on the process below the cut!

I have...SO much to say about this project! This fic was one that I've wanted to do ever since I started fanbinding, and it was one I saved until my technical skills caught up with my vision for the book. @iron--spider is my favorite author and a wonderful friend, and I wanted to be able to do this masterwork justice!

Given that it's a Hunger Games AU, I wanted to touch on the Hunger Games aesthetic while still being unique. I started with the cover; I knew I wanted red and yellow, something bold and evocative of the Iron Man, Spiderman vibe. It also doubles as an implication of the blood spilt during the games, especially in volume II - when Peter actually enters the games. I chose the spider for the cover, and painted it on the cover paper with inky black paint; I cut a stencil, and while the images did have some drippy areas, I don't mind it so much. It's meant to look like graffiti, Peter's symbol that the people of the Districts scrawl everywhere they can get away with it.

In turn, I also experimented with a paint pen on this one of the titling, done on the spine piece, which is black Better Than Goat leather! Again, I went in with a stencil, and opted for blockier letters, like something you might see spray painted onto a wall.

The endpapers are custom; I messed around with a weird cityscape I found and came out with the image you see above. The setting for the games is a futuristic city, much like MCU NYC would be, complete with an Avengers Stane tower.

And then of course, there's the typeset itself! The Hunger Games books don't have particularly striking typesets, but I did go for the dystopian vibe with the Rustic Printed font on the chapter numbers, and Moonglade for the chapter titles, giving it a very industrial feel.

It was also a pleasure to include the art that @angel-gidget did for the fic as well! Her book covers are so gorgeous and I love her manip style so much <3 I also included the short drabble @iron--spider did on her Tumblr, a post-story snack-sized fic, as well as a meta question she answered via her asks that I thought was particularly interesting. The District guide at the back, including what Districts each character belongs to and whether or not they are deceased was interesting to put together, and I hope I didn't make any mistakes!

Last, but certainly not least, this book was the first one I was able to do really nice headbands on. Shoutout to @morningstarbindery who helped me learn how! They look phenomenal and I never would have figured it out on my own <3

I'm excited for everyone to see these books! One day I'll have all your works on my shelf ;)

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thyandrawrites · 7 months

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Some language and translation trivia from episode nagi

So, I recently reread episode nagi 1-3 in japanese, and since I enjoy translation trivia a lot, I thought I would compile all my observations in a post. Please don’t take this too seriously! While I do have a language degree, I’m not a professional translator. In no way this is meant as a dig towards the professionals working on the official release! These are just some fun facts I thought I’d share.

without further ado, let’s delve into it!

On top of his already limited (kinda childish) vocabulary, Nagi’s speech bubbles often forgo complex kanji and favor writing the words out in hiragana. He sometimes does the same with (foreign) words that should be written out in katakana (example: Barou’s beloved “king”). We know this is a quirk of Nagi’s because he sometimes uses kanji for the same words. The most notable example is his favorite one, mendoukusai, “hassle”—mostly written in hiragana, sometimes shortened, sometimes elongated for dramatic, whiny emphasis, and rarely written out in kanji.

Since kanji are taught by grade in japanese schools, the foregoing them in a certain character’s lines can hint that the guy doesn’t have a higher education. However, in Nagi’s case, I think it’s meant to make him come across as unsophisticated or a bit childish. Or maybe just lazy. I think the former, though, considering how all his compliments always circle back to the same, like, 4 juvenile variations of "amazing".

(more under a cut for length):

Still on the topic of speech patterns, Nagi talks in plain form. For those who don't know what that means, it's an informal register, very common between teens. Nagi seems to use it with his elders, too, though, and that's a bit less common. You're supposed to talk in polite form to strangers and to your elders. Then again, pretty much everyone in blue lock talks that way. There's not a lot of respect for your elders in this series. Or for your peers, lol

As for Reo, he talks in male speech! Still very much informal and common, particularly between rowdy teens, but if plain form can still be acceptable in a lot of social situations, male speech is distinctly cocky, self-confident and impolite, so not what you'd expect from the distinguished heir of a billionaire who prides himself as a businessman in the making, ahah. He talks that way to Ego as well, btw.

Both of them tend not to use honorifics. Reo more so. In all three volumes, Reo used them once, to calm Nagi down while he was angry at Barou. Nagi mostly goes without too, but he sometimes uses them, when the situation calls for it, or a bit ironically. If you're curious, here's what I noticed: he uses "san" for Baa-ya when talking to her (when he leaves Choki in her care), but not when he's talking to Reo about her. He calls Zantetsu "dentist-san" when the latter drops his backstory, and "Zantetsu-kun" when the guy scores after listening to Reo's advice. And when all three finally link up, Nagi tacks on a "sama" to Reo's name while calling him a king (in the chess sense. Fun fact, it might or might not have been a pun, since Reo's name contains the kanji for king btw). That's pretty much it for epinagi so far. He just uses surnames without honorifics (or nicknames) for everyone else normally. Same for Reo.

When talking to Nagi, Reo refers to his mother as 母親 (hahaoya, "mom") and to his father as 親父 (oyaji, "old man, pops") and クソ親父 (kuso oyaji, "shitty old man") respectively. Idk if that changes when he's talking to them tho, as he hasn't yet in epinagi. But so far his contempt seems to be only directed at his father.

Upon seeing Kira, Reo describes him as "Japan's gem", but the word he uses for "gem" is 宝 (takara), treasure, pretty much the same he uses for Nagi (= 宝物 takaramono, or treasured thing, prized possession). Hence Nagi looking up, unimpressed:

To check out what the fuss was about. His face dhsvbdhdhdhsbs When Nagi thinks Reo's talking about Isagi, then, Reo corrects him by pointing his face toward Kira and saying not the dark-haired one, but that "really good looking guy". He calls him an ikemen btw, lmao.

I'm not sure if this was in the eng version too, but Reo calls Nagi and Zantetsu's team up the "neet combo". It's pretty self-explanatory how this relates to Nagi, but I wonder what about Zantetsu screamed "neet" to him.

When Zantetsu adamantly refuses to take Reo's advice, Reo gets super mad and calls him "obaka-sama", which. I can't with his pettiness ahah. Okay, let me explain. He's tacking on an honorific prefix ("o") and the highest honorific suffix ("sama") to an insult. 😂😂 Normally, you use honorifics to pay respect to and elevate the status of whatever or whoever you're tacking them on to. In this case, Reo's using them sarcastically, but he goes extra out of the way to be scathing. Zantetsu hates being called an idiot, but Reo feels he's acting unreasonable with his holier-than-thou attitude, so he upgrades his regular insult to mock that, basically. He's more or less saying, "oh great, revered moron".

