every adult in this game suffers from terminal cumbrain syndrome
Proof of my point that ABIS HR just isn't a thing.
I'd like to imagine that ABIS would be an H.R. nightmare. Boss alone would be enough to get several complaints if the rest of the squad weren't perverts, too. Then again, I'm sure Ryuki may or may not have a few choice words about her.
And don't get me started on Date! If Aiba were a person, she would be reporting him nonstop for him being horny on main. (Heck, maybe she still does as is.)
They must not have an H.R. department because if they did, they'd probably be on the verge of being shut down.
Why do people hate female characters? Oh, so she kidnaps a child to steal their organs ONE TIME and suddenly she’s the BAD GUY 🙄
And to be fair to her, it wasn't even her idea anyway.
Never Prepared
You think you know how you'll respond when a tragedy strikes. You think you've mentally prepared yourself. You could lose almost anything and you'll be ready to deal with the fallout. You ready yourself mentally to weather almost any storm that you know will come someday. You expect them to happen at any moment. Every day, you think "What if this happened?" and steel your heart and mind for it.
You know you can't fully be ready when that time comes, but you can handle almost any loss. You've made your peace with those things being taken at any time. You think about these tragedies almost every day and think about how you'll move on from them after getting through the storm. If life decides to take almost anything from you, you know you'll be able to handle it.
Then life takes the one thing you never thought would be taken.
You never prepared for this. You never even considered it a possibility. You planned everything assuming that above all else, you wouldn't lose this. Only now do you realize what you've done. You thought you had all the armor you needed to take every bullet that comes your way. But there's always an Achilles heel. And when that bullet strikes, it strikes hard.
No contingency. No resolve. No escape from this pit you find yourself in. You know you'll be able to go forward. You know you'll be able to move on and get through this. You won't be as strong as you were before, but you'll make it through to keep going. That's what you said about every other loss. But this? You know this all to be true. You believe that it will happen... but you don't have the remedy for it. After spending all the time thinking about other tragedies, you had no time to think about this one when it happened.
Even if you prepare to lose almost everything, life can still take the one thing you were never prepared to lose.
Takemi: Hey, high schooler. I need you to come to my back room alone with me to test some medication that might result in you being unconscious for a few hours. What do you say?
Joker: That sounds reasonable, suspicious goth doctor lady.
genuinely terrifying how adhd will have you be fully aware of the responsibilities you’re neglecting and yet its like you’re being piloted by a super chill hedonistic demon who can’t hear you/doesnt care
Story of my fucking life!
Arcane will forever remain one of my favorite if not my favorite series of all time for its positive portrayal of black femininity and black people in general.
Mel is a manipulative, ambitious, and intimidating black woman in political power. She is a part of the elite, privilege class and comes from a colonizing family. There’s no question about that part. Her mother decapitated the last remaining figure of power in a civilization she decimated.
Arcane had more than enough material to write Mel in a very unflattering light, but they chose the opposite. Like all the characters in this show, she has her strengths, weaknesses and backstory. As the story progresses, we discover she does want to do good (while profiting from it) and is a compassionate woman who was cast out of her family for wanting diplomacy over warfare.
She has mommy issues. At the end of the season, when her mother reveals her beloved brother was killed and the family needs additional resources to fight an upcoming war, she doesn’t choose her family. She chooses peace. She chooses to be a part of the solution.
Furthermore…
Look at this gorgeous, beautiful black woman. No straight hair. Beautiful, gorgeous deep brown skin. Fashion on point while complimenting her skin and aesthetic. Can I point out again she has no straight hair? So many fantasy, science-fiction shows/stories/comics really don’t want to touch on black hair but Arcane said, “Hold my beer.”
This is Ekko’s look in League of Legends. This is his official art, but in Arcane, his design modified. Not by much. It stays faithful to the original, but I definitely appreciate what was done.
Look at him. Look at that beautiful, handsome young man who is lifting his people and doing the best he can while working with the people to be something.
For the first time in a fictional (fantasy) setting that is not based in “our reality” and is not written by a fully black director/cast, I feel seen. I feel comfortable. I feel that yeah, we totally belong here. I haven’t read or seen enough about this, but I am expressing my gratitude.
I cannot wait to see where their stories develop.
Always nice to see positive representation.
the ides of march (2021, colorized)
And I'm glad it did.
Yes, Cinder Is Degrading As A Villain — And That’s Good Writing: The Tolkienesque Influences Of RWBY
People complain that Cinder is badly written because she’s gotten progressively less competent and more power hungry, letting her obsession with power blind her and lead her to make stupid decisions.
