#I mean it worked for Giancarlo once why not him

[diari0deglierrori]

Wait I was convinced the french and italian productions of The Count of Monte Cristo were the same thing… turns out one is a movie and the other a show

[mobscene-launceston]

BASIC INFORMATION:

NAME: Paul Romano.   AGE: 63. PLACE OF BIRTH: Launceston, Massachusetts, United States. AFFILIATION: The Sovrani. OCCUPATION: Underboss. FACE CLAIM: Giancarlo Esposito. AVAILABILITY: OPEN.

(Warning: Mentions/themes of racism.)

“They’re never going to treat you the same, son.”

The words of his father were undoubtedly meant as a deterrent from trying.

As was so often the case with Paul Romano, however, being told that he couldn’t do something only made him more adamant to prove to himself that he could.

It was hypocritical of his father to discourage him from seeking Sovrani membership when his own position within the organisation was the reason he’d come to Launceston in the first place. Giovanni had served them back home in Rome, and had only made the transition to the States when he’d been summoned by the Auditores personally.

Paul always knew that even if he did make the cut, he had a hell of a man to live up to.

Growing up in Valence had proven to him that his father’s concerns weren’t entirely unwarranted, though. In spite of Giovanni’s reputation, he had been berated by many outside of the organisation for marrying an African-American woman. The way they’d treated his mother, Dorothy, was even worse. Even if he’d been too young to understand why back then, he understood that it just was, and Paul sure remembered wiping her tears when she returned from grocery shopping; once again victim to a racist tirade from strangers. The Sovrani weren’t perfect by any means, and there were still plenty of pieces of shit who had something to say about the person his father had fallen in love with, but for the most part, they were better than Valencian average. Not that it was saying much.

Maybe the idea that he’d have to work harder to prove himself just because of the colour of his skin should’ve been enough for him to seek out another life entirely. As a teen, coming to terms with the world he lived in, a part of him had almost been swayed away by the thought. But he remembered so clearly that night when everything changed. It was Bartolomeo himself who’d defended Paul’s mother from a Capo who had a few choice words to describe her, never to be repeated again. It could’ve been a slap on the wrist if the man had cared less. Instead, the future leader had broken legs that day. Used the power of his last name to strip the scum of his membership entirely. Paul never forgot how he’d walked the then teenager and his mother home, making sure they were all right before he left again.

And Paul never forgot that even though it was the kind of thing any decent human should’ve done, to stand up to a Capo in their world for a woman he hardly knew was not the easy choice.

It was hard not to respect the fact he’d made it anyway.

When Bartolomeo became the leader of the Sovrani, Paul had just entered his early twenties. Up until that point, his connections with the gang had been casual at best; mostly a result of his father’s involvement. The two older men had grown close over the years—the leader respected Giovanni more than almost all others—and as such, their family had attained a status where they’d always be looked after. Paul also knew that if he ever wanted to pursue joining the Sovrani seriously, all he would have to do was ask…and so he did.

Bartolomeo was the kind of man deserving of his respect.

Paul would spend the entirety of his service to him learning new reasons why.

The respect was always returned, and that was important to him. But as much as the leader respected him, he also made it abundantly clear that he trusted him, and that was solidified when Lucrezia Auditore returned from Rome, and entered his life in an absolute whirlwind.

“I don’t need a babysitter,” she’d scoffed, and her father had chuckled.

“Noted,” Paul had replied, with absolutely no intention of becoming one.

The newly minted Capo, aged forty-three, was one of the last to be appointed by Bartolomeo during his tenure. But the honour almost paled in comparison to being trusted to watch over his youngest daughter. Back then, they had clashed—albeit mostly one-sidedly, from the impossibly headstrong woman—and she sure hadn’t made teaching her how things ran in Launceston easy. Other things, though? Lucrezia made those come naturally.

Paul had fought against his feelings with all he had. Their very first argument (and back then, they had been many) he was sure he’d fallen in love with her right on the fucking spot. For a man who had often been on the receiving end of ‘why haven’t you settled down yet?’ comments from his colleagues, it was a bitter pill to swallow to know that the moment he could finally imagine himself with somebody, they were entirely out of his reach. Even if she hadn’t been married, if she hadn’t been the boss’s daughter, his father’s words still echoed. The Sovrani had accepted him, but he still wasn’t sure if they would’ve ever accepted that.  

In spite of it all, he was a professional; a master at compartmentalisation, and his feelings, to keep hold of a friendship that meant so much to him, were no different. Long had he been revered by his peers for his strength, his self-assuredness without arrogance, his level-head and his diplomacy. Paul was a credit to the Sovrani, and lifted by Bartolomeo as an example of all they could, and what they should, be. This might’ve stirred discontent amongst some of the aging conservative members, but they would die out eventually. Paul was honoured to be a herald of the change; a gateway experience for many other prospective members from a similar background.

He did so serving dutifully at her side.

Lucrezia was his best friend. He, her most trusted advisor. Together, they were formidable.

The Auditore introduced him to the woman who would eventually become his wife. Her husband, Antonio, would become one of his closest friends as the years passed them by. Soon, Alessia ascended to the throne, but as leader, much like her father, she too had entrusted a great deal to him. With only a few exceptions, aside from the Auditores and Vespuccis themselves, Paul was one of the most powerful members in the entire organisation, and he supposed, in a sense, his father had been right. They didn’t treat him the same. They treated him better.

For the majority of Alessia’s leadership, Lucrezia spent her time in Rome. It was a big shift for him, and he realised in missing her, that he hadn’t buried his feelings as well as he’d thought. Launceston had always been home for him, even if not for her, but he couldn’t help but feel it was a little emptier without her in it. That made it all the more unfortunate to be grateful for her return. He felt guilty for the happiness, the relief. Of course he wanted her back—he did every time she was gone—but not at the expense of Alessia’s life.

The sisters had always been close, in spite of the distance. Paul might’ve been Lucrezia’s confidant, one of the very few she would allow herself to be vulnerable around, but even he was at a loss at how to guide her through the pain. Not only was the Auditore family reeling, the Sovrani was also grieving the loss of arguably its most important and beloved leader to date. Paul found himself divide between trying to help the woman he loved, and desperately holding together the Launceston arm of the gang as the Russians began to wage an all-out assault on their existence.

But Lucrezia was strong. Perhaps more so than anybody ever gave her credit for.

Bartolomeo returned to leadership in the wake of Alessia’s death, but he knew that his daughter would be ready to step up to the plate eventually.

“I want you to be there at her side, Paul.”

“That’ll be her decision, not ours.”

But throughout the hushed conversations, Bartolomeo knew she wouldn’t choose anybody else.

When Lucrezia approached him, shortly ahead of her initiation as the Sovrani’s new leader, she had done so with a look in her eyes that wasn’t familiar to him. Not from her. Paul had witnessed leaders in the city tear themselves apart trying to avenge their losses, and with the status she was about to obtain, she would have the means to become one of them. Much like Bartolomeo had anticipated, she wanted Paul to become her underboss. And much like Bartolomeo had anticipated, he hadn’t hesitated to accept. Not only would she need somebody she trusted at her side, she would need the only person that had the ability to talk her down from doing something stupid.

The only person who had the ability to tell her no, and be heard.

Whilst his mother might’ve been opposed to this life for him in the beginning, Paul knows that both of his parents are looking down on him, immensely proud of all he has achieved.

And he’s not going to start disappointing them by fucking up now.  

SOCIAL CONNECTIONS:

RELATIONSHIP STATUS: Angela Romano (wife) FAMILY: Giovanni and Dorothy Romano (parents, deceased), Giovanni Romano (son, unplayable), Anna, Lucia Romano (daughters, unplayable) CONNECTIONS:

Allegra Vespucci: Old friend. With the exception of Lucrezia, Allegra is without a doubt his dearest friend. Many find her attitude to be abrasive, and perhaps he's just learnt how to deal with it better, but they always got along like a house on fire. Her move to London was unfortunate, but it's not as though their friendship hasn't survived worse. Paul made sure to let her know she better plan on coming home to visit, because he has no intention of setting foot in London.

Antonio D'Agostino: Good friend. Conventional wisdom might have one assuming the two would never see eye-to-eye, but it simply isn't the case. Paul isn't jealous of his marriage, not as long as he makes Lucrezia happy, and he would never try to paint the man a villain to justify anything else. Their two families are close, their children are friends, and the man has become as much a staple in his life as Lucrezia. There are few he trusts more. Genuinely.

Joey Sambuco: Friend. Much as he was for the others, during the aftermath of Alessia's death, in spite of his own grief, Paul was a shoulder for Joey. The man's feelings for her were practically common knowledge, and he supposed he could relate to that. Whilst they weren't particularly close beforehand, they certainly bonded during this time, and Paul is glad to call him a friend; particularly as they now work side-by-side in their respective positions within the Sovrani.

Simona Infascelli: Good friend. Though she is the polar opposite of him in almost every way (most notably, about as hot-headed as they come) the two have always balanced each other out nicely. Paul was responsible for pushing for her to be made Capo by Alessia, and it was because she deserved it. So far as the Russians are concerned, Paul can't help but worry when his people have to face them. But not Simona. Never her. There, it's the Russians who should worry.

[dinoclawsz]

B4 I continue posting art of them I think I need to explain my whole thought process……so here’s some (not all) reasons why I think Pagan and Antón should and would kiss sloppy style 😊

-They share a lot of similarities! Most obvious being their jobs as ermm terrible dictators but more importantly their shared ‘guerilla forces ripping apart the country’ situations 🐡I think they would meet first in a purely diplomatic fashion ofc, to trade weapons and/or money in order to deal with their own respective resistances. This would also mean they have tons of preexisting respect and even understanding for each other, and also bonding over a mutual burning hatred of anarchists is a funny way to get close to somebody lawl. Also I know it would b out of character for Pagan to quit his hermetic lifestyle out of the blue to go visit some guy in the Caribbean but idrc I’m just trying to have fun :)

-Another similarity they have is their relationship to fatherhood and problems regarding it. While Antón never really wanted to be a father or have Diego and wouldn’t have if not for his cancer, Pagan DID want to be a father, but lost the only real chance he’d ever have at it, so I think upon meeting Diego he’d exploit it as a chance to be the father he never got the opportunity to be. I think they’d look to each other for advice; Pagan on how to be a good mentor for Ajay, and Antón on how to be a better and kinder person to Diego. Also I find the concept of Pagan being an estranged mom-type figure to Diego (without him fully understanding the extent of his relationship to his papá) very fun

-They have contrasting personalities :3 Pagan has a very charismatic, energetic, fun and self-absorbed personality while Antón is more cool, collected and down-to-earth and I think they’d get along nice and compliment each other well……opposites attract and what not and I think they would have an interesting dynamic

-I also think their age difference would play a part in them liking each other; Pagan trying to keep him up-to-date w current shit, explaining to him what Twitter is, showing him memes or whatever, while Antón would get to live vicariously through Pagan

-Theyd b into each other technically speaking….Antón has a lot of class and poise and we know that’s important to Pagan..also his type quite obviously includes men (and besides who wouldn’t be into giancarlo esposito), but regarding Antón, a lot of the properties found in the only person we know hes canonically been involved with romantically (Maria Marquessa) are also found in Pagan; charisma/big personality, work in publicity and media, their slightly manipulative tendencies, even down to their similar appearance. Ik this is like likening a filet mignon (Pagan) to Spam (Maria) but it’s for my point okay

-Speaking of Maria, one of the primary reasons her and Antón fell apart (according to the fc6 audiobook (listen to it pls and ty)) was differences regarding his ambitions and drive to become President. With Pagan these misunderstandings would be nonexistent as, once again, they have similair life experiences and an understanding of what it takes to do what they do

-I think they wld take good care of each other 👍Antón def needs someone to look after him as his cancer is slowly killing him which I think Pagan would do gladly. Besides the whole murdering people thing he’s a v caring person towards the ppl he loves. Pagan also needs someone to bring him out of his shell and show him he can love again which I think Antón could do. Once again in the fc6 audiobook Diego mentions that Antón gets uncharacteristically warm around the people he loves so imo it’s not too far fetched

-Final definitive reason: I like old evil man yaoi 👍and they should kill ppl together thats hot..thanks for reading like and subscribe 4 more

[misiwrites]

4KINGDOMS RE-READ ADVENTURE part 5

today turned into more of a fic editing night because all of these chapters were a little trashy. but hey. better fix them now than never

Chapter 18: max makes a bet with rei that's "going to be an easy win", then proceeds to lose the bet 50 chapters later

i've always enjoyed including the detail that giancarlo has taught max to sneak out of the house. because gianni does it in canon. it's just perfect and i can't believe these two prob don't even talk to each other once in canon

and now max is starting to roast ralf too but also, nice foreshadowing there

“It’s just not right,” he said, “for a royal knight to not be by his master’s side at all times.” “You’re starting to sound like Ralf!” I congratulated him. “Incredible.”

holy shit max being like "idk what rick dislikes me for. maybe he's mad i'm cuter than him"

he also just flat out calls takao obsessed with kai. already

i forgot about this thing of them betting about kai's visit to cherrywood

max says he's jealous of takao! takao just said some chapter back that he's jealous of max! funny how that works

hmm. this was very cheesy

Chapter 19: takao-sensei teaches us world geography

thank you takao. i didn't remember some of the worldbuilding stuff in here so like. good to know. actually the thing he's saying about the east believing there to be three mountains that holy beasts originate from, i found those three things from wikipedia the other day and was like ah. did i intend to use these for something or.

i also forgot takao here talks about mao like oh she's so pretty. she so curvy. NFDBGHSDGSD

OH MY GOD TAKAO IS SO PETTY!! THIS BITCH

Whatever, I'd show them later - then they'd admit they were wrong and I was right, and they’d apologise for having been so silly and prejudiced. Yeah. “Sorry, Takao! You were right all along!” and so on. “We’re sorry for ever doubting you! You were steps ahead of us with your thinking!” Like that. […] I’d show them, I’d make Kai my new best buddy, and then we’d have so much fun together every day.

i may have kind of forgotten this subplot about all the mentions of kai's absence in southern media, i mean it's still gonna be relevant but i forgot this was. one part of it. yeah

this chapter wasn't very well written tbh so i spent like an hour fixing it just now. where were we again

