kittypeas

[kittypeas]

THIS ^^^

Recently I’ve started my second d!Urge playthrough (this decision had been motivated in part by me wanting to take notes this time; I guess it has been working fine just yet).

My character, Lovage, is going to be a resist d!Urge and part of the roleplay is to (force myself to) do some bad stuff too, since you can’t write a redemption arc when there is nothing to redeem, right? So I decided for Lovage to have a d!Urge episode in the Emerald Grove, when she approaches Timber the squirrel who’s guarding her tree. But it didn’t go as planned and despite me reloading the save few times in a row I couldn’t get the response I was hoping to get from Astarion (my d!Urge’s future love interest) or at least the one I remember from my latest playthrough… and then it dawned on me: maybe this scene is different if you are a Dark Urge? Because that would totally make sense! Under those circumstances I created a Tav just to follow this hunch LOL.

I must add that I absolutely hate this scene since animal cruel*y is something I abhor and even replaying it to get you this video and the screenshots was awful. That’s why I decided I’m going to show you only Astarion’s reaction to what happens.

There you have it, “d!Urge” reaction and then a regular “*evil* Tav” reaction:

You don’t see it on the video but the beginning of the scene is also different for d!Urge and Evil Tav which I feel is something very important story-wise. While the Evil Tav is attacked by Timber as soon as she arrives, nothing like this happens to the Dark Urge.

Now imagine the scene from the POV of Astarion: the Dark Urge approaches Timber, smiles an evil smile and kicks the squirrel with such force the poor creature is k*lled upon hitting a tree. I think we all can agree that this is not only evil but pretty fucked up. And while Astarion is much used to cruelty, this is not something even Cazador would do; you can see later in the story that everything Cazador does is motivated by personal gain: in this context you can see that tortur*ng people is not mindlessly cruel, it serves (in part) maintaining control. I have this HC however that some of the patrons he handed his spawns off to for sure had such kinks which would also help to explain Astarion’s almost immediate response to you kicking Timber.

I say “almost” immediate because when you watch the video in slow-motion you can see this:

This is his expression just before he makes his ironic comment, and I am amazed again by the amount of detail in this game and so grateful for it here especially because the way they made his expression “bleed through” one frame to another proves that what you saw a moment earlier was not a pragmatic choice to use the same reaction for a character in the background, it was a writer’s decision.

Astarion’s comment sounded so awful to me I kept wondering if I’m a hypocrite, since there seems to be almost no difference between his two snarky remarks except for the wording maybe, which, to be honest, didn’t sound convincing even in my own head. Now I come to the conclusion that whereas in the “Evil Tav” version Astarion’s comeback is clearly a cover up lie of something he has blurted out in shock, while in the “Dark Urge” one he has detached himself fully emotionally at this point (again: Neil deserves ALL of the rewards for his brilliant performance <3), which makes it sound so horrible and cold and makes an immense difference in reception.

With the Dark Urge Astarion knows immediately that he has to do with a complete psycho and he is (quite understandably) scared SHITLESS. Why it doesn’t make him leave? Well, does anything, ever, really? This is why I think that he must be used to much, much worse, if not by Cazador’s hands then surely by those of some degenerate freaks Cazador wanted to make happy.

Nothing seems too extreme to Astarion and if it proves to be, then well, he can always switch his emotions or even consciousness off and then let every terrible thing go on. That’s why he is one of the few companions who stick around no matter what you do and he appears happy doing so. Remember that he is also the one that is willing to give it a go to try to take control of the tadpole? He reminds me of a PTSD patient who is struggling with both substance and hazard addiction. Imagine driving a race car with no brakes and trying to maintain balance between an increased need for stimulation and an overwhelming feeling of all of this being too much.

Astarion from the “Evil Tav” version of the video reacts with fear and sadness in the initial few seconds but then the lines “no, what did you do?!” are delivered with anger and contempt and I believe that this is what he is trying to conceal adding his snarky comment, which is brilliant, to be honest: if you know by this point that he is a vampire Astarion can hope that you attribute his strange outburst to his vampirism (idk, maybe vampires are revolted by the idea of wasting blood?), and if you don’t know about his true nature then his disgust is even more understandable because you just made the scene needlessly bloody.

And while all of the companions show disapproval here, only Astarion is distressed so much he forgets for a moment about his well practiced act.

Let me know what you think!

[kittypeas]

[kittypeas]

“…I know you’re in there…”

[kittypeas]

Dear Friends, since not all of you are on Twitter - I owe you an apology for my silence. And an explanation. I don’t post anything because… I can’t draw SW anymore.TROS broke my heart. I wasn’t prepared for such a bad movie, bad on so many levels. It’s message (devastating), it’s script (plot holes, Rey and Finn, Kylo so out of character, brutal retconning not only of TLJ but also TFA), bad pacing, bad editing, so many poor special effects, the erasing of Rose and this end, horrible cynical end.