Not a linguistic trivia, but. Nagi has a weekly planner for his bread eating habits. The day Reo joins his class to spy on him was a tuesday, cause tuesdays are melon bread days.

When he's making a confident remark, Reo occasionally speaks with a sing-song in his voice.

During the match against team X, Barou mocks Reo and Nagi's coordination and mutual dependence with a jab. He calls them a couple who wear matching outfits. Still laughing about this one tbh

now onto my favorite one

Ever wondered why Nagi’s response here doesn’t come across as reassuring to Reo? Well, I think I have finally figured it out!

While the translation above is 100% correct, I feel like the miscommunication lies in a matter of contextual ambiguity. When Reo says, quote, “You were supposed to team up with me,” in japanese it’s more like, “But teaming up with me is a must!” To which Nagi replies, “You and I are going to be the best in the world. That’s a must.”

The theme (=what is being talked about) of Reo’s sentence is the “must” (zettai) part. Meaning, something that is absolute, unconditional. Reo is making a conjecture, the assumption that they’ll work with each other as they promised, but he’s also implicitly expecting Nagi to agree. He’s saying our combo is the unchangeable condition here. You know this.

Nagi responds with something he means as reassuring, as a confirmation that he has their promise in mind. But since he echoes Reo’s word choice (zettai), and applies it to something else, it comes across wrong, more like he’s correcting Reo on what the “must” actually is. Not teaming up with each other until the end like Reo posits, but the simple agreement that they’ll be world class one day. With or without each other.

This miscommunication is made worse by the fact that Reo’s declared ego is making Nagi the best striker in the world. So when Nagi follows this with a remark about how their team up wasn’t the strongest, Reo of course takes the “correction” to mean “someone else can better help me become the best instead of you. bye. nice hanging out with you till now. see you at the world cup, xoxo”

Simply put, Nagi thought he was explaining himself, but what he got across was that he was rejecting Reo’s ego altogether and moving on. That’s why the art then shows Reo’s ego chains falling apart.

When Bachira asks Nagi if he’s secretly the “super cold type” right after leaving for the 3v3, in japanese it’s a neat, direct callback to the scene in chapter 2 where Nagi tells Reo he's okay with him teaming up with someone stronger than himself, and Reo calls that “heartless.” Both times the word used is the same, 薄情 (hakujou), cold-hearted, heartless, though iirc it was translated differently in english

They both say they feel lonely after their split up. Nagi in response to Bachira’s line as per the previous point (here’s a post I made about it a while back). And Reo when he thinks about Nagi’s change in chapter 13 and says he feels lonely, scared and weak. I will go down with the idea that they’re each other’s first friend.

Ending this on a less sad note, when Rin calls Bachira “bowlcut”, the original phrasing reads okappa, from the mythical creature’s hairstyle. Now please google what an okappa looks like, lmao

More epinagi language and translation trivia you might enjoy:

notes on Nagi’s line “I’m gonna say something selfish”

notes (and misconceptions) about Nagi and Reo calling each other “partner”

#Blue lock #Nagi seishirou #Mikage reo #Seishiro nagi #Reo mikage #Episode nagi #Epinagi #Bllk thoughts #I hope this is as fun to read as it was for me to compile!

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beautifulbuckys · 2 years

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For Blue Outfit Days (Bucky Barnes x Reader)

MOODBOARD FOR STORY

Summary: Bucky Barnes loved the gym, but he loved noticed a special someone a little bit more ;)

Warnings: I tried to make this as non-toxic gym content as I could get, some jelaous!Buck, no use of y/n

A/N: Sorry I’ve been writing less recently <3 school has started and it’s been crazy!

Bucky liked going to the gym.

It was a reliable hobby. He could work out; no matter the weather. Rain or shine, he could do something active. It was also a way to socialize. Bucky was still Bucky; anti-social and weird around people. But the environment was overall friendly and constructive. He didn’t shy away from asking for a name or asking for advice on how to sculpt his back a little bit more.

He also liked the gym because you were there.

He’d never admit it to anyone; he rarely even admitted it to himself. But whenever he watched you walk through those big glass doors, he smiled. In pure Bucky fashion, he always hid the smile. He knew it was there though. You never failed to greet the front desk staff with your friendly grin. You came in at the same time every day, much like Bucky did. You were never a minute late. He liked to call you a woman of routine.

His favorite thing he observed? Your outfits. Depending on what you were working on that day, you wore a coordinating outfit. Leg day was always the orange bra and legging set. Abdominal days were those bright pink shorts and the large AC/DC shirt.

Today was a back day.

Just like every other day, you waltzed into the small street corner gym at 4:45 A.M. You stuck to your outfit schedule. You repped the gorgeous purple leggings and tank top combo.

“Hey man, are you gonna spot me, or are you too busy oogling at the cutie over there to care about me getting crushed by 135-pound weights?” Sam’s grouchy voice flooded Bucky’s ears. The other reason he liked working out? He got time away from work. He refused to use the compound gym unless he was running late or training for a specific mission. Somehow, Sam weaseled his way into coming today. Bucky was seriously regretting it.

“I’m not oogling,” Bucky muttered, walking behind the bench press to spot Sam.

Sam laughed, gripping the iron bar that was floating above his chest. “You for sure were,” Puffing his cheeks out, the man began hyping himself up

Bucky couldn’t stop his eyes from nearly rolling to the back of his head. Of course, Sam would make a comment like that. Yes, you were definitely pretty. Maybe Bucky had a small crush on you. But this was the gym, not one of those online dating apps. “Just lift the damn weights, man,”

The rest of the workout was annoying. Sam wouldn’t stop picking on Bucky for his innocent little gym crush. Bucky insists he wasn’t staring, but Sam insisted harder that Bucky had heart eyes while looking at you. While Bucky was doing some chin-ups, he saw you chatting with Sam innocently. Or well, for you it was innocent. Bucky knew damn well Sam had an ulterior motive to your conversation. Bucky wanted to gag at the sight of you laughing at the Avenger’s joke and placing your hand on his arm. He was gonna beat the shit out of Sam later.

“What the hell was that?” Bucky spoke as the pair walked down the small town street. Because of the Avengers’ new location; the closest city was about 45 minutes away. It was small but cozy. A few coffee shops were scattered downtown. A single thrift shop and boutique sat on the same street at the gym.

Sam chuckled, “What the hell was what?”

“You know what,”

Sam patted Bucky on the back playfully, a gigantic smile covering his face. “I was simply making a friend at the gym, Tin Can. I know that’s hard for you to grasp because you’re grumpy all the time, but some people just enjoy talking to other people. It’s really not a foreign concept,”

“But you talked to her,” Bucky’s gym shoes grinding against the gravel of the sidewalk almost outdid him in volume. If Sam wasn’t right next to him, Sam probably wouldn’t have heard.