Chapter 20: just a stinky pile of reimax fluff

the one where they stand on water holding hands. this is some aladdin&jasmine shit. these two got intense very fast

As soon as he was back on the veranda, he let out a sigh of relief. Then he immediately recollected himself, straightening his back and trying to look brave. “That was fun,” he said without a hint of fun is his voice.

rei you are so pathetic

oh this is a drop that i enjoy:

I shook my head and turned my attention back to Rei. “Doesn’t matter. I was just thinking that you could end up such a powerful magic-user. And yours seems like the offensive type. You could become a real fighter!” “A fighter?” Rei repeated the word as if sampling its taste. “Like the knights? Do you think magic could be used with a weapon?”

i know i had the major points of this story planned beforehand but i'm still all LOOKKK I KNEW TO FORESHADOW THIS AND THAT! OH HOORAY! like i had no faith in myself that it was in there. IT'S JUST LIKE MAX SAYS TO REI IN THIS CHAPTER have faith in yourself!!

i very much love the robot koi fish of rei's pond

Chapter 21: kai arrives at takao's house and it's. not so fluffy

the plot moved a lot faster back then, now kai is already coming to cherrywood! i could just do a time jump in my current chapters too tbh

so like, about the first 1-on-1 interaction in person between takao and kai that they ever have, is this:

Kai slid it open a few inches, just enough to glare at me through the narrow gap like I was a cockroach that he couldn’t quite reach. Or didn’t want to. “Hey,” I whispered. “I wanna talk. Could you let me in?” “Why?” Kai bellowed, not lowering his voice at all.

i am great at writing romance yes.

takao realises that kai has probably never had a single friend……… /plays the world's smallest violin (and, any extremely handsome and sexy person who has read my other tales oneshots, knows that kai literally asked johnny what a "friend" is)

Chapter 22: takao gets nothing out of kai, surprise

yeah this is the point with double takao chapters! this is my own story where i'm the one who did the decisions yet i keep imagining this being like a wrestling match between rei and takao where they fight which one is the protag---

this chapter is really just description of cherrywood and the garden. the highlight is takao deciding he needs to try if the triangles on kai's face are paint or not

i wasn't very good at describing things in these chapters, i remember struggling with that and rewriting things a hundred times actually. well, the good news is that it comes easier to me now so clearly something has improved.

[reds-burrow]

Sorting The Mandalorian

This is an attempt to sort the main characters of The Mandalorian according to the Sorting Hat Chats system. For anyone unfamiliar with the system, I suggest reading about it in this lovely summary by @wisteria-lodge.

Din Djarin (The Mandalorian/Mando): Badger/Lion

Incredibly loyal to the community that saved him as a child, he's driven by his sense of duty, yet he can't bear to walk away from people in need, even those who can't pay him. And if you mention the reputation of the Mandalorians, he immediately folds. Can't bring shame to the community after all! Not the best business model for a bounty hunter, but as a Badger primary, he couldn't live with himself otherwise. He also shows signs of dehumanizing droids for most of season one, not using pronouns for them, doubting their skills, refusing to trust them on sight. Given his first community was attacked by droids, it's not surprising. But once IG-11 proves himself to Din, Din not only stops dehumanizing droids but has difficulty not humanizing IG-11. The droid has to remind Din, twice, that he is not a living thing before Din will allow him to save Din's life or later sacrifice himself.

What happened in season two then? Did Din develop a Snake primary model for Grogu, overriding his Badger primary? While I think that's a valid reading of the story so far, I personally read season two as the story of a Badger changing their community. Having an External primary means that a Badgers can have very different value systems and rules they follow depending on who they consider their community to be. The Children of the Watch grew up in a cult-like community ("This is the Way."). When Din finally meets other Mandalorians who don't adhere to the strict code he's been taught, he begins to understand he can still be a Mandalorian without keeping his helmet on every standard minute of the day. Season three is set up to confront this more directly, forcing Din to decide what type of Mandalorian he wants to be.

As for his secondary, he's a Lion. Despite always covering his face, there is no question of who Din is. He's forthright, outright asking his bounty if they want to be brought in warm or cold. If we're to believe Xi'an, Din did more obvious charging when he was younger. Now, while he's still reactionary, even grabbing thermal detonators and literally charging into blaster-fire, he does so with a tired sigh.

Greef Karga: Snake/Badger

Greef Karga is only out for himself in the first season. A clear Snake primary, he initially tries to capture Din and Grogu because they're ruining his business. However, after Grogu saves him, Greef takes Grogu and Din into his circle, betraying his deal with the Imps to save them in turn.

As for his secondary, he operates as an agent of the Bounty Hunters' Guild, not by going out into the field, but by being the connection between hunters and clients, a Badger secondary way of doing things. Din essentially broke down everything Greef's secondary had built when he broke the code, including the trusted reputation of the guild. No wonder Greef was determined to have them captured or killed. Then, when the Imperial Remnants leave Nevarro, we get to see what a natural leader Greef is as he helps transform his town into a respectable one by investing in fundamental services like a school, a true Inspirational Badger.

Kuiil: Badger/Badger

Kuiil has had his life defined by hard work. A slave for the Empire, he earned his freedom with his Badger secondary, and while many characters would develop a Badger model to survive in such conditions, Kuiil's Badger appears to be his innate secondary. His chosen profession once he is free is labor-intensive moisture farming.

As for his primary, he's a peace-seeking Badger, always helping, and negotiating, trying to find a fair compromise for all, even if the other party is a bunch of thieving Jawas. He also revived IG-11 and taught the droid to be as respectful to all creatures as he is.

Cara Dune: Lion/Lion

Cara Dune is proud to have been a rebel for the Alliance, but she's left adrift after the fall of the Empire. With no cause to fight for, her Lion primary refuses to settle for a role as a peacekeeper, leading her to become a mercenary. A Lion without a cause tends to look like a Snake primary, and that's the state we find Cara in, initially only making moves to keep herself safe and paid. Later, when she finally agrees to become a marshal for the New Republic, she has a new purpose but is perfectly willing to break the Republic's rules to follow what she feels is right, from helping Din and Grogu to letting Mayfeld go.

Her Lion secondary shows in her fighting style. She used to be dropped over enemy lines to wreak as much havoc as possible and watching her aggressive style it's clear why. She's quick on her feet, improvising in that direct manner Lions like to do as seen in the battle against the AT-ST when their initial plan hits a snag.

IG-11: Bird/Lion

His Bird primary first displays as a strict adherence to rules ("Manufacturers Protocol dictates I cannot be captured. I must self-destruct."). The first time we see him, he walks straight into the middle of a bunch of mercenaries and spouts out the Bondsman Guild Protocol as if once they understand the rules, they'll fall in line. This also is a great example of his Lion secondary. As Taika Waititi described him, "[IG-11] is very innocent and direct and doesn't know about sarcasm and doesn't know how to lie. It's like a child with a gun." Later, Kuiil effectively imparts his Badger primary system to IG-11 when he saves and reprograms the droid. To paraphrase Kuiil, droids are a reflection of those who programmed them which has amusing implications for Ani and Threepio. It's a bizarre example of a Bird learning a new system, but that is still what it is at its essence. IG-11 is still all about fulfilling his protocols and base function; his base function simply changed from "kill or capture" to "nurse and protect."

Moff Gideon: Badger/Bird

A mastermind strategist, the first time we see him his Bird secondary is obvious. He uses his knowledge to intimidate, revealing his enemies names and pasts that they hadn't even shared amongst themselves. As Gideon says, "A friendly piece of advice: assume that I know everything."

As for his primary, he is an Authoritarian Badger, loyal to the order the Empire brought to the galaxy and likely to blast anything he sees in the way of it. To paraphrase Giancarlo Esposito, Gideon firmly believes himself to be a warden for the galaxy whose duty is to oversee people and prevent them from overrunning each other. He genuinely believes he is protecting people from themselves by pushing his strong sense of order onto them.

Grogu (The Child/The Bounty/Baby Yoda): ...um.

How young is too young to sort a character? It's unclear how much he understands about morals. With what little information we do have, he looks like a young Snake primary, only thinking about his stomach, his own survival, or protecting Din. But then, you think a young Snake would have more reluctant about the end of season two. I suppose we'll have to wait and see if his attachment to Din affects his training. Anyway, he's either too young to be capable of much foresight, or he's an Improvisational secondary, testing his limits as toddlers are wont to do. He's such a little gremlin, stealing snacks, sneaking eggs. I'm tempted to call him a Double Snake just for that!

[dindjarindiaries]

In Defense of The Mandalorian Season Two

A look into how the writing of season two actually reflects the same writing as the original trilogy, most notably The Empire Strikes Back.

DISCLAIMER: This post is in no way trying to refute the opinions of others! I know that, to many, the writing of season two was a let down. I’m simply here to share my opinion on why I thought it was well done, but I’m very open to critiques and discussions (as long as they’re started with good intentions).

Below the cut, I’ll be discussing the similarities of the plot/story’s structure to that of The Empire Strikes Back, how season two acts as a bridge between seasons, and the “dropped” items that many have been concerned with.

SEASON TWO AND THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK: DEVELOPMENT AND SETUP

One of the biggest critiques I’ve seen about season two is that it set up a lot of major opportunities for the development of the story and Din and never went in depth on those. Some of these things include Din being told he’s in a cult called the Children of the Watch, the acquisition of the Darksaber, and the removal of his helmet. These are all things we caught glimpses and hints of, but we never saw any resolution for—not even any processing from Din. This left many feeling unsatisfied by the end of the season.

Much like how viewers must’ve felt at the end of The Empire Strikes Back, prior to the release of Return of the Jedi.

This sounds like a stretch, doesn’t it? But hear me out:

A BIG REVELATION: Din realizes that other Mandalorians can remove their helmets and that Mandalore may not be cursed after all. Similarly, Luke finds out he’s the son of Darth Vader. Neither one of these things is mentioned again in their respective season/movie.

A BIG QUESTION MARK: Din doesn’t know where Grogu’s being taken for training or how to contact Luke again and we also don’t know where he’s at in terms of his “helmet rule.” Similarly, Han Solo is sitting in enemy hands, captured and frozen in carbonite with an unknown fate by the time the movie ends.

IN MEDIA RES: Din’s just found out that he’s now the rightful heir to the throne of Mandalore as he wields the Darksaber and we know this is something he’ll have to acknowledge later. Similarly, Luke’s been training as a Jedi been abandoned his training to save his friends, leaving his status as a Jedi Knight unknown but hinted at being finished later down the line.

As you can see, both season two and TESB ended with huge things that were just... left there. We never get to see how they’re resolved or how exactly the characters will deal with all this information that’s been thrown at them. Instead, we’re left with the shadow of their consequences, feeling as if we’re being left on the edge of our seats.

Evidently, this plays out much differently in a show than it does in a movie because there’s a broader range of screen time/story time. That’s why some of these revelations have to come earlier in the season than they would in a movie. The timeline of season two is short as it is; truly, as far as we know, the whole thing takes place over just a few days. Naturally, then, it makes sense that Din wouldn’t have been processing events very quickly—especially with everything he has to do for Grogu at the forefront of his mind.

The idea with both these pieces is the long-run. We’re not looking at the story over just one season/movie anymore like we did with season one of The Mandalorian and A New Hope. This is going into something so much bigger and we’re truly only in the rising action of it all. We have to look past just this season and to the overall picture of Din’s story. If we got all the answers this season, there wouldn’t be much to work with in season three, especially in terms of Din’s character development. The foreshadowing with these season two events is setting up so much potential for Din’s character to be focused on as much as ever in season three, which—as a huge Din Djarin fan—is so exciting to me!

SEASON TWO AS A BRIDGE

Season three was confirmed by Giancarlo Esposito (Moff Gideon) before season two even released. Thus, it’s obvious that in the minds of the crew, season two is a stepping stone to the future of the story. If season one was the setup of our smaller story, then season two is the beginning of the larger one. The Mandalorian universe is expanding and thus the time that the story takes must also grow with it.

We can expect that all the big ideas season two set up—Din questioning his Way, starting to remove his helmet in front of others, earning the Darksaber, etc.—will be explored in more depth in the coming seasons. While the main goal of season two was still to return Grogu to his people (which did happen!), it also started to give us hints as to what’s coming for Din’s character and story. After all, this show is called The Mandalorian. It’s about time we learn more about that character and not just his relationship with Grogu, as touching as that part of him is!

BUT WHAT ABOUT...?

THE SILVER BALL?

The silver ball has been a very touching symbol of Din and Grogu’s connection ever since season one. It’s made appearances in Chapter 3: The Sin, Chapter 6: The Prisoner, Chapter 13: The Jedi, and Chapter 14: The Tragedy. In Chapter 3, it was a symbol of how Din’s feelings towards Grogu changed during the episode, where he initially denied him access to the silver ball and then later offered it to him to play with. Yet again in season one we see Din give the ball to Grogu after his run-in with the gang. Then, we don’t see it again until Grogu takes it himself in Chapter 13 and it becomes the very thing that gets Grogu to willingly use the Force, especially with Din’s help.

While this all hints at the silver ball being a key symbol in their relationship, it’s not something that’s been absolutely imperative to their bond. It wasn’t brought up again in either season finale, much to many’s displeasure particularly in season two. I think the reason why Din ends up keeping it is because:

It gives him something to remember Grogu by.

Other than the beskar spear, it’s the only piece of the Crest Din has left.

My prediction is that, should Din buy another ship/a new model of the Crest, he may be able to put the ball in that ship—and then when he reunites with Grogu, his son will be very excited upon spotting it in Din’s new ship. Had Grogu taken it, Luke might’ve taken it away from him, too, because the little womp rat was obviously very distracted by it whenever he had it!

THE MYTHOSAUR NECKLACE?

Yet again, the Mythosaur necklace is a touching symbol of Din and Grogu’s bond. It only makes one appearance in the entire show, though—Chapter 8: Redemption. Not once is it even mentioned before or after. We only see it twice in that episode: first when Din’s dying and he hands it to Cara and second when Din realizes Grogu has it and is chewing on it.