All of those things are factually true statements about Cinder, but consider: That was intentional on the writer’s part.
Villains who are not static characters and mustache twirling cardboard cutouts are good, but just because a villain should have some degree of character development does not mean that development needs to be positive. There seems to be a massive misconception about what villains are supposed to be in this fandom: specifically, people seem to think villains need to be massive power fantasies; charming, cunning, powerful, alluring, and just generally better than the heroes in every way. But why don’t we take a look at a different view and see how it compares to what the CRWBY have been doing?
I, and others, have written before about the parallels between RWBY and the works of J.R.R. Tolkien, particularly The Lord Of The Rings. One of the major themes of his writing is this: Evil is self-destructive. Evil degrades, and becomes less and less. Someone who starts out cunning, brilliant, and charming, is turned by their obsession with power into some brutal, paranoid, and disgusting. It takes things that were admirable, including things like cunning, intelligence, or the ability to understand people, and makes them twist and rot and decay, until a brutal, self-absorbed, hungry creature is all that’s left.
Tolkien believed that Evil should not be “cool” or “sexy” or “seductive” or “brilliant.” Villains should not be admirable. Villains should be warnings about what the desire for power, or for revenge, or for control or wealth can do to a person.
You see it in Saruman’s descent from the lord of the White Tower to a two-bit gang leader bullying hobbits in the Shire. You see it in Mairon’s descent from an angel of craftsmanship to a withered spirit desperately clinging to existance as Sauron. You see it in Smeagol’s descent from a simple river man to a hideous, broken imp as Gollum.
And we are seeing it in Cinder’s descent from the brilliant strategist who brought down Beacon to a power hungry, immature child, just like we saw it in Ironwood’s descent from a stalwart defender of humanity to a paranoid, emotionless shell. Just like we saw it in Salem’s fall from a princess who called her own rescuer from her tower to a bitter old witch who refuses to admit her mistakes.
None of these villains are supposed to be admirable.
Has Cinder been turning into a shell of the villain she was at the start of the series? Yes. Because that’s what lust for power, and the ruthless pursuit of it, does: it hollows you out, it robs you of every good and positive trait you had: intelligence, charm, and guile included.
Okay but I find myself inspired to add further to this wonderful post.
We see how Evil slowly destroys people from the inside out, how great people such as Salem, Ironwood, and Lionheart become broken shells of what they once were.
And thanks primarily to Oscar, we’ve been seeing the opposite. How the people that choose to do Good, even if only one final time, are made their best selves in that moment.
Hazel spent a lifetime obsessed with Revenge, refusing to understand Gretchen’s heart and infantizing her to the point of denying her Agency. He murders in the name of his Fatalism, leaving broken families behind as he kills Huntsmen and blames it on Ozpin for giving them hope.
Oscar gives him the opportunity to choose Good, one last time. This allows Hazel to become a better version of himself, to finally understand Gretchen and the choices she made. He finally stops treating her like a child, stops acting like she wasn’t a grown woman with the agency to make her own decisions. He understands her at long last, and chooses to sacrifice himself to give others a chance. He sacrifices himself out of love for Emerald, out of grudging respect for Oscar and the hope he represents, and for the young Huntsmen and Huntress that faced a Witch down because there are things worth fighting for.
Hazel goes out quite literally in a blaze of glory, reclaiming some of the Hope that he’d lost.
Emerald is given a second chance, after ignoring her own conscious for so long. She sees more clearly than she has in a long time, and we’re seeing how quickly she rises to the opportunity to do Good. How she is finding the family and home she always wanted, and discovering a stronger version of herself.
Vine spends most of his screentime being the “logical” one, saying things that are a little cold but practical. Going along with his orders, never questioning them. He is the one to finally speak the words Harriet needs to hear, to realize what they have all been denying. And while his final sacrifice has some elements of Logic behind it (I am the only one that can do this thing), it is ultimately his heart that guides him. His desire to protect the friends he loves, to give his all for them. And he turns that into something beautiful, a source of incredible strength to protect his friends and yes, the people he’d previously accepted could be abandoned.
Likewise, Winter finds her strength in so many ways. She realizes she can no longer just blindly follow orders, that she has to listen to her heart, and she TRULY makes what was chosen for her by others into something her own. Not a duty and a destiny given to her by a master, but a GIFT entrusted to her by a loved one. Winter is finally set free, in letting go of being a Soldier and embracing the love she has for her family and friends.