“Do you have some like weird wolfy claim on the girl?”

“No bu-” Bucky began to speak, almost fully turning to face Sam. Yet, the other man swiftly cut him off before Bucky could finish.

“No buts. You insisted you didn’t have a crush on her. You don’t get to go all jealous mode on me. You don’t own the girl, and you said it yourself. You don’t have a thing for her. I wasn’t flirting. I was simply making conversation with another gym-goer.” The flashing lights from the local diner’s sign were beginning to dim as the sun rose. The early morning gym sessions were much more calming, Bucky thought. It was definitely a plus that he got to see the sun rise after the fact.

Bucky sighed in defeat. As much as he didn’t want to admit to Sam, he had to. Sam was right. Bucky didn’t own you, he wasn’t your boyfriend or your husband. To you, he was probably just some guy that creepily stared for a while during your workouts. The kind of guys Natasha and Wanda often complained about.

“Okay so maybe I lied,”

For the next week, Sam insisted on going to the gym with Bucky. The two men would wake up at ungodly hours of the morning to create the perfect plan. Sam bragged he had his way with women. He called himself “well versed” in the “art of women”. Bucky thought that was kind of stupid, and honestly deserved a punch in the gut but nevertheless, more important things were on the horizon. Sam wanted to help Bucky gain the confidence to talk to you. All of the Avengers knew Bucky wasn’t the most social. He was in the 40s, Steve shared how much of a bachelor Bucky truly was.

Bucky felt insecure about that chunk of his past self he lost. As the team helped him jog his memory, he remembered more about how much fun he had. Bucky loved taking a pair of sisters out on a double date with Steve. Usually, the girls ended up with Bucky anyways, but they had fun. Now, Bucky is at a standstill. He still acknowledged girls as pretty. The difference is that he no longer has the nerve to just approach them. Even now, Bucky and Sam were spending a week at the gym essentially planning and practicing a single conversation.

Bucky didn’t want just a single conversation.

He wanted a date. Multiple conversations. Bucky Barnes wanted to learn every little detail about you. Flaws, aspirations, passions, and all. He really wanted to woo you off your feet. He knew how to do that in the 40’s. Now, in modern times, he has no idea what modern women are like. He can guarantee they aren’t stunned by the same things. In Bucky’s opinion, silent films don’t have the same charm they used to.

“Do girls like to go dancing still?” Bucky asked in between sit-ups. Sam and Bucky were warming up for their abdominal workouts. These days were Bucky’s favorites. He usually got to take his shirt off and he swears he’s caught you staring before.

Sam wiped the sweat off his brow, sitting up on the black gym mats. “Yeah, not like the dancing you’re used to. Music is still really big. Everyone loves music now. Lots of people have apps on their phones and computers to listen to music,”

“Oh, that’s kinda cool,” Bucky stood up, using the small white rag he had laying next to him to wipe his face. He then leaned over and held out his hand to assist Sam in standing up. Ab days were Sam’s least favorite. The two men had barely even started and Sam was already breaking a sweat.

As the two were walking over to the machines, Sam’s face suddenly lit up. It looked like what Tony would call a ‘lightbulb moment’. “I’ve got just the idea, Bucky!”

“What’s that?”

“Remember how I was talking about music apps?” Sam questioned, waiting to continue until Bucky warily nodded his head. Bucky’s hair bounced with the head movement. “Well, a lot of apps have a playlist feature. Playlists are basically like albums or records, but people make them. Like it’s a compilation of songs by different artists that someone likes. A lot of people make them to fit certain moods. So if they’re sad, they can listen to their sad song playlist!”

A small smile found it’s way on Bucky’s face, “That’s not a half bad idea, bird man,”

Right after Sam and Bucky’s workout, Bucky instantly went to the computer. Unlike other things, Bucky wasn’t shy to admit he was out of touch with modern times. All the music he missed was frankly overwhelming.

So he decided he’d stick to what he knew.

Bucky was quick to create a Spotify profile. Sam had taught him the basics of making a profile, so he was semi-knowledgeable. Sam also told Bucky how playlists were sharable. So when Bucky tells you that he made you a playlist, he’ll need to share it with you! Both Bucky and Sam found that to be the perfect segway into getting your phone number. It was a foolproof plan. Bucky sped to making a playlist, which he titles “For Blue Outfit Days”. He figured the title would be a conversation starter. He knew you wore the blue outfit on chest days, which is the day he noticed you disliked the most. You always had a scowl on your face while doing any chest workout. It was a hard detail to miss.

Your chest day playlist, kindly created by Bucky, included Frank Sinatra, Doris Day, and more. He chose songs he was familiar with but gave a comforting yet motivating vibe that you could use during the workouts you were struggling with.

Today was the day.

Bucky was up far earlier than he is normally for gym days. He couldn't find himself to be able to sleep. The nerves that built up in the pit of his stomach were too mountainous to ignore. Today was a leg day. For both of you. These were the days when both your workout and Bucky’s workouts aligned.

Like clockwork, you skipped into the gym at your regular time. Your lovely grey leggings and black shirt proved to Bucky that today was a leg day. You’d eventually found yourself positioned in the corner of the gym, carefully stretching any muscles you could. Obviously, you put emphasis on stretching your legs due to your agenda today. Bucky was already on machines, now focusing on doing some weighted squats to build muscle in a particularly eye-grabbing piece of his backside.

“Need a spotter?” A sweet voice asked behind him. Bucky quickly set down the weights he had positioned on his shoulder and spun around. It was you. You’d obviously used a machine or something while Bucky was actually working out. You had a soft shine on your face, signaling some hard work. He noted you seemed slightly out of breath.

Bucky chuckled politely. He wasn’t mentally prepared for interaction yet; but he’d be damned if he were to mess this up now. “Yeah sure, I’d love that. I’m Bucky by the way,”

You smile, “Good to put a name to the abs,”

As Bucky began setting the bar on his shoulders again, he saw Sam by the water fountain. A small smirk was sitting on his face. Sam and Bucky agreed Bucky would work out alone today. They even shook on it. Sam forced Bucky to pinky promise. Why was he here?

“So do you come here often?” Bucky questioned as he squatted down, quickly biting his lips. Obviously, you did, what a stupid question. Yet, you laughed. The sound of your laughter motivated Bucky to stand back up; which he did. He placed the bar back where it belonged and turned around. He balanced his weight, trying to appear at least somewhat good-looking.

“Um, yeah, I do. I see you here all the time. You’re usually here with that friend of yours, can’t help but notice he’s not here today. I guess I get you all to myself!”