After prequels I used to laugh that if midichlorians, high ground, coarse and rough sand etc couldn’t kill my love for Star Wars then nothing will.

I was wrong.

TROS was one of the most depressing experiences of my entire life. It cast a long shadow - I won’t be able to watch classic trilogy, knowing now there is only a tragedy and death for my beloved characters, I’m not even interested on Mandalorian or OWK serie - I don’t trust LFL anymore. And since I draw out of joy, there will be no more SW art (maybe it will change in time, but I doubt it). This is my last drawing, summing up heroine’s journey in ST trilogy.

Thank you for all your support and kind comments. Be well.

[kittypeas]

Star Wars stunt coordinator Rob Inch and production designer Rick Heinrich discuss The Last Jedi’s throne room fight scene.

[kittypeas]

I PORG YOU SO MUCH <3

[kittypeas]

WHEN THE AU IS MUCH BETTER THAN CANON <3

Sometimes Kylo becomes Ben. And he is nice. Especially during a Kiss a Ginger Day! He even picked up some leaves and made a bitter tea for Hux. And that's really kind. Way to go, Solo! Keep up the good work!

[kittypeas]

The man who’d lift people midair with a flick is the man so weakened to even pick up a small body from the ground into his arms. STILL he manages to bring her back from DEATH!!! If this ain’t pure compassion I don’t know what is.

[kittypeas]

[kittypeas]

(almost) the first line in JJ’s movie

and

THE LAST LINE IN JJ’s MOVIE

It makes it even more stupid! WHAT THE HELL

Dang. No wonder they cut the second half of that line from Force Awakens. Major TRoS spoilers.

[kittypeas]

tay nobody, a real victim of the whole JB saga. pls hear her own words to defend herself, here’s everything she has to say, to the Reylos family & her friends. To Lucasfilm, pl read her last words. pls give her more loves.

(cr above, all from tay nobody’s twitter account. pls show her some loves, and spread the words among our Reylo family for her, pray for her.)

https://twitter.com/usethehorserey/status/1216527622974459910

[kittypeas]

ehh this just might be too Soft™ for them, but here, have this cuddle 

[kittypeas]

Thank you Adam for bringing all you had to this role. You made us all fall in love with you all over again with your dashing good looks, perfect smile and mesmerizing acting ❤️

[kittypeas]

I finished it! You can read it here:

An Agreement of Sorts

 @bl0wthatpieceofjunkoutofthesky, @molotov-tea-cosies, @thelegendofalyssa, @every-day-is-star-wars-day @venificas you asked me to let you know <3

An illustration for my new stor (mix of reylo and kylux) :) I almost finished the translation.

[kittypeas]

Yes. Rey stays alive.

Do you know who else is? Finn and it was hinted that he is both force sensitive and in love with Rey. So maybe Finnrey would be an endgame. I'm furious!!

Ben Solo will live. Exhibit A: JJ Abrams - “No one wants a character to die”

Watch from 1:03 - 1:25

“No one wants a character to die. And yet I know that when we had Kylo Ren kill Han Solo that was done because it was…Harrison always knew there needed to be utility for the character. And he had famously always wanted Han to die and serve that purpose. But it felt like this was a way to begin to define Kylo Ren, not just a way to kill a character…” 

He is NOT going to kill Ben just to be dramatic or tragic. I think this is a win for us. The only way Ben will die in TROS is if his death somehow has “utility” as in it’s necessary for the plot or for another character’s development. 

I don’t think that killing Ben will “develop” Rey. It’s their relationship and interaction that has helped develop her. 

And I don’t think that his death is “necessary” to the plot, either.

I’m saying it. This is a win. 

JJ has also said that he doesn’t like to go to the movies to feel depressed. So I really don’t think he would kill Ben just for a tear-jerker moment. 

Thoughts???

[kittypeas]

Guys I saw the movie. I live in Poland and our premiere was today. Everything they say is true. There is no hope.

Ben Solo will live. Exhibit A: JJ Abrams - “No one wants a character to die”

Watch from 1:03 - 1:25

“No one wants a character to die. And yet I know that when we had Kylo Ren kill Han Solo that was done because it was…Harrison always knew there needed to be utility for the character. And he had famously always wanted Han to die and serve that purpose. But it felt like this was a way to begin to define Kylo Ren, not just a way to kill a character…” 

He is NOT going to kill Ben just to be dramatic or tragic. I think this is a win for us. The only way Ben will die in TROS is if his death somehow has “utility” as in it’s necessary for the plot or for another character’s development. 

I don’t think that killing Ben will “develop” Rey. It’s their relationship and interaction that has helped develop her. 

And I don’t think that his death is “necessary” to the plot, either.

I’m saying it. This is a win. 

JJ has also said that he doesn’t like to go to the movies to feel depressed. So I really don’t think he would kill Ben just for a tear-jerker moment. 

Thoughts???

[kittypeas]