I’m not sure the necklace was meant to have as much weight as we gave it. I believe it might’ve just been a symbol of the fact that Din’s finally accepted Grogu as his foundling, just as Din once was himself. I assume Grogu still has the necklace tucked under his robes and that’s why we don’t see it again in season two. But the fact that it only appeared very briefly in one episode means that it most likely was just a one-and-done idea, which is much different than something like the silver ball.

GROGU NOT WANTING TO LEAVE DIN AND VICE VERSA?

One of the biggest themes of this season was letting go. For Din, it was letting go of his fear over Grogu’s safety and the restrictions of his Way. For Grogu, it was letting go of his fear over using his powers and his deep attachment to Din. While obviously leaving each other was not ideal for either one of them, in the end, it’s what they had to do. Din had to do what was best for Grogu, which was to let him train so he can control his powers. Grogu had to train so Din wouldn’t be risking his life so much to protect him and so he could abandon his fear of leaving his father.

Evidently, by the time they’re saying goodbye, it’s bittersweet—because Din’s proud of Grogu and Grogu’s determined/excited to train, but they’re both obviously going to miss each other. But truly, this is where the season’s been leading us. We had hopes they might stay together, but ultimately, Grogu needs to be trained!

IN CONCLUSION

This season left a lot of unanswered questions—because it wanted to. These weren’t plot holes. These were moments of foreshadowing for later, when Din and Grogu began to have their development on their own rather than together. A big lesson we learned from season one is that every moment of screen time counts. The same goes for season two. We can expect every untied thread from season two to be tied off by the time the series ends—whether that be in season three or season four.

[joganpie]

A bit of Plo Koon

This is for a friend​ who has fallen into The Clone Wars cartoon and entered the hell of stanning a minor PT-era Jedi.  So here’s a little bit of extra Plo Koon content for you.

(And if anyone wants to jump in with canon or fanfic recs for Plo Koon, I thoroughly invite it.)

First of all, I’m sorry to tell you this but a lot of Plo Koon’s most prominent modern content is from The Clone Wars cartoon, in part because Dave Filoni was a huge fan of the character.  

And by a “huge fan” I mean that he actually cosplayed Plo Koon to the premiere of ROTS. (Sidenote: That’s Giancarlo Volpe on the right as Kit Fisto who was also a director on TCW, as well as ATLA and GLTAS.)

Dave also apparently campaigned various “Plo Lives” stories to George Lucas:

TFN: Do you have a plan for why Ahsoka doesn’t appear in Revenge of the Sith?

Henry: Hmmm. Are you asking about the ‘theatrical’ version of Revenge of the Sith or the ‘Special Complete Perfect “Plo Doesn’t Die” Edition’ Revenge of the Sith? Psssst... You guys have no idea how powerful Filoni is getting at the Ranch.

Dave: There is some truth to what Henry is saying. I once pitched George the idea that Plo had a parachute and that he bailed out of his fighter before it crashed. Then George said he would only continue the scene and make Plo’s death more painful, I think his parachute was going to catch fire and he falls on something sharp. I even pitched Plo being added at the end of Return of the Jedi as a Blue Ghost but that didn’t go over either. As for Ahsoka’s future... I have ideas, even outlines that answer your question very specifically.

But yeah, multiple people have joked that he’d try to sneak Plo into an episode any time he could.

Actually, returning to the concept of Plo Koon and Kit Fisto working together, that’s actually an established thing that has happened a couple times, and it does show up in TCW as well. (And yes, they are shipped.)

There’s also a tie-in for the 2003 Genndy Tartakovsky series, Clone Wars Adventures, which has a teamup with these two in issue #6 that is about Kit and Plo dealing with a prison riot.  The characterization of Plo is a bit more violent and angry than in TCW, with Kit having to talk him into giving one of the prisoners a second chance, but he is pretty badass.  (Also, I like the Saesee Tiin story in that volume in particular, to rep another minor Jedi character.)

If you want good, extended TCW Plo and Kit content though, what you really want is the Clone Wars: In Service of the Republic comic, and I can easily say that it’s my #1 recommendation to you as a fan of TCW and Plo Koon since it is a tie-in story to the cartoon.

No, seriously, if you want more TCW!Plo Koon content, you want to read this comic.  There’s a running gag about Kit and the clones trying to guess Plo’s age.  I feel like I don’t need to say anything else about the story.

However, Kit Fisto is not his only Jedi Bromance.

In Jedi Council: Acts of War we get his friendship with a Jedi named Micah Giiett.

This one may be an odd one for you coming from TCW though because it was released in 2000, which was after TPM but before AOTC/ROTS, and some of what is presented in this comic (as well as some of the other comics from the period which I share) doesn’t quite mesh up with what we see in the rest of the prequels regarding the worldbuilding.  I wouldn’t put it as a must-read for the story either, but there are some sweet moments between Plo and Micah and it’s an interesting read to see how they extrapolated the universe out from only what we see in TPM.

Which also leads me to another point, which is that after Micah died, Plo Koon stepped in and helped finish training his padawan-- Bultar Swan.  Who is a huge badass herself and I am Forever Haunted by the fact there seems to be no actual content of the two interacting because this fact seems to have been the product of retcons but PLEASE, I NEED IT.  (There is exactly one fanfic in the universe about these two grieving Micah and it’s less than 500 words but I owe this author my life just for it existing.)

She’s also listed as his padawan in the most reliable of canon sources: Gurihiru’s illustrations for the Star Wars English-Japanese Dictionary

Now here’s where I admit that my reading of the Republic comics is a bit fuzzy because of having limited access to them and reading the series in bits and parts over the years.

With that said, on the subject of masters and padawans, I don’t think current canon/TCW has established any clear lineage for him but in legends continuity Plo was trained by a wookiee named Tyvokka.  Some of that relationship is in the focus of the “Stark Hyperspace War” story in Star Wars (1997) #36-39. (Also, baby Obi-wan and Quinlan is nice too.)

Plo also has a bit of a role in the “Emissaries to Malastare” story in  Star Wars (1997) #13-16, in which they give him Special Font to make him really cool and mysterious.  (Also, a fun Depa & Mace teamup in that story and A’Sharad Hett, the Tusken Jedi.)

In more modern comics, there’s some nice little appearances in the Clone Wars- Battle Tales, especially issue #2 which has him rescue the Wolfpack.

Beyond this, he absolutely shows up in the background of a lot of things because he’s a cool and recognizable alien, as well as part of the Jedi Council, but he doesn’t really have much of a role beyond exposition.

This is focused on the comics, but that’s the part of the EU (outside of TCW) where he’s gotten the most chance to shine.  He hasn’t played any substantial role in any of the PT-era books I’ve read, let alone video games or other media. (Playing as him in Lego Star Wars doesn’t count, although I do appreciate it.)

He does show up in a couple of James Luceno’s books in particular, but not in a particular substantial role. I saw Cloak of Deception mentioned when I was poking around to see if I was wrong about this, but that really does seem to be about it when it comes to his book appearances.

(They also visit his homeworld, Dorin, in the first Fate of the Jedi book: Outcast, and while that’s Post-ROTJ EU and while I can’t recommend the series as a whole, the first book does have some sort of interesting stuff about his species/planet.)

I’m also sadly short on fanfic recs since I don’t regularly read a lot of Star Wars fanfic except for when I’m needing a very specific niche filled and I haven’t really gone looking for a lot of Plo fic.  (Outside of the time I scoured the internet for Bultar & Plo content.)

I’ll end by making sure that you know about the existence of the “Plo’s Bro’s” gunship.

As well as the fact he adds the Wolfpack symbol to his gauntlets later in the war.

BUT ANYWAYS.  WELCOME TO MINOR JEDI FANDOM HELL. 

[wizardysseus]

i was thinking about once upon a time (abc) in bed this morning so i decided to write this list

subject to change, since awhile ago i was in the middle of season 6 when they took it off netflix and i never quite got around to picking it back up. i’m gonna finish if it kills me i promise

top 5 things about once upon a time

5. anna frozen

when ouat introduced frozen characters, most fans decided the show had jumped the shark. they were not wrong. however, it was this very thing that allowed the show to be fun again! after an excruciatingly bad season 3 (we will get to that), bringing on anna and elsa literally transported directly from their own unaltered story in cheap ass versions of their unaltered movie costumes allowed the show to let loose and do... basically whatever it wanted. this became the hallmark of the show for those who stuck with it: absolutely not making sense at all, but being fun about it. post-season-three ouat becomes a totally different soap opera from season one, but by god you are never bored.*

personally, the flashback episode where anna annoys rumpelstiltskin and gets the better of him and he’s so fucking mad about it is like top 10 episodes**

4. 2x16 “the miller’s daughter”

this episode is just another personal favorite. it exemplifies what this show was really good at when it was good, and also where everything went wrong. i think cora is a great example of a good ouat villain, i think the twist on the rumpelstiltskin story is great, i think the dramatic beats really work.

...and in typical ouat fashion, cora immediately dies and two more villains we don’t care about at all are introduced. (sonequa forgive me you know i’m in love with you but tamara was nothing. it’s not your fault.) yes we get that great scene of snow aggressively doing archery practice while listening to “bad reputation” but was it worth killing off a compelling villain just as you’d dug into her story?

3. the commitment to regina’s redemption

and lana parrilla in general. i mean i’m gay and she’s hot but the worse the show got, the more acting lana gave it. and this is just speculation, but i think lana is more comfortable with drama than with camp? because regina becomes a much more interesting character as someone conflicted and on the path to redemption than as a villain. and by god, they were gonna redeem regina.

if only she had been gay we really could have had it all.

2. rumpelstiltskin

the sweet spot with rumpelstiltskin for me was seasons one and two when he was unabashedly bastard, there was an attempt to make him sympathetic but nobody except belle actually liked him, you weren’t quite sure how much he knew, he was pulling all the strings, and he was just really fucking weird. it will surprise no one who follows this blog to hear that that is my type of wizard.

1. season one

it’s a good season. it’s a good season. there are some bad things about it, but it was extremely watchable. it was doing fairy tales with occasional disney nods in a (mostly) cohesive fashion. the lore and the magic hadn’t sprawled out of control yet. it had the strongest relationship, imo, between emma and henry, and emma and snow. as for iconic episodes, most of the greats are here, plus sebastian stan as the mad hatter and giancarlo esposito as a series regular. the crowning moment for me is the scene at the end of skin deep, when regina confronts gold in the town jail and he reveals that he remembers his real name (after beating the shit out of belle’s dad with his cane obviously). god. that is some good television.

worst 5 things about once upon a time

5. the adoption politics but everyone knows this one.

4. WASTING the talent

you had the love of my life sonequa martin-green and gave her nothing. you somehow scored oded fehr as jafar and gave him nothing. you had giancarlo esposito and regina literally forgot he existed. i will kill you

3. rumpelstiltskin.

it’s no secret that robert carlyle was acting circles around most of the cast; my opinion is that the showrunners felt that if they committed to either his redemption or his villainy, they would never find someone else with the talent to fill his shoes as bastard wizard. so they flip-flopped on him every half-season, which ruins his story longterm, slowly kills the light in robert’s eyes, and gets reallllllly old. it’s also no secret that my favorite rumpelstiltskin is bastard wizard, but they screwed over belle BIG time in the process and for that i will never forgive them.

also like. the rumpelstiltskin fairy tale is antisemitic to begin with and they did not minimize that by comparing him to a lizard and naming his storybrooke counterpart mr gold. they just. did that.

2. THE FUCKING NEVERLAND ARC GOD IN CHRIIIIIIIIIIIST THAT HALF-SEASON IS EXCRUCIATING

1. captain hook

*it’s my opinion that if you are bored, you’re watching a hook-centric episode. every time i dropped the show and forgot about it for months at a time, it was because i had been in the middle of an episode about hook and just could not get through it. how do i describe all the things i don’t like about what killian hook jones did to the show? with subpoints!

1a. the episode where gold gives him back his hand and he never changes.

**this is actually the same episode i mentioned about anna and, like i said, it’s one of my favorites and not at all boring. look, i’m not pretending this list isn’t subjective as hell.

remember when hook blackmailed mr gold into magically reattaching his hand, which gold has been keeping in a jar, because hook has a date with emma and wants it to go well? but also, gold tells him that if he reattaches his hand with dark magic, it will turn him evil? and then hook spends the episode doing evil things, only for mr gold to tell him “i was just messing with you! the hand was not evil, you gave yourself permission to be evil ;)”

yeah, that’s basically hook’s mo.

1b. episode where emma tells him his brother is lying to him and he learns the exact wrong lesson from this and never changes.

so emma goes to the underworld to get hook back after he dies (while being evil and doing villainous things). they find his brother down there, too, and emma senses that he has a dark secret (because he does) and is lying to them (because he is). but hook always idolized his older brother, so he won't believe her. when emma confronts the brother directly, hook interrupts to rant to her about how he knows what this is ~really all about.

actual dialogue:

HOOK: i don't need proof to know what's really going on here. emma, when are you gonna admit that this isn't really about my brother? EMMA: what else would you think it was about? HOOK: us. you think if you can prove that liam is a villain, then i’ll somehow feel like i was less of one.

who... would EVER come to that conclusion. and why is the lesson he learns at the end “perhaps i do deserve saving after all” (another direct quote), and not “NOT EVERYTHING IS ABOUT YOU, BECAUSE EMMA WAS LITERALLY RIGHT ABOUT YOUR BROTHER LYING TO EVERYONE”????