It was Bucky’s turn to laugh.

“Yeah, I guess so. Oh, um, while we’re talking. I actually made you something. I promise it’s not creepy, I just think you’re pretty and yeah, I’m gonna stop talking now,” Bucky began rambling, the words spilling out of his mouth a mile a minute. It was like word vomit. He just couldn’t stop talking as much as he tried.

“Well…what is it?” You asked, deciding to sit down on the mats while this conversation continued.

Bucky took his phone out of his gym shorts pockets. He wasn’t entirely tech-savvy, that was obvious. He struggled to unlock the device for a few moments before finally getting into it. You peeked up at him, noticing him seriously concentrating on his phone. He slowly turned his phone to you, displaying a Spotify playlist.

“‘For Blue Outfit Days’, you notice my outfits?” You asked. The fact that he’d noticed was touching, and really sweet. You’d been attracted to the man, and to know that he paid attention to you like that was enough to make you blush.

“Blue is chest days,”

“You’d be correct.”

“I’m hoping I can see you in a new outfit maybe, out to coffee?” Bucky bit the bullet. It was terrifying for him. He was frankly terrified to think of rejection. You had made a cheeky comment earlier about his abs, but what if that was a joke?

You smiled brightly, standing up to lean over the bar in an awkward half-hug. “I’d love to!”

Bucky’s new plan was working. One conversation in the books, and a date on the way. Who knew all he needed was Sam Wilson to motivate him?

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eyeodyssey · 1 year

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Photos from the elusive early-80s Tokyo Grand Guignol play Mercury, also known as Mercuro and Merbro. While the Tokyo Grand Guignol are more well known for their subsequent work in the original 1985 version of Lychee Light Club, Mercury was an ambitious debut effort that was as much Tetsuo: The Iron Man and Alien as it was Ranpo. In the two-act narrative, an unstable school teacher runs a health program where students volunteer to have their blood replaced with the outdated medicinal substance Merbromin. The Merbromin substance turns the students into sentient machines, with their organs being made “valuable” in how the doses of mercury turns their innards metallic. In the midst of all this, a mysterious transfer student infiltrates the school grounds to uncover the whereabouts of his missing sister. Plots ultimately intertwine, resulting in a nightmarish Oedipal bloodbath in a macabre science lab that’s riddled with many taboo secrets. The play contains several infamous special effects standouts. One of the centerpieces was an extended sequence at the beginning of the second act where the schoolmaster (performed by the now mainstream actor Kyusaku Shimada, originally working under the pseudonym Lovecraft Shimada) carries out a live vivisection on a student to surgically extract his pubescent urges, which had manifested as a chestburster. The screenplay is decorated with intricate surrealist details with characters speaking direct quotations from dadaist poets of the early Showa period, resulting in an experience that is as much nocturnal poetry as it is taboo horror. The play only had one run in 1984, with a heavily truncated TV performance being done a year later on the “Youth Performance Special” morning Nippon TV program where the set pieces from the openings of the first act and second act are strung side-by-side. While a full video recording is known to exist of the play on both DVD and VHS, the recording has never surfaced. It’s a damn shame.

The only available bits of media in relation to the play to this day are the screenplay, a handful of grayscale photos and some parts of the soundtrack. The known songs that were featured in Mercury include: 1. Four Enclosed Walls - Public Image LTD 2. Sons Of Pioneers - Japan 3. The title theme of the 1956 film “Des gens sans importance” 4. Brilliant Trees - David Sylvian Bits of media relating to Mercury’s short 1984 run are steadily being resurfaced every day. Two of the images in this post were digitized by yours truly. The source was the 28th volume of Yaso magazine, a volume that concerned underground theater which included and interview with Norimizu Ameya, the lead director of the Tokyo Grand Guignol.

#Suehiro Maruo #lychee light club #litchi hikari club #tokyo grand guignol #grand guignol

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filmbrainbmb · 1 year

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An Easter Egg I'm sure no one's noticed: I've been wearing the same Iron Man shirt almost every time I've reviewed a Marvel film for 12 years.

Here is my Thor video, one of my earliest Projector videos in 2011, and still wearing it while reviewing Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3.

Like me, the design (which I think was glow in the dark) is getting a bit faded now. It's officially an Iron Man 2 bit of merch.

I think I got it from Play, which hasn't existed for many years.

#film brain #marvel

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oluka · 7 months

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Tony and transhumanism

Tony Stark mentions in Captain Marvel: Dark Tempest (2023) #3.

Setting aside the “even HE knows what hands-off means”, it's interesting to me that when faced with a humanoid-machine blend, Carol's mind goes to Tony. She says that Tony was the original transhuman, and well, he maybe wasn't the first in the marvel universe, but he got his first synthetic heart in Iron Man #19 (back in 1969!), and transhumanism has been a part of his story arc for a long time. Some examples on the top of my mind (I know there are more, this is not an exhaustive list):

-When Tony had an implant in his mind to remotely control the armour while he was paralyzed in volume 1.

-His fight with the sentient armour in volume 3, and the end of it, when it gave him its heart (Iron Man vol.3 #30). And fully replaced Tony's heart with its own "mechanical bio-physiology". An artificial heart that was still implanting itself into Tony and fixing his broken ribs in issue 31 (body horror much??).

-Extremis, of course, which to me is the height of Tony's path to transhumanism. It's one of the two logical conclusions to his search to always perfect Iron Man and himself. Either make his body machine, or forgo the body entirely (looking at the three different Tony Stark AIs Tony has made). Extremis is especially good to me because of how he made himself the perfect blend of man and machine. Tony had until then always had recurring problems with his heart and other physical disabilities, and with Extremis he was finally past that "flaw". He was stronger, could heal, but more importantly, his mind was faster and better. I think he never came closer to erasing the line between Tony Stark and Iron Man than he did then. There was so much potential for this story beat, but Civil War and Dark Reign kind of ruined it. I really wish we could have had Extremis for longer, and really explore the classic "what makes one human" "man vs machine" and other transhumanist questions with Tony. Oh well. As an aside, it's interesting to me that Superior Iron Man decided to bring Extremis back. Clearly to him that was the next step of evolution, or in his words, what made him a god. If we push the analysis further, does this mean that regular Tony has developed an aversion to Extremis and what it entails? Maybe some left-over trauma from the Civil War and brain deletion?

-The repulsor node in Tony's chest after he was brought back. That controlled his brain. And also the bleeding edge armour that Tony casually put into his bone marrow. You know. Like one does.

-The fact that Tony apparently was experimenting on his biology and body and that that was the only reason Carol didn't kill him at the end of Civil War II. And then the fact that he managed to bring himself back to life and synthetize a new body.