And before all of them, Ilia finding a new path after being lost for so long. Going along with terrible things, wallowing in anger and hurt, because she couldn’t see any other way forward. Blake’s forgiveness sets her free, and gives her a new path to follow. The little cameo in Volume 8 suggests we haven’t seen the last of Ilia, and what she’s accomplished since Haven.
Because that’s the other half of Tolkien’s works. Evil rots, and Good born from friendship and love gives us incredible strength. The bonds that help us crawl through hell for the sake of others, and the courage to sacrifice all to give others hope. The rebuilding of what is broken, and a second chance to make things right. It isn’t easy, it isn’t always rewarding or glamourous, but Good is always worth it in the end.
Sometimes, Good is a hero pushing forward. Sometimes, it’s making a sacrifice. And sometimes, it’s the small and seemingly unimportant things that matter. People coming together in dark times, a single act of kindness or mercy, and refusing to give up on the dream of returning to simpler times.
Don’t forget Adam’s descent from regional leader to stalker.
I think the other brilliant thing RWBY does that goes underappreciated (and somehow managed to blind some people to literally everything else) is that RT shows us the potential for these characters to be something else than they end up becoming, through character choice.
Cinder has a chance to change and become smarter instead of more petty, and ironically that chance comes from one of our other villains, Watts (who also, ironically, came to his end in his pursuit of revenge against James). We even have a moment where we’re thinking, maybe Watts is making some sort of breakthrough with Cinder, when he literally talks her down off of dropping him to his death. But inevitably, she gives him a big old fat middle finger by making sure he dies in Atlas, purely out of spite.
James shows a lot of potential for doing good things, until his paranoia starts to get the better of him. Of course, he shows the potential for doing bad things pretty early too. At least in the first couple of seasons, he was sort of a grey area, because he’s sitting right on the edge. He’s not quite a protagonist, not quite an antagonist, but it was clearly building towards something. We found out what that something as in v7 and v8.
Emerald was basically (as far as we know so far) just a petty, disadvantaged thief whose Semblance let her steal in plain view, not some hardened bloodthirsty criminal who made a regular habit of killing people (pretty sure even in her intro, its Mercury that does the killing, not her), so she kind of always had the potential of “good”. But Cinder got to her first, gave her some sort of value beyond that, and so she got into doing bad things by becoming attached to Cinder. But she clearly wasn’t on board for as bad of things as Cinder and Mercury, as we see pretty quickly once she’s introduced to Salem. She also is shown time and again to have genuine loyalty to people (Cinder), and care more for those people than her own safety (Cinder vs Penny). The moment she gets a genuine chance to leave Salem and all that behind, she gets the fuck out of dodge and switches sides, but she always had those traits within her. She was never really that evil to begin with, she was more of a pawn in evil deeds by someone she looked up to.
I could go on about other characters, but I digress.
Contrary to what a lot of people want to claim about “ruining characters”, the show never really strays from whats within each characters’ capabilities and there are always hints in each character of what they’re more likely to choose, if you’re actually paying attention and not injecting what you want the characters to be as being the actual writing.
This is always important to remember. While you don't have to like the directions that these characters went in, to say that it comes out of nowhere is just plain wrong. There is basis for all these characters actions, including their degradation.
Just because it's not what you wanted from them doesn't make it bad. If anything, it makes them human. They are not deities among men. They're people with flaws. The cracks were always there, and the fact that they split open is not bad writing. It's a natural progression.
“Super bad girl team up, I like it!”
Poison Ivy: Mariiidragon Catwoman: CosplayTwiins Harley Quinn: Enasni Vee Photography: James Rulison
Batman beating the shit out of people
THE DARK KNIGHT (2008) dir. Christopher Nolan
Good times.
Who's this man
That’s Martin Luther. He founded a movement which would later become known as “callout culture”
"That's bullshit. This whole thing is bullshit. That's a scam. Fuck the church. Here's 95 reasons why."
- Martin Luther (kind of)
Batman: The Long Halloween, Part One (2021)
Bats should've taken that offer up.
i can’t stop thinking about young alador and odalia being fools in love ugh why did they have to grow into abusive parents???
I get the feeling that they were probably already crappy people. (At least Odalia was and it started rubbing off on Alador.)
Or that their success bred callousness. Odalia seems like the greedy type and Alador doesn't bother to stop her. Heck, I bet he kinda encourages her.
heres ANOTHER lady d sketch i love u momma
Love it!
capcom knew what they were doing when they made her
They sure did.
First look at Jared Leto’s JOKER in Zack Snyder’s Justice League (2021)
This actually looks so much better already.