1c. the emma dark one arc, where hook never changes.

this would be the arc that leads up to the above underworld arc, and it is deeply dumb, entertaining, and hard to explain. suffice it to say, during this whole arc, killian (along with emma) has all the powers and ~~~Darkness~~~ of the dark one (formerly rumpelstiltskin). unlike emma, he is not aware of this for most of the season. the moment he finally finds out, he turns on emma and goes through with all the revenge plans he’s apparently been holding onto since season two.

it’s supposed to be sympathetic, because emma made this choice for him to be a dark one, which is clearly awful, when he didn’t want it. so i get that. but on the other hand, it is..... boring. because (a) it's nothing we haven't seen him try to do and fail at before, his motivations really aren't that complex. and more importantly, (b) he was the dark one the whole time! the only thing that changed, that made him act evil, was finding out about it. at that point, it's not the ~~~Darkness~~~ making you do evil things. it’s just you. because you’re a dick.

how is this arc resolved? well, he dies. after the underworld arc (which i very much enjoyed tbf), a sizable part of robin hood’s death episode is devoted to people telling emma to slow down and grieve for killian, since at least two arcs have revolved around her inability to let hook go when he is literally dying or dead. (it’s been said a million times but being his girlfriend really sucked the personality out of emma and i miss her.) and in the end he just... comes back anyway. no explanation given; he says it must be a reward from zeus for killing hades... while he and emma make out literally in front of the coffin of robin hood... who actually died fighting hades. killian died half a season before. while he was evil. and emma reverts to tearful girlfriend.

it’s insulting. it’s grating. and it is a Killian Hook Jones Guarantee that his episodes will involve some measure of this.

like, is it more or less the same shtick that the writers kept giving rumpelstiltskin, too? backsliding and screwing over his love interest who gets less and less say in the matter? yes. definitely. the crucial difference is that i, personally, love rumpelstiltskin, while i find hook boring and not self-aware. but clearly i have had a lot of fun complaining about him! again, this is not an objective list.

conclusions

this show ran for 7 years. it got cancelled not because it deserved to, but because no one liked the soft reboot. it was on until 2018.

[twilightofthe]

Chapter Eleven liveblog of The Mandalorian Season 2!  Let’s go!!!

Yeet water episode

Ok random planet, I’m assuming this is planet whatsit where Din’s supposed to be Space Ubering Frog Lady and her (remaining lol) eggs to

Oh yeah shit Shelob really busted up the Razor Crest last time

Awww everyone sleeby and lol Mama’s keepin’ a good watch over her eggs this time

OH MY GOD YODITO I WOULD DIE FOR YOU

“Dank Ferrik” as a swear word again, huh, I’ll note that

Surprise surprise once again they gotta crash land because this is Star Wars and ships never work right

Lol this Mon Calamari dude is just like “......well then”

Bro ur gonna break those eggs

WHY ISN’T THE BABY BUCKLED INTO HIS SEAT EXCUSE ME

Pffffff another happy landing

AHAHA I’M THE MON CALAMARI

Ohoooo, The Heiress, eh?

Din Frog Lady is NOT gonna give you those five stars on Yelp for this ride

ALSKDJFLKSDK WE CAN’T GET THROUGH ONE EP WITHOUT SOMEONE REMINDING HIS SHIP IS A PIECE OF SHIT 90′S HONDA CIVIC

Awwwww yay Frog Lady’s found her husband!!!!

I’m gonna cry why the hell are they so cute

Also my hat goes off to the effects/costuming department those costumes are amazing

DIN YOU MUST FEED YOUR CHILD MORE REGULARLY

Oh I guess Frog Man is gonna give Din the Yelp review instead xD

Damn so he actually does know where some other Mandos are

Ah and there’s Whatsherface the other pro fighter turned actress on this show, why the fuck can’t I remember her name

Oop Din saw her

I always forget what the squid faced aliens are 

“My friend” BRO THAT’S YOUR SON

Aw yay goop for the babby!!!!

I’m guessing Calamari’s contact is gonna be Fighter Lady lol

OH NO BABY’S SOUP IS TRYNA EAT HIM

BAHAHAHA AND DIN GIVES EXACTLY ZERO FUCKS

Hmm yeah so I recognize Squid Face’s voice

I think this is the first big boat on water scene we’ve actually had in Star Wars, the brief bit in TROS excluded

Ohhhhh they’re called Quarren

Aw Quarren’s tryna be friendly to Yodito (or he could actually be sketchy let’s be cautious)

BITCH ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS HE JUST FED THE BABY TO A FUCKING SEA MONSTER

AND NOW THEY’RE AFTER DIN BECAUSE OF THE FUCKING ARMOR JESUS FUCKING CHRIST

WHERE IS THE BABY I DO NOT SEE THE BABY Y’ALL WHERE IS MY FUCKING SON I DO NOT SEE THE BABY

HOLY SHIIIIIIIIT

HOLY SHIT NO WAY

NO WAY

SHIT

THAT’S BO KATAN

FUCKING BO KATAN

THAT’S HER

OH MY GOD

OKAY CHILL CHILL CHILL CHILL

NEVERMIND AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH

OK BUT THAT HAS TO BE HER THAT’S HER ARMOR AND VOICE????????

THAT IS TEN THOUSAND PERCENT HER MASK

AND WHO ARE HER FRIENDS

HOLY SHIT HOLY SHIT HOLY SHIT

YES Y’ALL GET THE FUCKING BABY BACK

DIN’S VOICE IS CRACKING POOR PAPA I LOVE HIM SO MUCH 

“BROTHER” OK BO WHAT THE FUCK YOU HAVE EXPLAINING TO DO

Y’ALL I’M STILL REALLY FUCKING EXCITED SHE WAS LIKE THE ONE RETURNING CHARACTER I ACTUALLY WANTED

OK HOW IS MY SON HOW IS MY SON MY POOR BABY

OH MY GOD HE’S OKAY

THANK GOD 

THANK GOD

Bo how the fuck have you not aged

Oh whooooops yep I forgot Din’s an Orthodox Mando

“Child of the Watch” ohhhh????

RELGIOUS ZEALOTS OHHHH??????

I just fucking realized they STILL fucking gave Bo her boob armor I hate this with the passion of a thousand suns HELLO WHY?

Aaaaand Din doesn’t wanna listen ok

Oh boy this guy’s gonna be trouble

Oh no there’s a lot of them

THAT IS HIS SON Y’ALL SERIOUSLY

Ohhhh so we’re finally taking credit for when someone’s death is our fault, are we now Bo? (:

Gah sorry Katee but your wig ain’t that good

HOW DID THE OLD REBELLION FAIL

BITCH HOW DID YOU LOSE THE DARKSABER

“A new Mand’alor on the throne” uh sorry but I hope you don’t mean you Bo cuz uhhhhh

WAIT A FUCKING SECOND HOW DID DIN KNOW THE JEDI’S NAME I’M--???

OHHHHH “WHAT DO YOU KNOW OF THE JEDI?”

Lol so are we gonna get an Obi Wan explanation, an Ahsoka explanation, an Ezra explanation, or is Bo gonna mention Luke?

Aaaaand she’s gonna lead him to Ahsoka fucking great

(lol I’m sorry y’all I’ve already talked about how I don’t want Ahsoka showing up in the show haha)

Oh so we’re really getting like really no explanation as to how the fuck Bo lost Mandalore again

Ok heist time?

They better explain some of why Bo’s doing what she’s doing now and yes I know it’s been like ten minutes but I’m still impatient

DIN NOOOOOOO YOUR SON WILL EAT THEIR CHILDREN 

But I’m still crying Din is so okay with babysitters now I’m--

Wait wait wait why are these guys still well dressed and supplied Imperials?  Lol I’m so lost

Ok damn fine Bo’s cool I’ll admit that she’s always been cool

Walk walk murder baby

And the Imps are tryna blast off again ok

Return of the music bombs!!!!!

Bro they’re gonna kill u

AKLSDJFLKSK THEY FUCKING SPACED THEM I LOVE IT

Ok I really wanna know why Bo’s a pirate

bitch shut up about ruling Mandalore I love you and all but you are SO FUCKING BAD AT IT

YOU’VE LOST THE WHOLE DAMN PLANET TWICE

YOU ARE NOT GETTING THE DARKSABER BACK

WHY IS AHSOKA HELPING YOU AGAIN HOLY SHIT

Ooop there’s Gideon, hello Giancarlo!!!!!!  I really love his villain theme

Oh damn they’re gonna just suicide-- yep they sure are

Aaaaand Din’s being a damn hero because of course he is

Boi you have a CHILD TO LOOK AFTER

Whoop a dead pill

At least Ahsoka’s calling herself a Jedi now

Dammit I REALLY didn’t want Ahsoka to show up

Dammit dammit dammit

Gah nvm

OMG BABY IS BONDING WITH THE FROG FAMILY AND THEIR TADPOLES NOW

MY HEARRRRRRRT

DIN’S BEING A DAD PICKING HIM UP FROM HIS PLAYDATE I CAAAAAAAN’T ;_;

Din with all due respect your ship is kind of a piece of shit don’t question what the guy was able to fix

Baby Yoda I would die for you

Oh whoop there’s the octopus again

Don’t you try to eat the baby you bitch

BITCH BITCH BITCH BITCH

HELL YEAH PROTECTIVE PAPA

NO YOU DON’T KNOW WHERE YOU’RE TAKING HIM DIN THAT’S YOUR SON, AHSOKA AIN’T GONNA KEEP HIM LMAO

Oooooh another Bryce Dallas Howard ep, I like her episodes!

Welp Bo Katan is here now and soon Ahsoka will be too

I’ve already said my piece on what I think of R*sario D*wson and I’ll leave it at that

I think Katee Sackhoff did a lovely job with Bo Katan live action too, tho I’ll say again that her wig kinda sucked lol

Welp they explained absolutely nothing as to why or how Bo Katan lost the Darksaber and Mandalore for a SECOND time, I still think it’s kinda funny she thinks she gets to go for round three 

Anyway, can’t wait for next ep, still holding out bitter hope that Sabine will show up too

Ah wait wait wait Bo Katan was supposed to be the fucking Heiress, wasn’t she

[that-shamrock-vibe]

Disney+ What To Watch: My Top 10 Favourite Disney Live-Action Remakes

#1. The Jungle Book

Not only does this 2016 live-action remake elevate the original material, not only was the first time seeing this movie in theatres possibly my favourite cinematic experience, and not only is this an all-star voice cast but Disney and Jon Favreau absolutely sell to me the experience of an almost completely CGI-rendered movie with one central “real” person and everything else brought to life via sound stage.

The 1967 animated version, as noted, is one of my favourite Disney Animated Classics. However, this live-action version is not only a more grounded version of the story but a more mature version also.

The plot of the original movie is still there with Shere Khan hunting Mowgli so Bagheera tries to take him to safety via the Man Village but the man cub wants to stay in the jungle which is where he meets Baloo but along the way also encounters various dangers.

However, the tone of the movie is decisively darker not only with Mowgli’s encounters with both Kaa and King Louie, the latter of whom seems to be somewhat of a Don in this reality, but also the relationship between man and the jungle animals is more explored with darker reasoning here.

Not only do we see how at least Mowgli’s father dies in this movie, by the claws of Shere Khan, but there is also the underline reasoning as to why Shere Khan fears man and man’s fire. As when Mowgli decides to steal fire from the man village to combat Shere Khan and inadvertantly setting the jungle ablaze on his journey, he discovers that even though these animals were civil to him beforehand, wielding fire and embracing the negative connotations associated with man makes even his wolf pack fear him.

Ben Kingsley as Bagheera and Bill Murray as Baloo are both surprising but brilliant casting choices. Not only do they embrace the characteristics of the original characters but they add their own nuances to the performances.

Idris Elba, once again, does not get enough credit for the work he puts in as the villainous Shere Khan here. Not only does he bring out the fear I had for the character as a child but there is something about Elba’s voice coming out of a realistic tiger that just seems natural.

Scarlett Johansson and Christopher Walken do the best with the minor roles they have, and to be fair Kaa and King Louie were secondary antagonists in the original movie, Kaa had more screen time granted but for this story it makes sense to just have her show up once. Also making Louie more formidable as a villain rather than being as laissez-faire as he was in the original definitely made up for it.

Lupita Nyang’o and Giancarlo Esposito unfortunately fall into the minor character category here, despite Lupita helping to promote this movie as she was on an upward career trajectory at the time. But to be fair, being in that minor character category isn’t something to be ashamed of here as there are a surprisingly high calibre of voice cameos here including director Jon Favreau, Sam Raimi, Ralph Ineson, Hannah Tointon and voice acting veteran Dee Bradley Baker.

But the biggest surprise here is the child actors before voice overs and the one main cast member in front of the camera Neel Sethi. I have to say, it’s been almost four years since the movie was released and I am shocked that this kid has not got more work. I am well aware there is a lockdown and enforced cease order on movie making, but that doesn’t mean movies can’t be cast. I mean I understood why he wasn’t the voice of Young Simba but that doesn’t mean he can’t be in other things.

I’m also a big fan of the ending to this movie. Not only is the battle between Mowgli and Shere Khan more intense, extravagant and cinematic but also the fact Mowgli does not end up at the Man Village and instead stays in the Jungle with his adoptive family and friends I feel is a better ending to the movie.

It’s not the type of movie that needs songs, but the three songs they reworked from the original movie were very cleverly used here. “The Bare Necessities” is a great little sing-song as Baloo and Mowgli are floating down the river, the little excerpt from “I Wan’na Be Like You” is not only much better than Chiwetel Ejiofer’s take on “Be Prepared” from The Lion King but the arrangement works so well for Christopher Walken’s natural style that the only thing that would make it better is if King Louie could some how get up and dance.

“Trust in Me” meanwhile plays as a great end-credits song, Scarlett Johansson does a very good job at combining the hypnotic elements of the song with the sultry new elements the character seems to bring in.

The CGI on everything in this movie looks incredible. The wolves, who are my personal favourites, look amazing and the cubs look cute. As I said before, Shere Khan, Kaa and even King Louie look intimidating. I don’t know how an oversized orangutan looks intimidating but it is managed rather well here. It all simply works so well.

Overall, there isn’t a lot I can fault with the movie, do I think it needs a sequel as the original had? No, do I think it deserves one? If the follow-up story is as good this one. Unlike the animated version I don’t want a dip in quality here.

So what do you guys think? Post your comments and check out more Disney+ What to Watch Top 10s as well as more Top 10 Lists and other posts.

[writing-for-the-weekend]

Christian Yelich Imagine - part3

He pulls you back down towards the couch, and before you realize it you are wrapped up in Christian’s lap. His hands are on your hips, and you are straddling his legs with your hands on his shoulders. He looks up at you and smiles.

“You know, you’re really pretty,” he says sheepishly. 

You laugh and drop your head down to his shoulder. His hands travel up to your lower back, and he starts to rub his hands back and forth. He pulls you closer to his body and you wrap your arms around his neck. You lean your torso away from him slightly so that you can look back at his face. 

“Today has been great,” you say smiling.