-The Tony Stark AI that ran around during Secret Empire. Who made himself drunk, and also remembered Civil War somehow, and had all of Tony's character traits and regrets (see Secret Empire (2017) #6). I know it's probably an error on the writer's part, but I choose to believe that somehow this artificial version of Tony really remembers the Civil War. On top of AI Tony acting and thinking like the flesh and blood one, everyone around him really treated him like the "real" Tony. Hydra Steve even said that Tony downloaded his consciousness into the AI. Making it essentially Tony. I don't know where I'm going with this but I have Feelings about AI Tony.

-The whole mess of Tony Stark: Iron Man and Iron Man 2020 where Tony was wondering if he was just a soulless copy of the original dead Tony Stark (Which, weird that he now starts to worry about this after all his deaths and comas and whatnots), decided he was just an AI in an artificial body, and then with the help of his friends remade his body. Again. Also, he spoke with AI Tony for like five minutes and then AI Tony sacrificed himself. I am still mad about that.

Transhumanism is one of the most important beats in Tony's character, right alongside his quest to make the future better and his alcoholism. It's a facinating subject that I will never get enough of, especially not in relation to Tony, who for a very long time has dealt with physical disability, and whose mind and genius is maybe the one thing he can rely on and one of the rare things about himself that he is proud of.

Right now, Tony's just a regular man in a can again, but I really hope that we'll see more of his journey into transhumanism, because to me it's an essential part of his character. And done well, it's an excellent source for angst, too.

#wednesday spoilers #tony stark #transhumanism #tony stark meta #(kind of?? what should I tag my comic ramblings?)#this post is a mess but the carol issue really made me remember how many transhumanism feelings I have about tony #as always feel free to reblog with your own thoughts and/or additions #I love talking comics #shoutout to the iron man subreddit for bringing up the tony mention in the carol issue

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pilferingapples · 9 months

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(only answer this if you're in the mood for it of course) If you had to choose one colour and one single object for each of the five books in Les Miserables, which ones would you choose and (optionally) why?

oooh what a fun complicated question, I love this question! SHOCKINGLY I got long-winded about symbolism in the Long Winded Symbolism Book:

Tome 1: Fantine Color: Gold/ yellow gold for Fantine's hair, and also as a color strongly tied to wealth; no other volume is going to focus quite as much on finances as this chapter, from the Bishop and the wealth he rejects, to Valjean and his rising economic status, to Fantine and the commodification of her life to gain a few gold coins here and there. Object: a cart-wheel. I thought about the candle-sticks, and jet beads, and ships, and even teeth,but it's gotta be a cart-wheel. The wheels that carry the passengers and drivers of society but have no energy of their own; the wheels that crush anyone who falls underneath them, that take enormous force and energy and even demand the risking of life to move, break and splinter when needed to right injustice, and block all progress when stilled. The cart-wheels that stop when the horse dies, block off all hope of success at the Waterloo Inn, crush Fauchevelent and almost stop Valjean from saving his own soul. Frigging cart wheels.

Tome 2: Cosette Color: Black the color of a night in the dark forest, the inside of a grave or sunken road, Paris in the silence of a dark chase, a nun's habit. The color of despair, sure, the color of imprisonment, yes, but also the color of concealment, meditation, the unknown, peace. Object: I also considered: a water-bucket, a broken chain (for Cosette and Valjean both in this Book!), and Catherine the doll-- but it has to be a coffin. I'd say a tomb, but a coffin is more visually iconic and , of course, more immediately relevant to JVJ . LM is full of tomb and coffin imagery, but this is THE Tome of Tombs and coffins -- the impromptu tombs of the sunken road of Ohain, the chosen symbolic tomb of the convent itself (the nuns have to symbolically die and be reborn to fully enter!), the literal and ironically lifesaving coffin that Valjean is buried in. Tome 3: Marius MAN THIS ONE WAS SO HARD

Color: Green I REALLY AGONIZED ON THIS , it was Green or Blue though ; but the only real strong Blue imagery here is it being part of Marius' vision of Cosette

Green though! the color of growing things and spring and little seedlings just starting to grow, and flowers and Flora, and of Marius' secondhand coat , which looks black at night. New beginnings hidden in mourning , despite the losses of the past; flowers and growing things as signs of loss and loss as a beginning! It's what this Tome is all about, growth from grief and loss, and the grief and loss that comes from growth. Object: a piece of paper, folded into a letter. We won't get Marius' Epic Love Note until next Tome, but letters have enough of a starring role here as is! The letters Gillenormand burns to keep Marius apart from his father; the letter that doesn't burn that sends Marius to his father's deathbed; the note from his father that becomes his talisman (until lost); the letters that Thenardier sends to beg (and extort?) money, that connect Marius to Eponine and then Cosette again; letters as proof of status, proof that " we weren't meant to be like this--" ; letters as proof of identity, as love, as warnings, as traps. Letters as connection across time and generations and class and death. Tome IV: The Idyll and the Epic Color: Red Object: The Barricade look maybe both these options are stereotypical here but they are also correct. There's a whole song and years of Tumblr jokes about everything Red symbolizes and it's all in play here. It's desire and dawn and wine and warmth and death and revolution and warning and blood and fire and flowers and love. Especially love.

And the barricade is not just the single biggest Symbolic Object in the novel, it's especially the symbol of everything together, every loaded Symbolic Object in the whole book, wagon wheels and windows and doors and letters and stones and carts and yeah, probably coffins, the way this part of the novel is everyone's storylines coming together. A heap of joy and a heap of sorrows, all coming together to fight desperately for something better. Sometimes things are iconic for a reason.

Tome V: Jean Valjean Color: White White for dawn that's not the hour of waking; for Cosette's wedding gown; for a bottle of ink; for untouched marble and stone after the writing is washed away. Object : THE CANDLESTICKS I almost went with these for Tome I but no!! they belong here! in Valjean's Book! HIS symbols, that he finally gets to pass on , and oh geez if I get going on that I will NEVER post this, but you get it anyway right? you get it. It's gotta be the candlesticks, here at the end.

Thank you ! this was very fun to think about!!

#answereds #Object symbols #I banned myself from living things on this #and from Light Sources #yes there's the candlesticks but the not the CANDLES it is DIFFERENT #this was so fun to think about #STILL NOT SURE ON THE MARIUS COLOR #OPEN TO DEBATE #long post

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neonbrutalism · 1 year

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How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Ship Comics!MattFoggy (Part 2)

Welcome to part 2!

As the show MattFoggy and MattKaren shippers mourn the fact that Disney completely fucking missed the entire point of Daredevil by cutting Foggy and Karen (as far as we know at this point), I have decided to take the initiative to invite the MattFoggy shippers to join me in shipping in the comics. MattKaren shippers, I love you but I'm not making that post.

Please read part 1 for more information.

As I stated previously, the key here is to remember... you don't need to read all the comics to ship Comics!MattFoggy. In fact, I encourage you don't because sometimes comics are bad. I haven't read most of the comics these pages are from.

I also wanted to address the anti-Netflix sentiment among comic fans: … IDK man who cares. Don't worry about it. I'm only one brutalist, I can't be responsible for that.

Anyway, here's MattFoggy!

Matt faked his death again in the 90s. Not for the last time.

I think this man is a pirate?

Volume 2 is VERY heavy on MattFoggy. Also the Black Widow is there a lot! Also Matt got married to Milla and she got really badly fridged and I'm still mad.

Matt keeps getting disbarred for various reasons and, at one point Foggy leaves their firm to become a corporate lawyer. He also is, at the time, dating Glorianna, his ex-wife's niece through marriage. Matt also dated her in the past. Comics are fuckin weird.

And from the Devil in Cell Block D… (Again, volume 2 is VERY MattFoggy)

All this really is just for starters. There's so much more I didn't include (a lot of volume 3 and 4, Matt thinking he should call Foggy right after having sex and Matt using the minutes of sight he got from evil Iron Man to go see Foggy) so I encourage you to explore the comics! Failing that, check out a discord, make some friends and learn the comics by osmosis.

Not all is lost, my friends, even without the show, there's literally almost 60 years of Matt Foggy to fall back on.

And a lot of free comics online.

#daredevil #mattfoggy #matt murdock #foggy nelson

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aspoonofsugar · 1 year

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Endings And Beginnings

It's just a new beginning It's just a different ending

This phrase sums up how I feel about the ending as a whole! It was adequate in the sense that we were given what needed to happen. At the same time, it was not as bombastic as it could have been and to me it felt more as a huge set-up for the future, rather than a conclusion.

Don't get me wrong, it manages to wrap up the volume well and it gives an ending to Ruby's journey. And yet, this journey feels more like a first step, than a last one :) And the same can be said about all the other characters.

FIRST STEPS

This volume as a whole doesn't solve character arcs, but rather sets up future struggles, while letting the characters get through the inner work to face their final challenges in Vacuo, much like volume 4 did.

Ruby - She is the protagonist of the volume and gets the focus, as she should. Her arc is to start the process of grieving and of self-actualization. I don't think she has finished neither process btw. Her feelings for both Summer and Penny are not completely solved. The same goes for who she is:

Will I ever be (Complete?) When will I become all of me?

The major step she takes in the season is to simply separate who she si from who Summer is. Or to better say. From who she thought Summer was. She breaks Summer's pedestal and so she can see her own self better.

Jaune - He is the character who gets the most focus after Ruby. And yet, in the end what he gets is simply another chance at self-actualization. Differently from Ruby he doesn't choose himself, but is helped by Alyx, the girl he failed to save. This is not by chance because Alyx is honestly a stand-in for all the girls he failed to save (Pyrrha and Penny) and the one he did/will (Weiss and Cinder).

Alyx's role in Jaune's arc this volume is Pyrrha's role in the whole series. Jaune failed to save Pyrrha, but Pyrrha is the one who gives him the chance to grow and to become the man he wants to be.

Alyx leaves something behind, just like Penny did, in order to help someone else. Penny leaves the powers to Winter, while Alyx leaves her knife to Jaune.

Weiss and Alyx are the 2 characters, who help Jaune the most this volume. Weiss starts the process Alyx ends. It is thanks to both of them if Jaune is able to move on.

Alyx has an off-screen redemption arc. She starts the story by trying to kill Jaune, but in the end she saves him. I think Cinder will have a similar trajectory, just not with Jaune, but with the world as a whole.

Jaune's arc is to let go of his knight persona to integrate his feminine parts and bloom into a maiden able to inspire others, like Ruby and Pyrrha are. This is why it makes sense he is saved by the one he seizes up as the damsel in distress. As for the focus on Alyx, compared to the other and more important girls, the reason is simple. Volume 9 is the story of the Rusted Knight. RWBY as a whole will tell us the story of Jaune arc. Alyx gives Jaune a conclusion to his struggles in the Ever After. His struggles in Remnant are still to be finished.

I also think Jaune's journey through the 7 metals of alchemy keeps going:

Lead > Vale - he is rough around the edges and his armor is gray and juxtaposed with Pyrrha's gold

Tin > Mistral - he integrates Pyrrha's metal and changes his armor

Iron > Atlas - he changes hir armor once again and becomes more self-assured and competent

Copper > Ever After (more or less) - Copper is the most perfected of the base metals and is associated with Penny (a copper penny). Jaune as Iron fails to save Copper and this leads him to stagnate. Hence his armor gets rusted

Mercury (?) > Vacuo (?) > I think Alyx's dagger helps Jaune transition from Iron to Mercury, which is the first of the 3 refined metals

The light of Jaune's transformation looks to me like neither gold nor silver, but a different kind of gray and by the end of it, Jaune is back to his old self. Or almost:

He gains white hair (wisdom) and shows she has done another step into integration. I think next volume he will have some interaction with Mercury (the character associated with the Metal) and will finally become gold.

Neo - I think Neo's arc is ironically the most complete by the end of the volume. This makes sense because it is overall far less complex than the others. That said, she still gets a beautiful conclusion. Her saying goodbye to Torchwick and choosing to ascend in a way which mirrors Ruby (Ruby does so out of a self-destructive wish, while Neo does it in order to change) were both beautiful.

WBY - Despite getting their far share of screentime, I think WBY did not make great progresses this volume. Personally, I think Weiss and Blake's arc are almost over and their roles will mostly be to assist other characters. That said, both have their own moments:

Weiss has a mini-arc, where she starts grieving Atlas and mad at herself and ends accepting her own failure and healing, in order to help Jaune. She also grows strong enough to summon her Nevermore, which commens her team's state of mind. She summons the wings while fighting alongside Blake and Yang and is finally able to summon the whole thing when Ruby finds herself once again.

Blake gets a top off with Yang. She is the one who invites Yang to open up and validates her feelings immediately. Apart from this, she simply shows her positive development this volume and gives us a hint of how much she has grown.

Yang is the one I see having still a little bit to go together with Ruby. Personally, this volume felt like set-up and foreshadowing of the pieces she still has to take care of:

Jinxy's asking for "the feeling of being loved" is left unexplored. It clearly hints at Yang's vision of love as conditional.