“Oh, I’m not done with you yet.”

His hands lower back down to your hips, and you can tell that he hesitates, but his hands land on your ass. You sink further down in his lap so that your faces are closer together. Christian reaches his right hand up and cups your face. You look into each other’s eyes for a few seconds, and before you realize it, your lips are crashing together. You part your lips slightly and feel the warmth of Christian’s tongue invading your mouth. You tangle your fingers in his hair and lose yourself in his soft curls. Christian breaks away from kissing you and tosses you onto your back. He pushes your legs apart and crawls on top of you as he bites his lip. You reach out and grab the neckline of his shirt and start to pull him towards you. Christian grins and places his hand on the side of your head when you hear the garage door open. You throw your head back and let out a loud groan. Christian drops his head to his chest and shakes his head back and forth.

“I’m pretty sure they have the worst timing.”

Christian leans back on his knees and looks down. You follow his gaze, and it is pretty clear that he was enjoying himself quite a bit. Christian adjusts his pants and sighs deeply. He stands up from the couch and starts to walk to the bathroom, but he stops briefly before he goes. He leans over and gives you a quick peck on the cheek. 

“You’re not off the hook just yet,” he says with a wink.

You groan again and rub your hands over your face. The garage door that leads into the house opens, and you can hear Aaron and Giancarlo talking. Aaron comes around the corner first and he sees you by yourself. He stops abruptly and looks around the room for Christian.

“Did he leave?” he says.

“He’s in the bathroom,” you mumble.

A huge grin spreads across his face. “Your face looks pretty flushed. What were you two up to?” he says barely able to control his laughter. 

Giancarlo enters the room and glances between you and Aaron. He has a huge smirk on his face as well and he claps Aaron on the back. 

“Looks like we were right about them getting along,” he says laughing.

“Honestly, you guys are the absolute worst,” you groan. 

Christian comes out of the bathroom and Giancarlo and Aaron start to slow clap. Christian’s face is bright red, but you can tell he is trying to hide a grin. He comes over to the couch and lightly pushes on your legs making room for himself next to you. 

“How was your workout?” he says trying to change the subject. 

“Not bad,” Giancarlo grunts as he stretches his arms above his head. “What about you guys? How was your workout?”

You cover your face with your hands and try not to laugh. Before you know it, Christian breaks and all of you start laughing together. Christian leans against your legs, and you feel that warm sensation in your belly again. 

“We just wanted to stop by to see if Christian was ready to head out,” Aaron says. 

Christian straightens up next to you and glances over your way. “Uh yeah, why don’t you guys head out to the car and I’ll meet you outside.”

Aaron nods his head, and you can see G elbow him in the side. You get up off of the couch and approach Aaron. You wrap your arms around his waist, and he gives you a kiss on the top of your head. You move to Giancarlo and give him a quick hug goodbye. The guys walk out back through the garage, and you turn to face Christian. He is standing right in front of you, and he mumbles a quiet, “Hey.”

He gives you a questioning look, and then he pulls his phone out of his pocket. “I just realized that I have no way to get in contact with you on my own. Can I have your number?” You smile and rattle off your number to him. The confident Christian from earlier is gone, and he is back to being shy and red-faced. You close the gap between the two of you and give him a long hug. He rests his chin on your head and you stand there for a solid minute. When you pull apart Christian says, “I’m bummed we have to end this short, but I’m looking forward to seeing you again.” He leans in and gives you a quick kiss on the lips. 

A few weeks go by with heavy contact with Christian. While he is away, the two of you text incessantly. After good games, you send him texts of encouragement, and after bad games, you console him. During the in-between, you talk about everything under the sun, and sometimes late at night, your texts turn a little graphic - especially with his recent ESPN photoshoot surfacing. Essentially, you are dying to meet up with him again. Your connection feels genuine and intense, and you are really enjoying getting to know Christian. September has decided to show itself, and you are enjoying the crisp, cool weather, and you long to have Christian with you on those beautiful nights. But Christian is busy playing his heart out. The Brewers haven’t secured a spot in the playoffs, and they are fighting hard to try and make it.

September 10th starts out like any other day. You text Christian on and off throughout the day leading up to the game. You have a work meeting that is going to take up the majority of your evening, so you send him your well wishes for the game and get to work. The meeting runs pretty late, and your supervisor wants to take the staff out for dinner. You would much rather order takeout and sit home watching the game, but you know when you need to suck it up and be professional. The dinner goes surprisingly well, and you appreciate the time to make some connections with your co-workers. 

You are walking to your car when you finally have the time to check your phone. You don’t expect to see anything from Christian, but you do intend to check the score and see how his night is shaping up. The screen lights up and you see a text, missed call, and voicemail from Christian. The messages came in while the game should have been in progress, and your heart rate speeds up a bit. You convince yourself that there is a rain delay as you open the text. The text reads, “Hey, can you call me when you have a minute?” You unlock your car door and sit down heavily. You pull up the voicemail and hear Christian’s voice wavering a bit, “Hey (Y/N), please call me when you can. It’s kind of important. I, uh, I just need to talk to you.” Your heart rate is through the roof at this point, but you press the call button and wait to hear Christian pick up. 

“Hello?”

“Hey, is everything okay?” you reply. 

“Um, not really. Have you seen anything from the game?”

“No, I just got to my car and I saw your text and heard your voicemail. Christian, what happened?”

“I’m in the hospital. I fouled a ball off my knee, and I can’t really walk or move it. They ran some tests, and I’m done. I’m out for the season.”

Your heart sinks and your press your hand to your face. 

“Fuck, Christian I am so sorry. Is there anything I can do?”

“So that’s part of why I wanted to talk to you. I, uh, I know this is asking a lot, but I was wondering if you would want to come stay with me? The doctor is telling me that I’m going to have a hard time recovering while living on my own, and he asked if there was anyone that would be willing to help me, and you were the first person I thought of.”

“Oh, wow, um,” you stutter.

“I know you have your commitments, and I don’t want to mess anything up for you, but I just wanted to ask,” he says, and you notice a hint of defeat in his voice. 

“I really want to be there for you, especially now. I don’t see it being an issue, but I just have to check with work before I agree. I’ve worked from home in the past, and I can just skype into meetings. I think I can make this work,” you say becoming more enthusiastic as you continue to speak. 

“Are you serious?” Christian exclaims. “We’ve been talking so much, and I am dying to see you again. I’m so fucking bummed about my season-ending like this, but knowing that you are even willing to stay with me for a little bit is helping my mood out quite a bit,” he says with a chuckle. 

“Let me go, and I will see if my supervisor is around to talk.”

“I’ll pay for everything. Like, not in a weird way, but I will pay for your plane ticket of course, and all the expenses while you’re out here.” 

“No way, I don’t wanna impose on you like that,” you say pacing your apartment. 

“Are you serious? I’m asking you to come stay with me. It’s the least I can do.”

“Okay, we’ll talk about this later,” you say smiling. “I’m going to go figure some stuff out, and I’ll let you know.”

You end the conversation and you fall back onto the couch. You have so many emotions going on at once, and it is going to take some time to process them all. First, Christian being injured is a huge blow. You know how much baseball means to him, and you would never want something like this to happen to him. He works so hard all year long to make sure that he is in the best shape possible, and for something as silly as a foul ball to knock him out, you can’t help but be frustrated. Then, of course, you feel elated. To think that Christian wants you of all people with him as he rehabs is completely insane. In all reality, you barely know each other, but you are so excited to spend time getting to know him and help take care of him. 

You text your supervisor to see if she is around to chat, and you give her a call. You decide to describe the situation as a long-time friend needing your help rather than a random guy you have a major crush on who also happens to be a professional baseball player. Just like you expected, she agrees to let you work from home as well as give you some days off to travel and get situated. You make a mental note to never complain about your job again.

You send a quick text to Christian, “It’s a go! Let me know when you want me to fly in ;)”

Within seconds your phone is vibrating. Before you can even open your mouth to say anything, Christian starts talking into the phone. 

“You’re sure, right? Like 100% sure? I don’t want you to feel pressured AT ALL,” he says. 

“I am 100% sure. I promise. I am ready to be your nurse and wait on you hand and foot.” 

“God, I can’t wait to see your face,” he says dreamily. 

“I’m going to give you the biggest hug ever,” you say grinning to yourself.

Christian lets out a sigh. “So, I need your Venmo, also if it’s not too soon, there is a flight tomorrow morning. You can obviously pick whatever day you want to fly in; I’m just excited to see you.”

“Tomorrow sounds great, but I just have to figure out how I am going to pack everything. This is kind of overwhelming.”

“Just make sure you have your work stuff and chargers for all your electronics. We’ll go shopping once you get here. Well, I’ll transfer you money, and you can go shopping because I can’t get around all that well. It will just make sense to have a set of clothes and toiletries here. Before you can even protest because I can hear you trying to interject, please just let me do this. It’s the least I can do.”

You exhale loudly. “Okay fine, but I’m going to make you help me pick out clothes.”

“There are definitely some things I would really like to pick out for you,” he chuckles. 

You can feel your cheeks heat up, and you smile down at your feet. “I’m going to go tackle this packing situation, and buy my plane ticket for tomorrow.”

You toss the phone onto your bed, and you pull your suitcase down from the top of your closet.

[sepulcrorum]

JUDE LAW, FIFTY, ARCHBISHOP DE MEDICI. ❝ ⤚⟶ EUROPE, 1458. thanks is given by the DUCHY OF FLORENCE, ARCHBISHOP GIANCARLO DI GIAN GASTONE DE’ MEDICI, from FLORENCE. they are at best CHARMING, and at their worst IMPIOUS. whilst abroad, their ambition is to REAP EVER MORE GREATER LUXURIES FOR HIMSELF. HE seems to remind everyone of JUDE LAW & DESIRES BOTH HERETICAL AND UNHOLY : THE SONG OF SOLOMON SPILLING FORTH FROM ONE’S LIPS WHILST IN THE THROES OF PASSION ; INTELLECTUALISM SOUGHT FOR HEDONISM’S SAKE : ANTIQUATED TEXTS SMUGGLED FROM THE CRUMBLING REMNANTS OF ANCIENT ROMAN VILLAS AND DISPLAYED TO EXPECTED LOOKS OF AWE ; & HOLINESS FOUND, HOLINESS LOST, HOLINESS REVERED : A CERTAIN SLANT OF LIGHT SHINING THROUGH HIGH-VAULTED ARCHES. ❞

introduction

Provide a blurb introducing your character generally. This should include an overview of strengths, weaknesses, aspirations, and set backs.

It has been once said by the Lord: be ye like children, for ye to enter the Kingdom of God. Capricious, selfish, absorbed only by thoughts of himself, petty, and whimsical, the Archbishop de’ Medici does not assume the dignity of his station as a member of the Church but he does assume all the qualities of a child in him, and that makes him saved by default.

His theology is quaint, bordering on unorthodox, and it’s almost tempting to call him out for heresies but he knows too much about Scripture and can run circles around any fellow servant of Christ, much more the ordinary layman. He’s either mystical or absolutely canonical: at a certain point in theology, everything becomes one and the same. Give him time, and he can justify anything—the cruellest of acts as well as the most compassionate acts of goodwill and charity—with verses pulled from the Holy Book and the most seraphic smile on his face, almost as if his lips are intoning a blessing. He’s a Devil’s advocate in perhaps more ways than one, the destruction of Rome entire as one itinerant preacher once called him, and yet he luxuriates on wealth on top of the social pyramid, secure in his position and backed by the splendorous wealth made available by his family’s support.

Yet despite all this, despite possessing all the qualities of a man who could be—intelligent, charming, sociable, and ambitious—Giancarlo ended up being the man who isn’t, by some strange (perhaps cruel) twist of fate. With his dubious origins erasing any hope for a cardinalate, much less a chance for the Throne of St. Peter, he languishes in his role as a mere archbishop. As the years pass, he has turned bitter, cruel, recalcitrant—for what does a child do when they are given what they want?

They throw a tantrum.

What are some potential plotlines you are interested in pursuing?

I’ve inserted the little nuggets of the plotlines I plan to pursue on the blurb but to expand on it:

First is I am definitely very interested in making him a Cardinal and that is very much a thing he also wants for himself, even as much as he denies it and says he never wanted it anyway. It’s a way for him to rationalise the fact that, strictly speaking, his life didn’t go the way he wanted it to go, and so he subsists on the lie that his life (as it is right now) was what he always wanted—but ultimately, I do think that he’s still on the lookout for any opportunity to finally have the red robes of a cardinal.

Second is the state of Florence and of Italy as a whole. The blemish of the riots on the Florentines’ reputation is something that must be rectified—not even because someone died (after all, very many people die everyday) but because it sends the message that they are unable to control their own people. The Church as an institution that does much works of charity can be used to pacify the rebellious masses and perhaps turn them into the better angels that they haven’t been before. Meanwhile, Italy as a whole concerns him because they are still, ultimately, disparate nation-states with differing goals and ambitions. In a world filled with empires and hegemons, Giancarlo realises that the Italian peoples must unite—far better that it be headed, of course, by the Church or by Florence, but unity itself is non-negotiable. If the Italians do not want to be swallowed up by their neighbours, they must pool together their resources and make a stand for their existence.

Thirdly is the option of interfaith dialogue. Giancarlo is by no means perfect, but I do imagine he’s a touch more tolerant than most holy men are. He’s less a crusader and more of a diplomat, far too disillusioned to really believe in any cause of holy war. Entrenched in cynicism—usually a character flaw—he’s cognisant enough of the fact that humans are going to be shitty one way or another, and religion has almost no bearing on whether one is a good person or not. As such, I do think he has a lot of plotting potential for those characters following a different faith, and it’s fun to see how that might all play out.

three bullet-points.

Giancarlo di Gian Gastone de’ Medici is born a stain of shame. Birthed by a servant-girl and the man from whom his name marks out as his progenitor, he is kept by his father as a spare heir—only to be tossed away when a legitimate one finally comes. In this act, his father has taught him the harsh realities of life: one minute, you can have everything in front of you; the next, it all comes crashing down with nothing to show for it. He is left with no security save that which his father carved out for him: mastery of an abbey at twelve years of age and, from there, the religious life. There was nothing else for him. There is nothing else to him.