Yang seeing Ruby's suicide attempt and her feelings over letting her go are definately gonna be elaborate more later on.

Whatever happened between Summer and Raven is definately going to be important for her.

FORESHADOWING THE ENDING

Volume 9 probably foreshadows the ending. Specifically:

The Tree is the Gods (not in a literal sense)

Salem is the CC

Neo is Cinder

The Tree and her Fruits

The Tree is the Mother of the Gods (Mother Tree indeed). This makes sense with the alchemical journey the characters are going through. After all, this volume was a part of the yellow phase (Citrinitas) and what is the archetype associated with this phase, exactly?

The Wise Man/The Wise Woman also known as the Great Mother

Psychologically, Citrinitas is the first step into self-actualization, which is actually realizing you do not overlap with your parent, but are your own person.

This once again can be applied both when it comes to the macrochosm and to the microchosm:

Ruby starts the journey to become her true self by choosing herself over Summer

The Tree is the Mother of the Brothers themselves and we discover Darkness and Light are in a journey of self-actualization, as well

I am expecting a final meeting between RWBY and the Gods in the finale, but with an opposite end-result. The Tree here teaches RWBY the theme, while I think RWBY will teach the Gods the theme in the end. After all, the whole speech foreshadows this.

From the Brothers' endless fight:

To Ruby finding balance within herself (microchosm):

To RWBY as a whole representing a new found balance (macrochosm):

To the 4 girls becoming full-fledged individuals (microchosm again):

The sense is clear. From the 2 Dragons of Alchemy to the 4 Phases of alchemy, which will lead to the philosopher stone. Aka RWBY is gonna teach the Gods a new kind of balance.

Speaking of the Gods, I guess you can read the Curious Cat and the Jabberwalker as personification of them (they are their first creations, after all). Still, I also think the Curious Cat is a stand-in for Salem.

The Curious Cat (and the Jabberwalker)

The CC and the Jabberwalker are the 2 first creations of the Gods. They are both incomplete in the sense the CC is Knowledge without Choice, while the Jabberwalker is Destruction without Creation. This is why the CC is shown willing to change/transform, while the Jabberwalker is shown willing to "fix" something.

Interestingly, they are both killed by Neo, a human, and I do wonder if deep down this is what they needed to properly ascend and change. Sure, we are told the Jabberwalkers woul make it impossible for Afterans to ascend. Still, after this episode I am not so sure. Do Neo's Jabberwalkers work in the same way? Or since they are "not real" they will simply lead an Afteran to ascend? Just like her killing Little gives birth to Somewhat?

I mean:

The bird the CC sacrifided to Neo's Jabberwalker seems to be the creations the Blacksmith is currently repairing, so... is it possible the CC and the Jabberwalker will get a new chance, as well?

This is more or less what I am expecting for Salem and Ozpin tbh.. just like... with death instead of ascension. I am expecting them both to move on and find peace. Similarly, I think Salem will get empathy, like the CC does, but also she is going to receive consequences and her position is gonna be framed as wrong. I mean, this is what happens to the CC:

Curious Cat: You are broken! You break everything you touch! Like all humans... Weak! Confused! Incomplete!

In the end, the Cat loses because they understimate humanity. They do not consider Neo's feelings, which force them to come out from her body. They also do not understand humans in general. They only see these creatures as breakable and frails, but fails to consider they are also able to heal and to fix their mistakes.

Personally, I think Salem will lose for the same reason. Not only will she understimate her enemies, but she will understimate her own humanity. She herself thinks she is not human anymore, but she is and this is something both the protagonists and Salem herself need to validate.

Finally, I think that thematically, the CC and the Jabberwalker also foreshadow 2 declinations of Destruction:

The Curious Cat was made to make sure the Afterans would change > Transformation

The Jabberwalker was made to finish Afterans once and for all > Death

A Destruction that leads to re-creation, a Destruction, which is an end.

Neo and Cinder

I think what happens to Neo here is similar to what will happen to Cinder. Personally, I think Salem is going to turn Cinder into a Grimm she can control. Still, Ruby will save her and Jaune will inspire her to make a final defining choice, which will help saving the world.

In short, I think helping saving Neo is a first step into the development, which will make Ruby and Jaune ready to save Cinder.

Jaune is the one who indirectly saves Neo, by burning the leaves to exorcise her from the CC

Ruby is shown to feel empathy for Neo and Neo is inspired by Ruby to try and change

In my opinion, the dynamic with Cinder will be inversed. Her experiences in the Ever After will help Ruby develop enough empathy for Cinder to save her. His experiences in the Ever After will make Jaune strong enough to inspire Cinder, when the time comes.

Neo herself is the one who kills the CC and later on she jumps into the Tree and makes a self-actualizing choice (she chooses she wants to change). I think Cinder will make a self-actualizing choice, which will lead in Salem's defeat. A difference is that as for now I think Cinder's choice will lead to her death. After all, this volume confirmed death is still an important theme for the series and for humans in particular:

Alyx was killed by the Curious Cat and did not ascend, but died for real. And yet, her life was not useless as her actions help out Jaune and give him a second chance. This volume has no deaths (except the CC and the Jabberwalkers and even they could be ascending), but this is also because:

The Blacksmith: Yes, only Lewis returned home. The Girl Who Fell Through The World is the story as he wished it had happen.

A STORY YOU WISH HAD HAPPENED

The whole volume deals with grief and its different stages. Specifically it is also a metaphor of how fiction can help you deal with grief. This is why the protagonists find themselves in a fairy tale world.

Lewis wrote The Girl Who Fell Through The World to grieve the loss of his sister.

Summer read this same fairy tale to Yang and Ruby before disappearing.

This fairy tale then becomes symbolic of the process of grieving for Ruby and the other characters. It also becomes a mean for them to face their shortcomings in a setting, which is ironically not as dangerous as their home-world. This is especially true for Ruby, Jaune and Neo.

Ruby luckily goes through her depressive phase here, where drinking the tea-leaves brings her to the Tree to be fixed instead than just leading her to die. Not only that, but through the Tree and the Ever After she manages to make some progress in grieving both Penny and Summer:

Jaune and Neo deal with their problems through entering their favourite stories.

Jaune steps into the story and plays the part of the hero

Neo comes into the story and starts adding parts to it and inventing characters (kind of like a fanfic-writer :P)

Both risk to lose themselves in the narration. Jaune gets stuck in the story for years and Neo symbolically is possessed by a character in the fairy tale. Both are also unable to leave for opposite reasons. Jaune has attachments in Remnant, but can't reach the tree. Neo can find the tree, but can't go through the door. Jaune can't stop playing his character and leaving the paper pleasers. Neo loses herself in her own fantasies. Both esplores fiction as escapism and its dangers.

And yet, in the end fiction is also what helps them both. Jaune is saved by the protagonist of the story (Alyx) and Neo is given the chance to use the magical world of the fairy tale to change.

This leaves us with the Curious Cat, who ironically is just the haters :P They hate the writers, the world and everything, but still must keep on reading because THEY MUST KNOW! They are also very smart and well informed, except they miss the main theme completely:

Curious Cat: Just more fairy tale nonsense!

Sure, Alyx's story is more complex than the fairy tale, but still the fairy tale stands true in its main ideas:

The Tree is the key to going home and finding yourself

Alyx in the end becomes a hero as her final act is not one of hate or selfishness, but of love and selflessness:

Blacksmith: When Alyx's life ended, she chose to leave a part of herself behind. A wish to fix what she had broken.

The same goes for Summer. She was not perfect, like Ruby believed. And yet she still loved her children completely. In the end, Summer saves Ruby. Not as a Huntress, but as a Mother:

Summer: I love you. Just the way you are.

A LITTLE GOOD

I'm not sure. I'd like to think we did at leas... a little good?

And they did. Ruby's small act of kindness in the beginning inspires little into wanting to become more and in the end, they appear changed into Somewhat.

Little is a highly symbolic character and Ruby and Somewhat's final meeting wraps up Ruby's progression beautifully. She doesn't know who she is exactly, but she also knows it is alright because she will figure it out. She doesn't need a fixed identity just yet. The transformation from Little to Somewhat also clearly marks Ruby leaving childhood and stepping into adolescence. Where things are not so simple. So black and white. And yet, it is also a phase of self-discovery and growth.

At the same time, Ruby's goodbye to somewhat shows us the progress she has made on the theme of grief.

On the one hand, RWBY describe Somewhat with attributes that fit Penny perfectly: a friend, a guide, a protector, adorable. On the other hand Somewhat's feelings for Ruby articulate what she herself feels about Summer:

Somewhat: You do feel... familiar. Like a happy dream I can't remember.

Red like roses fills my dreams

This volume Summer went from a dream haunting Ruby to one she can remember fondly and that can Guide Her Way.

Something similar happens with Jaune and Juniper:

Jaune: Will you look after Juniper? She means the world to me.

Juniper being called like Jaune's old team (with Pyrrha in it) and her being a she specifically sounds highly symbolic to me. Jaune's whole arc is centered around Pyrrha and I think that even if we still need to address several points, he has made some progress in grieving her and finding acceptance.

So, it is as a part of Penny and Pyrrha is left by Ruby and Jaune in the Ever After, as a precious part of their childhood and past, while they move forward. And are ready to grow more mature.

APPROACHING THE RED STAGE

The group reaches Vacuo some time in the future and even if the sky is till yellow, the earth looks reddish. It seems we are saying goodbye to Citrinitas and approaching Rubedo, aka the final stage.

#rwby #rwby spoilers #rwby volume 9 #ruby rose #summer rose #jaune arc #neopolitan #alyx #my meta

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goldsrc-hl1 · 8 months

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RWBY Writing Analysis Number One - Roman Torchwick's death and why it's so good

Hello all.

Roman Torchwick, the glorious bastard of RWBY, is by far my favorite villain in the entire show.

A smooth talking criminal with a sense of humor, a perfect foil to Ruby, and a character who's impact lasts all the way to the present volume. He's got humor, consistent writing, and one hell of a sense of style.

But one thing I've seen many people complain about is his death scene. Many have claimed that it's unsatisfying. I disagree wholeheartedly, as there is a LOT of nuance and messaging behind the way Roman Torchwick dies.

Let's talk about it!

Roman's motivation

First thing's first, let's establish Roman's modus operandi. We can identify his main goal and his motive from a few lines in Volume 3 Episode 11, Heroes and Monsters.

Roman: You're asking the wrong questions, Red! It's not what I have to gain, it's that I can't afford to lose!

Roman: I may be a gambling man, but even I know that there are some bets you just don't take.

Roman: Like it or not, the people that hired me are going to change the world! You can't stop 'em, I can't stop 'em!

Roman: You know the old saying, "If you can't beat 'em-"

He gets cut off, but the "old saying" he's referring to is "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em"

Roman's goal is to survive. He'll do whatever it takes to survive, no matter how morally black. Nothing is off limits as long as it keeps him alive.

The writers want to prove his modus operandi / philosophy (being that he'll do whatever it takes to survive) wrong.

Roman's death

Throughout the first 3 volumes of RWBY, Roman aids Cinder Fall in her plan to take down Beacon Academy. This involves hijacking an Atlesian airship and shooting down two other airships, the whole train bomb stuff at the end of Volume 2, providing the White Fang with Atlesian military technology, and stealing dust en masse.

Ultimately, it's him working with Cinder Fall that gets him killed. He helps Cinder with her plan, helps her wreak havoc in Vale all in the name of survival, and how does it end up for him? He is killed by the very Grimm that Cinder herself had unleashed on Vale.

He did everything it took to survive, no matter the cost, and it ended up getting him killed. All that talk about "if you can't beat them, join them" ended up being the very thing that gets him killed. It's ironic, really, and it proves his philosophy wrong.

The Real World

Another facet of Roman's final moments is his last monologue to Ruby.

Roman: You got spirit, Red. But this is the real world!

Roman: The real world is cold!

Roman: The real world doesn't care about spirit!

Roman: You wanna be a hero!? Then play the part and die like every other Huntsman in history!

Roman: As for me, I'll do what I do best: lie, steal, cheat, and SURVIVE!

Although the writers wanted to prove his philosophy of doing whatever it takes to survive wrong, they want to prove him right in this respect - the real world is cold, and the real world doesn't care about spirit.

Despite what he says about spirit, he also has spirit himself. That spirit isn't spent on making the world a better place, however, it's spent on his own survival. And, despite all that effort to survive, he dies a pitiful death at the hands of the very Grimm he helped unleash on Vale.

The world didn't give him a satisfying death. The real world doesn't care that he's a major villain. The real world is cold, and doesn't care about spirit. Roman's death proves him right.

However, that shouldn't stop you from doing the right thing. Roman knows the world is cold, and doesn't care about it. He only cares about himself and Neo's survival.

Ruby, on the other hand, learns that the real world is cold after the Fall of Beacon, in no small part due to Roman Torchwick. However, unlike Roman, she doesn't let this stop her from still doing the right thing.

"that's why we're here, to make it better"

So yeah. To all who say Roman's death is unsatisfying, take a read.

#rwby writing is actually pretty damn good #rwby analysis #rwby #anti rwde #roman torchwick #ruby rose #writing analysis

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