Giancarlo takes to the intellectual and monastic life quite quickly. His learning under humanist tutors in the household of his father has enabled him to take quickly to reading dense texts that speak of grand contexts. It helps that he is good with languages, and that he is friendly to everyone he meets. How bright his career would be, some would say, before adding: if only he wasn’t illegitimate. And so that stain of shame that adorned the Medici family history now mars his own future: he was always going to be a mistake, and the world will never let him forget it.

He is, by all accounts, a very disenchanted man who works himself through a façade of mustered charm gathered from who-knows-where with his mind an utter repository of Scripture and theological concepts. He can quote from Papal Bulls enacted centuries ago as easily as if they had been dictated to him just that moment; yet he always says it so drily that you’d think he’s mocking the words he’s citing. He’s in the habit of mentioning what kind of sins one is doing but always concludes it with a small note of how God is a forgiving God. He delights in the company of the wicked and the infamous; truly good people disgust him. He thinks God is present more in ugliness than any kind of beauty exemplified in art and song, and that He is dirt-covered, bloody and bruised, made with mulch and rot and diseased flesh. His God is filthy; it is only natural. We all fashion God into the form that would accept us the most.

character sheet.

FULL NAME :  giancarlo di gian gastone de’ medici TITLES :  

commander of badia fiorentina ( from 1420 - 1428 )

commander and rector of badia fiorentina ( from 1428 onwards )

metropolitan archbishop of florence ( from 1446 onwards  )

master of the sacred apostolic palace ( from 1450 onwards )

BIRTHPLACE :  florence, italian peninsula

AGE : fifty, b. 10 november 1407

LANGUAGES : fluent — italian ( tuscan ), french, ancient greek, latin, arabic, spanish, german, bavarian ; conversational — english, portuguese ; learning — ottoman turkish, farsi / persian

DYNASTY / HOUSE: house de’ medici

MOTHER & FATHER : unnamed servant girl & gian gastone de’ medici

SPOUSE : none

ISSUE : none

SIBLINGS : giovanni, lucrezia, and girolamo ( half-siblings )

OTHER : lorenzo de’ medici ( tbd )

ZODIAC : scorpio sun / sagittarius moon / scorpio rising

RELIGIOUS AFFILIATION : roman catholicism

ORIENTATION : bisexual biromantic ( with a medium to high preference for his own gender )

PERSONALITY TYPE : estj-a / choleric-sanguine / enneagram tbd / slytherin

VICES : everything

VIRTUES : knowledge can be and is a virtue but not with giancarlo, babyyyyy

FACECLAIM : jude law

HEIGHT : 6′1″ or 1.85m

RECOGNISABLE FEATURES : kindly-seeming blue eyes that speaks to unfathomable depths — look too closely, and you just might find yourself falling in them; an ever-present smile that can turn earnest or mocking depending on the conversation; a smug demeanour that you can’t help but feel that he thinks he knows better than you

REPUTATION IN PORTUGAL :  a famed master theologian but also a widely known libertine, giancarlo both attracts and repulses the whole of christendom with his easy smiles, his kindly-looking blue eyes, and the power of the storied lineage that has produced him. for all those who’ve had the chance to coalesce in rome—or perhaps even the italian peninsula—his name will revoke memories of scandalised whispers erupting from people huddled in corners as soon as they see him make entry into a room. portugal as of yet is a new frontier, not for reasons of lack of opportunity but due to lack of interest. after all, why stray from that eternal city whose glory is sung in ancient ballads and whose place in the world is the envy of millions? now that he is here, however, he is more than eager to make his mark.

WANTED CONNECTIONS :

i sought whom my soul loves — were giancarlo any other man, they could have been together, a couple enjoined in the warm embrace of love and unity; yet, alas, the Church has bound giancarlo to herself, and he is a weak and foolish man who cannot find himself able to stand up to anybody. ever since then, their meetings have been few and far between—but no less precious to giancarlo, no less treasured, no less sought for.  :::  (  open to anyone, preferably female but any gender can technically work !  )

a young deer on the mountains of Bether — arcadian idyll had been the theme of their shared years, wild and wandering, when responsibility had been a far off concept that seemed as foreign as greying hair and the yoke of adulthood. they frolicked in sun-kissed green-topped hills and ran as carefree as the wind. now they are old, both with their respective offices, and there is nothing else to them save nostalgia over lost innocence—if they had innocence at all.  :::  ( open to anyone of the same age range as giancarlo !  )

beautiful as the moon, clear as the sun —  a look at them and they’re like fourteen again, dumbstruck and awed, ashamed of his own lowly station and the stain of his origins—yet now they are old, and they have significantly more resources available to them now than they had before. giancarlo has always loved what he has thought is lacking within himself; he has always sought the true, the good, and the beautiful. he deludes himself into thinking he’s found it in god, but he is about to discover he’s wrong.  :::  ( open to anyone !  )  

with my royal people’s chariots — people have the propensity to think that giancarlo’s last name and relative wealth and status makes him the gatekeeper to the pope’s favour. he does not think himself as holding the keys to anything, but he lets other people do—mainly because it affords him the simulation of power the likes of which he only imagined as a child. of course, there is no real backing to the promises he says he’ll fulfil for them, but it is a merry show nonetheless and a piece of theatre that giancarlo’s keen to continue in lisboa.  :::  ( open to anyone who’s looking to curry favour with the pope !  )  

you who dwell in the gardens — there are many blooms in the garden of God’s creation and it is not a stretch to say giancarlo is absolutely besotted with the idea of experiencing all of them. this meet in lisbon might prove to be a more fortuitous moot than the one in florence, and he is always keen to start dialogue with any and all those who would like to exchange knowledge for knowledge’s sake, even those that the rest of christendom would not welcome.  :::  ( open to non-christian characters !  )  

the shadows flee away — giancarlo isn’t known for moderation and temperance; he has always been one driven to excess, and he has never toned down his appetites for the sake of any cause or person. he is a flit of a thing, a butterfly eager to sap the nectar out of any willing flower before moving to the next, willing to spill honey-laced words out of cherubic lips if that is what it took to mark one as his next conquest. in this, he has doubtless transgressed against many, and there are some whose memories run long and whose desire for correction would cover even those who are consecrated to God.  :::  ( open to anyone !  )   

[misiwrites]

Beyblade Week Day 4

i'm sorry i'm out here still posting things so late but here's my fourth and final 4kingdoms-verse oneshot for @beybladeweek2021, mostly this is late because i was out of town last week but these prompts were also the hardest to make a oneshot about, somehow i managed to make a quirky little story about max anyway.

this takes place probably somewhere right before the beginning of the main fic, or close to it anyways. and i feel like this needs the small explanation that 4kingdoms max looks a bit different because the north has no sunlight (don’t ask me how that works. it’s fantasy)

~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~

Fears / Animals / Winter

“Aaugh!”

As patient as Max is, the strange sound of Giancarlo’s sudden scream followed by a soft, barely audible thump of something hitting the floor in the walk-in closet is enough to snap his attention from the game console in his hands. He casts a curious look across his bedroom to witness the striped leg of a plush toy sticking out through the narrow crack of the closet door.

Now he can already tell what has happened. Regardless, he drops the game on the couch and jumps to his feet to see what his knight has gotten himself into in the closet.

“You opened the forbidden door!” Max gloats at Giancarlo, now standing ankle-deep in a sea of plush toys. “I told you the games are in the second from left, not from right.”

“Is this why you call that door ‘forbidden’?” Giancarlo asks, one hand still on the handle of the closet door that the avalanche of toys descended on him from. “I expected something more... I don’t know... scandalous... or personal.”

“This is personal. They’re all mine.” Max crouches over to pick one of the plush toys up, the yellow mascot character of a popular Eastern children’s game franchise. “Oh man, these take me back. I haven’t really seen them since Mama ordered them to be put away. She said I was too old to keep them in my bed. But I refused to have them taken out, so I got this closet for them instead.”

“Aha. I don’t mean to judge your decisions, but I think there’s a few too many for a closet of this size.”

“Well, they fit in just fine before you opened the door like an idiot.”

Max lets his eyes scan the colourful blast on the floor, admiring the chaos of all the scattered shapes of different stuffed creatures, some more nostalgic than others but each and every one so familiar to him; some expensive and store-bought, some hand-made by his father or someone else, he hardly even remembers at this point; it’s been so long since he was gifted these toys, and at least a couple of years since Judy wanted them sealed away.

And then one of them catches his eye over the rest, one that makes his heart skip a beat of bittersweet joy and longing. He tramples and kicks his way past other toys to get to the middle.

It’s a plush dog, one whose tattered, worn-out shape isn’t particularly distinguishable as a dog. It has an elongated body and small stubs for legs, folded ears – well, one ear, as the other has come off and been lost to time – and a small, thin tail that’s also on its way to come off its stitches but is barely hanging on, miserably drooping down from the back of the caramel brown animal that’s so thoroughly covered in dirt and dust that it looks grey. The dog’s black button eyes are intact, at least, and it still has a red little tongue sticking out of its mouth.

Max is momentarily frozen in place staring at the dog. This toy brings back so many memories, some of which threaten to turn his stomach as the long-forgotten anxiety rushes back in one tidal wave, it climbs up the ladder of his spine like an unwelcome visitor from the past; but at the same time, he loves this little dog so very dearly, his childhood favourite.

“Look at these, Your Highness!” Giancarlo suddenly yells, snapping Max out of his thoughts. “Really fitting, aren’t they? Doesn’t it make you think of something?”

Max turns to see his knight holding three plush animals on his arms: a snake, a fox, and a miniature horse. Max does remember all of them, but none were his favourites. They must have been gifts from his earlier childhood, he has no memory of actually getting them or ever feeling particularly attached to them.

“Umm,” he says, “no, not really.”

“Don’t you remember? The fairytale? A guy talks to a fox, a serpent, and a horse...”

“No, can’t say that rings any bells.”

“Really?” An idiotic grin spreads on Giancarlo’s face, the same one he flashes every time he gets to feel smarter than his young king. “It’s a traditional Northern folktale! Each animal represents one fear that the dude has, and he has to face them one by one. Well, I don’t really remember the details, but it was something like that.” He lifts the tiny horse closer to his face, as if to study it more closely – or to face it, to stay true to his own words, Max assumes. “Was the third one really a horse? I think it was. I guess horses can be scary to some people. They’re big animals and all.”

Max rolls his eyes, truly wishing that Giancarlo would shut up for once and clean up the mess he’s caused in the walk-in closet – or just do anything else and leave Max be, to sort out the sudden, fairly uncomfortable onslaught of memories caused by the discovery of his old stuffed dog toy.

Instead, Giancarlo keeps talking, as he always does.

“If there was a story about my fears, it would probably be... hmm... never eating cannoli ever again... and never going on another date...”

“Some incredible fears you have,” Max comments. “Tells a lot about your psyche.”

“And what are you scared of, Your Highness? What would you face if you met this guy? Nei-i-i-igh.” Giancarlo waves the tiny horse at Max, truthfully not the embodiment of terror by any stretch.

“Me? Well, nothing, really.”

“Come on, now, no need to be shy. You can tell the good old Gianni.”

“I mean it – I have my magic, so there’s no reason for me to be scared of anything.” There’s nothing that Max can think of that he wouldn’t be able to shield himself from with his magic powers, especially his ability to turn invisible. If nothing can catch him or do as much as touch him, what reason would he have to be afraid? If anything, he loves the thrill of almost being caught but disappearing out of sight on the last second. Max prides himself in being bold and resourceful, the master of stealth, and the youngest Genbu-ou with the ability to summon the holy beast of Genbu in the known history of his kingdom.

As long as he has his magic and the golden locket of Genbu around his neck, he cannot think of anything that could cause him fear; and as the king, he can have all the materia he could ever want, so he never needs to worry about running out of cannoli pastries or whatever else.

“Okay then, tough guy,” Giancarlo snorts. “And what’s that you got there?”

Max’s gaze returns to the dog on his arms. It stares back at him with its pitiful button eyes, black and lifeless.

“This used to be my favourite,” he replies, finding the words coming out of his mouth with slight hesitation. “Papa made it for me...”

“Oh? Prince Tarou knows how to sew stuffed animals? Well, I guess that makes sense, since he’s such a talented craftsman – but still... It’s hard to imagine a burly man like him making something like... that thing.” Giancarlo forces down an obvious cackle, raising a hand to his mouth to hide his amusement. “I mean...”

Max knows what he means, the puppy with a hot dog-like physique is a pathetic sight, but he cannot help feeling just a little insulted by Giancarlo laughing at it. This puppy brought him so much comfort during a time of turmoil, and it was specifically made by his father for that very purpose. Tarou most likely stitched it together over a single night all those years ago.

“You mean what?” he challenges the royal knight, his tone arrogant.

“Uh... Well, you know... Oh, never mind.”

* * * * * *

When he was younger, Max had no objections over his sheltered life in the Snow Glory Palace, as it never even occurred to his child’s mind that it could be anything but; and the thought only came to him as he entered the rebellious years of puberty and by the questionable ideas that his whimsical knight planted in his head, the thought that it would be exciting to sneak out of the palace every once in a while and wander around the royal capital out of sight.

Max has always been adored by commoners, as the only son of their beloved (by now former) king, the strong yet beautiful and hauntingly intelligent Mizuhara Judy, the only female Genbu-ou of their lifetime; and as much as Max loves the attention and savours the constant awareness of his status of importance that doesn’t escape anybody in his kingdom, he’s equally entertained by the idea of walking among all these people on a lower social ladder without their knowledge, freely entering spaces where his appearance would normally cause a considerable brouhaha. The complete control over whether he’s perceived or not gives him a great amount of satisfaction.

And, most importantly, his ever-so-predominant mother has no idea about it happening right under her nose. As much as Max loves his parents, like any teenager, he has an innate need to break free and seek independence from them, do as he pleases without their scrutiny, without any adult paying attention to him...

at least sometimes.

How many times has he traversed the narrow streets of the ancient royal capital, heard the snow crunch under his shoes without anyone seeing it’s the young king leaving a trail of footprints on the ground covered in white? And when the snow is quietly falling from the sky, the shield of magic around him reflects his surroundings, camouflaging him from other people’s line of sight, he blends perfectly into the arbitrary dance of the snowflakes in the dark.

Then, sometimes, when he finds a suitable corner or shade or hideout for himself, he plans a delicious little display of seemingly appearing out of nowhere into the spotlight. And all the attention is once again drawn to him.

It’s borderline addicting, that calculated spectacle, the thrill of a surprise and act of rebellion that Max is perfectly aware he’s not allowed to do. That his ice queen of a mother would be absolutely furious if she knew.

Now he’s again walking down a cobblestone street, the stone fence of a cemetery on his right-hand side. There’s a layer of powdery snow on the stone, like the icing of a sugar cake.

A cake, oh, a cake sounds excellent to him; and he’s now across a bridge, and the familiar sight of a cosy little coffee shop greets him some feet away. It has a sign outside, a metallic one, shaped like a kettle that’s hanging above the entrance, the shop’s name written on it in cursive.

Max walks over to one of the shop windows and takes a peek inside, bathes in the golden light coming from the other side of the glass. As expected, nobody pays him any attention, none of the people sitting around the lovely little tables inside see him.

He’s ready to be seen, however, and decides to step inside, greeted by the ring of a bell attached to the coffee shop’s door.

“Good evening!” he says cheerfully upon his entrance, flashing a wide grin to everyone in the shop.

People turn to stare at him. Nobody is smiling back at him.

“Er, good evening,” replies the person working behind the counter. Their voice is polite but wary, they stare at Max like everyone else in the shop, with an expression of wide-eyed confusion.

This is not what Max expected. Where are all the delightful gasps, all the “Oh, Your Highness!” and “It’s the young king!” and “This is such an honour!” – all the surprised smiles and the rush to be the first to shake hands with him? He darts some quizzical glances around the shop, eyebrows raised, but his grin remains.

Maybe he’s come here a few too many times. He should have gone somewhere new instead, not the closest place he could think of.

A bristly feeling that he’s very much not used to suddenly spreads all the way to the tips of his fingers and toes: embarrassment. He’s embarrassed that his magic trick failed, the trick he was so confident in, so proud of.

He needs to get out of here.

And the next moment, he’s walking down a different street, this time in the heart of the city of Resting Palace. The lights here are so bright that they illuminate the black sky and give it a hue of light purple instead, almost a dirty tone, it looks dusty and devours the stars and even the Moon.

He’s walking past numerous people, but nobody turns to look at him. Nobody does as much as grant him a smile of acknowledgment, no faces light up with recognition when he passes by.

He stops to stand in the middle of the street. Someone immediately bumps into him from behind.

“Oh, sorry,” the stranger says and hurries away without looking at him. He doesn’t even have the time to say it was his fault for stopping so abruptly.

Max turns on his heels, lets his eyes wander aimlessly in the scenery. There’s a hotel to his left. There are people everywhere, but none of them are looking his way.

Now another person bumps into him. This is an older man, staggering on his feet and visibly losing his balance for a moment, and he turns to stare at Max with a sullen face.

“Hey, kiddo,” the man groans, “stop blocking the walkway, will ya?”

Max only stares back, not knowing what to say or think. Kiddo? What is this? Why is this person talking to him like this? He’s so dumbfounded by this behaviour that he simply hangs his mouth open without making a sound. Nobody in his entire life has acted this way towards him, and it’s making his blood run cold under his heavy cloak.

On a bewildered whim, he suddenly turns to whoever is passing by his left-hand side on that very moment. “Did you hear how that person talked to me just now?” he asks the passer-by. “How dare he?”

The person he’s talking to casts him a look of utter confusion. He can immediately tell this person doesn’t recognise him, either.

“No, I’m sorry,” the person mumbles hastily and hurries away. Max stares after their disappearing back.

What is happening? What is happening? How could this possibly be happening to him? Now panic is seeping into his heart, he arbitrarily grabs the sleeve of whoever happens to pass by him next.

“Excuse me,” he says breathlessly, “you know who I am, right? Right?”

Another astonished stare, but at least this passer-by is polite. “No, I’m afraid I don’t. Are you perhaps lost?”

“No!” Max’s words now escape as a desperate eruption of discomfort, “I’m the king! The Genbu-ou! Don’t you recognise your king?!”

The stranger’s expression changes slightly – to that of pity, to Max’s horror.

“I’m sorry, boy, I don’t have time to play around with you,” the person says, and the next moment he’s gone.

Max spins around, glancing wildly in every direction, looking for anybody who recognises him. This is the royal capital, isn’t it? It definitely is, he knows the exact street he’s on, but for some reason nobody knows him, he’s only a mile away from the Snow Glory Palace and nobody knows that he’s the king, how could such a bizarre thing ever happen?

“I look like the Genbu-ou, don’t I?” he asks yet another stranger, this time a younger person, a teenager just like him.

The person stops to stare at him, evaluates him with her eyes for a moment, as if she has to think about it first.

“I guess you do,” she finally says, “a little. But Genbu-ousama has spots of black in his hair and skin as clear as snow.”

What? What?

Max drops down to his knees into the snow and now he’s on the riverbank; he hauls his shaking self closer to the aquamarine glow of the water, and he crouches over to look down at his own reflection on the surface.

His hair is yellow like the Sun, bare, the splashes of black brush strokes gone. But his face – his face is covered in something – small dots everywhere, his skin is infested with them, they spread from the centre, the bridge of his nose, in every direction on his skin, he lifts his hands to his face and—

* * *

He opens his eyes. The ceiling of his bedroom is covered in cotton candy clouds of pink and purple, they rotate ever so slowly around the axel of the chandelier in the middle, with stars blinking in and out through the veil.

He rolls over in the four-poster bed that feels like an entire ocean to him. The pillow under his head is wet, it feels gross and he grabs it with two tiny hands, tosses it away as hard as he can and it lands on the edge of the bed. It knocks a couple of his plush toys to the floor.

He can hear voices from behind the bedroom door. It’s Mama and Papa, they are yelling at each other again.

Max rubs his tear-stained eyes and crawls out of bed, wrapping his enormous blanket around him like a cape, he drags it along across the carpet as he makes his way to the door. He stands on tiptoes and opens the door as softly as he can.

He makes his way to the hallway’s railing just in time to see his parents walk into his view downstairs. They’re not yelling anymore but still arguing, in quiet voices now, Max can tell they are spewing arrows of poison at each other even if he can’t make out the words.

He’s staring through the narrow hole in the railing as Papa spots him, it’s probably a subtle sniffle that gives him away up there.

Seconds later, Papa has climbed the stairs and has knelt down to talk to Max in a voice that’s meant to be soothing but is seeping with recently suffocated agitation, and it makes him uneasy.

“Are you having trouble sleeping again, buddy?”

“I don’t want Papa to go away,” Max says, wiping his nose on the sleeve of his orange sleeping gown.

Papa gives him a lopsided smile, pats the top of his head. “I’ll come visit you often, I promise. And – this is only temporary, okay? I will keep talking to Mama, and maybe I’ll be back home in a couple of moons. Papa will bring you lots of presents then, but for starters...”

Now something appears from behind Papa’s back, he’s holding a plush toy dog that has a silly face with a tongue drooping out, its body so long that it nearly matches Max’s height. Papa hands it over to him.

“I made this for you, to help you sleep better. I call it Sleepy, but you can call it whatever you want.”

Max stares down at the dog’s face. It has plain black buttons for eyes, and a third one for a nose.

He presses his own little nose against the button, immediately smearing the dog in the snot and tears of a six-year-old.

“Take me with you, Papa,” he says, the words muffled against the dog’s snout. “Don’t leave me alone.”

“You won’t be alone, Max, Mama will be here.”

“She’s always working, she never pays attention to me.”

“That’s not true...”

“I don’t want to be alone, Papa.”

* * *

He opens his eyes. The ceiling of his bedroom is velvet blue, with the silver sickle of a crescent Moon glowing faintly in the night’s silence.

His heart is beating in an anxious rhythm inside his chest. He quickly sits up in the bed, driven by the panic of the lingering terror of his nightmare that makes his fingertips tingle and his stomach turn, and he gasps for air.

It was just a dream. Just a dream.

The momentary urge to rush to his feet, to check that he actually is who he’s supposed to be in the mirror, recedes quickly upon the realisation that he’s in his own bed, in the royal palace, exactly where he should be. He’s covered in sweat, the blankets feel uncomfortably sticky against his skin, he tosses them aside.

Then he notices three shapes in the darkness, sitting at the end of his bed. A row of three plush animals is staring at him from a distance.

A fox, a serpent, and a horse.

[metalgearkong]

The Mandalorian - Season 1 - Review

12/30/19 **Spoilers

Created by Jon Favreau & Dave Filoney

It’s a miracle that someone finally come up with something in the Star Wars universe of which fans are unanimously happy with. The Mandalorian is easily the best live-action Star Wars content since Return of the Jedi, and is some of the best Star Wars in any medium since the original trilogy concluded. This is a reasonably low budget and smaller Star Wars tale that draws inspiration from old Samurai and Western films, the very thing that inspired George Lucas to create his vision in the first place. The Mandalorian is deliberately paced, and has a focus on character over having a big entangling bombastic story. 

One of my favorite features is how grounded, dirty, and inelegant the show is within its own world. The Mandalorian himself, “Mando,” (Pedro Pascal) is far from a super human with flawless skills and incredible perfection. While he clearly has experience with blasters, gadgets, and hand-to-hand combat, virtually every action scene he’s in comes off as a real guy just doing the best he can. He almost always needs help from a side character, and survives by the skin of his teeth, with only a handful of standout moments when you see him in full control of his environment and enemies. It helped make the entire show feel relatible, realistic, and dramatic.

The Mandalorian takes place a few years after Return of the Jedi and the collapse of the Galactic Empire. Jedi are still a thing of misinformation and myth. The galaxy has become a wild west, and the Force isn’t even a concept most people know about. Although I do find it odd that Mandalorians wouldn’t have some knowledge of the Force or Jedi as the two factions have quite the history together over the past thousand years. It’s a nit pick but it gives the Jedi an heir of mystery and sorcery once again. It also contributes to the low key nature of this show where magic and spectacle are nearly non-existent. The Mandalorian doesn’t seem as concerned with bringing in huge masses of audiences, although it does draw in multiple demographics, more on that later. It’s a huge relief that something in Star Wars can feel so adult and be taken seriously, and it gives me a lot of hope for the future.

The Empire itself in The Mandalorian are resigned to an underground organization, with its only high profile leader seeming to be Grand Moff Gideon (possibly operating completely independently) played by Giancarlo Esposito. They still have their share of soldiers, vehicles, and weapons ordinance, but this is no longer a galaxy ruled or patrolled heavily by the “Imps.” One of my favorite things about this show is that we get a ton of stormtroopers and scout troopers as guys in dirty armor, which are unmodified from how they look in the original trilogy. I’ve been so sick of the fake CGI that brought clone troopers and battle droids to life in the movies and other shows. Some scenes give troopers a lot of humanity and personality as well. However the show perpetuates my issue with Star Wars as a whole where rank-and-file enemy troops prove to be little or no consequence as they can’t hit anything they shoot--and die themselves in one hit. I want stormtroopers one day to actually mean something and pose a threat to a protagonist.

The true star, however, happens to be the “Child,” the most brilliant creation of the show. Most of The Mandalorian is about a lone warrior shooting guns and fighting through dangerous situations, but the Child brings in entire audiences that may not have been interested in this very macho kind of show to begin with. The best part is, he’s a natural addition to the story and lore. The Child isn’t just an adorable shoe-in to give women and kids something to go “aaaw” at. The Child is an infant member of Yoda’s race, a race the creators intentionally never gave any detail on ever in Star Wars history. It sparks tons of intrigue as to where the race is from, how it develops, and its natural strong connection to the Force. It’s one of the greatest mysteries of the show and aside from the Child’s cute antics, it kept me hooked. 

Mando himself is your typical stoic gunslinger type who makes his living on bounty hunting. While he doesn’t have much uniqueness at first, you slowly learn more about him and the Mandalorian clan he is part of. Pedro Pascal gives a great physical performance, as his face is hidden by the helmet he is sworn never to take off in front of another living thing. The Mandalorians themselves seem to be a creed of people who were once regarded as great warriors, but are now nearly extinct. It’s yet another mystery to the show that I crave to learn more and more about. The heart and soul of this show is truly the relationship between the Child and Mando, two people who couldn’t be more opposite, and I think the memes infecting the entire internet speak for themselves.

We run into a lot of great side characters as well, usually one stand out per episode. These sidekicks are usually played by famous comedians or actors, and it was a fun game of “who’s that” every week it came on. These people Mando comes across are usually former solders or people who fall into the Chaotic Neutral category of washed up past their prime. The best of these is IG-11, the same model as IG-88 briefly seen in Empire Strikes Back and several Legends material. We finally get to see this kind of droid in action and why it’s so great. IG-11 is brought to life by excellent CGI, and what I’m guessing is a lot of robotic work as well. He’s voiced by none other than Taika Waititi and he gives a hilarious and poignant personality to the hunter droid. 

My other favorites include Carl Weathers as a bounty hunting guild leader, Nick Nolte as a lonely but helpful Ugnaught engineer, and Gina Carano as Cara Dune, a former Rebel shock trooper. Each of these characters are contrasted to Mando’s. He gets help one way or another from these people, and it helps flesh out his character seeing how he reacts to what they do and say. Mando goes through a great but subtle arch throughout the show, as we see him go from what appears to be a cold blooded killer, to someone who cares again about the people around him. Again, it’s nothing new or original, but it’s executed very well. The side characters aren’t just celebrities of the week either. Many of them come back in later episodes to help Mando and the Child, and I hope they continue to appear in future seasons.

Not only does The Mandalorian pay excellent homage to the original trilogy, but also combines elements from both the prequel and sequel trilogies as well. Small things like technology and droids (mostly background elements) help solidify the entire Star Wars canon in very subtle and realistic ways. It’s a great transitional time in the universe between the Empire and the First Order, and I can’t wait to see how this show continues to exist and influence the world its in. The only weakness I could say is that many of the episodes don’t go through a lot of change in terms of plot, and are more excuses for character introductions and character development. The show is so well executed, however, this isn’t a huge problem because nearly every minute has something to appreciate and enjoy. I love the mature tone and pace, and hope that never changes.

The Mandalorian may be a sign that Star Wars should transform itself to being small scaled. It seems like just about everything that can be done with the Jedi has been done, and I don’t know how you can throw more twists into Force using and blowing up giant super weapons. The Mandalorian was created with so much love and care, I want all Star Wars content to follow this same philosophy. Forget the big movies with huge lineages and chosen one prophecies, I want to take a fine toothed comb to the underbelly of the Star Wars universe. Keep it character focused, keep it low key. I can’t wait to see what future seasons of this show hold, and I pray that it maintains its quality and pace its established here.

8.5/10

[whimsoriginalcharacterscentral]

31: Reunion - I’m not alone

“I’m scared of what they’ll think of me.”

Aster, Rin and Megumi stopped to see Max had stopped walking to the meeting point. He was trembling, unsure of himself. He looked up, “I never met Gwendolyn and I haven’t seen my brothers since I was six. Do you think they will be disgusted by me? Not only that, what about Zelda? Do you think she won’t like the current me and will want the old me? What if-?”

“Relax.” Aster said, grabbing Max’s hands, “First, I hear Gwendolyn is a badass assassin with badass companions. You’ll get along swimmingly. Second, your brothers have probably seen worse things than you. Lastly, if Zelda doesn’t want you, Megumi, Rin or I would love you.”

“Nah, I don’t see Maxie like that.”

Aster sighed, “I’d date you.”

“You make it sound like you’re taking one for the team.” Rin mumbled, “Besides, I would be a better boyfriend.”

“Rin, calm down. This is if Zelda doesn’t like this Max, which I doubt.” Aster replied.

“Thanks, Aster.” Max smiled, “I do feel a bit better knowing I’d have two boyfriends if my wife decides to leave me.”

“Max, please.”

“Let’s stop stalling. We need to let Max have his family reunion with his brothers and wife.” Megumi called to the rest of the boys.

“Right, right.” Aster sighed.

They continued walking, Max fidgeting with his hands every so often. They stopped in the empty patch of forest that was, weirdly enough, occupied with an old swing set. Rin kneeled down, preparing his weapons in case it was a trap.

Cardec wasn’t their only enemy anymore. Those men of the Organization and the men of CIB were out there, and they had the intentions of taking the quintuplets. They had to ensure Max’s safety before anything else.

Megumi leaned next to a tree, looking around while Aster had a hand on his gun. All of them were on guard. Except Max, who looked so nervous and scared despite his years of experience. It was weird to see their de facto leader like this. They’d never seen him look so unsure of himself.

Megumi heard the rustling first. He whistled, making Aster lead Max behind a tree some meters away. He pointed his gun at the direction of the sound only to find a boy with a face that was so identical to Max’s pointing a gun at him. He barely registered the other identical boys and the girl.

Megumi lowered his gun slightly, “You must be one of the five.”

“What’s my brother’s full name?”

Megumi glanced at Aster and Rin before looking back, “Maxiel Astre Garwin but I met him as Max Olson. Seriously though, what kind of name is ‘Maxiel’?”

“Our father was a bit eccentric.”

“I’ll say.”

Max’s brother lowered his gun, “Giancarlo.”

“Nice to meet you. You’re the oldest, right?”

Giancarlo turned to the others, “These are my brothers Halt and Sehel and she can introduce herself.”

“Thanks, Gian,” The girl grinned, “I’m Euphemia.”

“Giancarlo, Halt, Sehel and Euphemia, huh? I’m Megumi and the other two that are ready to attack are Rin and Aster.”

“Where’s Max?” The glasses-wearing quintuplet – Sehel, if he remembered correctly – asked.

Megumi let them approach before answering, “We’re still waiting for Gwendolyn Garwin and her group. For all we know, they are traitors and they turn Maxie in.”

“Oh, but no care for us?” Halt questioned.

Megumi shrugged, “No offense but you don’t look that important.”

“Hey!”

Rin chuckled, “Megumi, don’t yank their chains. We’re not taking precautions with you guys simply because we don’t know you all. We know Max and don’t want him to get hurt.”

“That’s rude.” Euphemia muttered.

“Sorry but we’d rather you guys get taken than our friend.” Aster responded.

“Such a rude way for such a cute guy to talk.”

They all turned to see a girl that looked a lot like the boys with the same golden hair and unnatural blue eyes that looked like a cat’s. She grinned, leaning on the wall, “I’m not late, am I?”

“Gwendolyn Garwin.” Giancarlo said loudly.

“Just Gwen.” She said as four girls appeared behind her.

“I’m Saru.”

“Mika.”

“Nyssa, nice to meet you.”

“Mosi.”

Aster inclined his head, “I’m Aster. They’re Rin and Megumi. They’re Euphemia, Sehel, Giancarlo and Halt.”

Sehel walked closer to Gwen, “So, you’re our little sister?”

In response, Gwen showed him a golden chain and locket. Sehel placed a hand on his chest, where an identical chain and locket were. He smiled, “Gwen, it’s nice to meet you.”

Halt rushed past his brothers to wrap his arms around Gwen, hugging the girl. She remained motionless, probably shocked at Halt’s actions. Halt tightened his grip on her, “I wish I knew you were alive all this time. I’m sorry we left you alone.”

Gwen slowly returned the hug, leaning on Halt, “You didn’t know. That’s okay.”

Halt detangled himself from Gwen, holding her hand. He turned to Megumi, “So, where’s our brother now?”

“Where’s his wife?”

Gwen looked behind her, “Oh, somewhere a bit behind. She said this could be a trap.”

“Why do you all assume that?” Halt said, exasperated.

“Better to assume the worse.” A woman said, appearing from the trees. She raised her voice, “Maxie, what did you want to be when you were a kid?!”

“Scientist and you wanted to be an actress!” Max said, as he stepped out from behind the tree. He was holding his head, meaning he had been struggling to remember that piece of information.

Max would never regain all of his memories but at least he remembered snippets of his old self.

“Zelda?”

“Max?”

Max smiled, “You’re prettier than the you from my memories.”

Zelda rushed ahead, throwing herself at Max. Max caught her and the two laughed as they were finally reunited. Max twirled her in the air, Zelda having her arms around Max’s neck.Max set her down, still holding onto Zelda.

“I can never fully regain my memories. Sorry.”

Zelda leaned closer, “I know. I’ll fill in the gaps. I’ll help you know.”

“Oi, love birds!” Megumi yelled, “How about you say hello to your brothers and sister?”

Max slowly left Zelda’s embrace, holding her hand. Zelda looked into Max’s expressive eyes and grinned. He was still her Max after all. She tightened her hand, “Don’t worry. They’ll love you regardless of how you’ve changed. They’re your family, after all.”

“Thank you, Zelda.”

Max stepped forward, avoiding looking at his brothers and sister in the eyes. He cleared his throat, “Hey.”

“Maxie.” Sehel said and Max hated that he couldn’t remember why his brother looked at him with so much fondness.

Max sighed, “I lost my memories a while back. I don’t think I’ll ever get back those memories. Not like it happens in the movies. I have remembered some things but nothing big. I’m sorry.”

“Idiot.”

Max jumped before one of his brothers – Giancarlo– hugged him, causing him to let go of Zelda’s hand. Giancarlo squeezed him, “You don’t need to apologize for losing memories. It wasn’t your fault. It’s for the best that you forgot your childhood.”

“Is it? Even if that means not remembering our childhood?”

Gwen patted Max’s head, “You didn’t even know me. Also, bad things happened that wouldn’t be good for you to remember. Not when you look so sweet.”

“I’ve killed a lot of people.”

Gwen looked at him sadly, “So have I.”

“Even children?”

Gwen’s face changed and Max saw her shocked face. Even his brother’s hug seemed to lessen. He slowly detached himself, “Men, women and children. I don’t remember everything but I know what I’ve done. I betrayed my organization by killing an innocent operative. I don’t feel anything from that-.”

“Max!”

“Maxie, don’t.”

Gwen sighed, “You’re either actively trying to get us to hate you or you’re scared of what we think.”

Max looked away. Sehel came forward, “Maxie, I’m your older brother and your favorite.”

“Don’t you dare play dirty just because he has amnesia.” Halt hissed, still holding onto Gwen.

Sehel hushed Halt before grabbing Max’s hands, “What I’m trying to say is that I love you and nothing you say or do will stop that love. Not murder. Giancarlo and Gwen commit enough of that. Besides, I heard you left that life prior to the amnesia. Speaking of, I’m a doctor now.”

Max blinked, “Okay.”

Sehel laughed, “Maxie, your type of amnesia is either traumatic amnesia or dissociative amnesia. I know there are ways to recover the majority of your memories, if you’d like them back.”

Max’s eyes widened, “It’s not all gone?”

Sehel shook his head, “No. We’ll just have to work hard for it. With Zelda, Halt, Giancarlo and I, we can do it.”

“You were worried over nothing, Max!” Aster said, wrapping his arm around Max. Megumi and Rin stood on either side of Max, silently watching. Aster grinned at Zelda, “You do need your husband right?”

“Yeah. You can’t keep him.” Zelda replied.

Aster laughed.

“Nothing to worry about indeed.” Euphemia said, leaning on Sehel.

“So, Max,” Gwen grinned, “since you can’t remember, can I tell you that you once saved Nyssa and she developed a crush on you?”

“Gwen!” Nyssa cried out, “That was a secret!”

“Not really.” Saru mumbled.

“Shut up! Besides, who wouldn’t have a crush on the Black King?”

“Me.” Mika said.

“You don’t count, Mika, you’re a lesbian.”

They all laughed at Mika’s affronted look. Mika and Nyssa began to argue over the good looks of the Garwins – notably Halt, Gwen and Max – while Euphemia, Megumi and Aster occasionally chimed in. Giancarlo looked a bit offended he wasn’t considered as handsome as his youngest siblings while Sehel found it hilarious.

Max felt a warm feeling on his chest. He placed his hand on his chest and smiled.

Things were looking up now. When he woke up from his coma with no memories, he had nothing. He was just Max, nobody special with nothing. Things had changed. He had a name that was attached to a family, friends and allies. The world wasn’t his enemy anymore.

He wasn’t alone.

For Day 31 of OCtober prompts by @oc-growth-and-development

[stahlop]

Once Upon a Time 1x11 “Fruit of the Poisonous Tree” Review

Reviews 1x01 1x02 1x03 1x04 1x05 1x06  1x07 1x08 1x09 1x10

I wasn’t a huge fan of this story. In the EF I found the king too gullible. In Storybrooke, Emma is too trusting and what the hell is up with her superpower, because it didn’t work at all this episode. I also felt they cast the wrong actor as the king and Genie. Richard Schiff usually plays lawyers and doctors. He did not make a very good king. Giancarlo Esposito is so much better than either Genie and Sidney.

Synopsis: Sidney asks Emma to bring down Regina by uncovering evidence that would expose her corruption. In the EF, a king finds a magic lamp with a genie and wishes him free. He falls for Regina, the king’s wife and they plot to be free from the kingdom.

Opening: Genie appearing.

New Characters: 

King Leopold: Although he is never called by his name in the episode, this is how he is listed in IMDB. He is Snow’s father and Regina’s husband and he’s an idiot. He is granted three wishes by a magical genie and he just stands there thinking because he is so happy and his kingdom is so happy that there is nothing that he could wish for. I call bullshit on this. Even if he is so ridiculously happy, there has to be something he would wish for. Or, after Genie tells him that all wishes end badly, that he would still free Genie because he feels it is the right thing to do. If you have nothing to wish for, just don’t wish for anything. This whole scene rubbed me the wrong way (no pun intended). Later on at the king’s birthday party, he dotes on Snow. Ok, I can be on board with that. But then bringing up your dead wife while you’re new wife is sitting right there, making her feel like she doesn’t even exist? Who does that? And then, he gets pissed that, even though he doesn’t love Regina like she deserves to be loved, that she has the audacity to have feelings for another man. Well why wouldn’t she? Do you really expect her to be unhappy when you’ve told Genie that everyone else in your kingdom is happy? The king also mentions that ‘love makes people do foolish things’. Yes, it does, like Genie lusting after your wife. He seems to be the only new man in the palace. Come on, use your brain!  I mean, killing him was a little extreme, but dude was an idiot. 

Character Observations:

Genie/Sidney: This is the magic mirror’s origin story. Before he was trapped in a mirror he was the genie of the lamp. Apparently, he’s just meant to be trapped somewhere. He was trapped in the lamp, then he was kind of trapped at King Leopold’s castle, and then he became trapped in the mirror. I understand that Genie was new to love, and Regina was unhappily married, but did he really expect her to give up her kingdom for him? What did he do besides dispense advice to the king? Did he get paid at all? Did he really expect Regina to live poorly with him? For all that Genie has supposedly seen with his wishes, he really got duped pretty badly. When he does end up making his wish in a desperation to keep Regina, he says he ‘wishes to be with her forever, to look upon her face always, and to never leave her side’. Technically, that’s three wishes, but the lamp doesn’t seem to care, and that’s how Genie ends up trapped in the mirror.

Sidney is, well, Sidney is acting on Regina’s orders the entire time. He’s her puppet. He probably has no idea why he’s so attracted to Regina, but the curse has made him take orders no matter who it hurts. He pretends to be so upset about being fired from the paper and being made a fool of for losing the election that he wants to take Regina down, and Emma believes him. And because the audience believes in Emma, we also believe in Sidney until we see him with Regina at the end. We also get a lot of Genie and Magic Mirror sayings from him. He tells Emma he can ‘grant her wish’ when she and Mary Margaret are talking about taking down Regina. He, again, says to Emma ‘all we need is a crack in the mirror to show everyone’ when he tells her about the missing money.

Emma: She really made me mad in this episode.  She starts off saying she’s the sheriff, she has to do everything by the book. Then when they’re looking through the public records for where the money supposedly went, they find that the files are missing and Sidney wants to get a warrant to search Regina’s office. Emma doesn’t think a judge will go against Regina, so when she decides to confront Regina about the records (yes, please, lets let the person we’re trying to take down know we are looking into their financials), she decides to plant a bug, something she would need a court order to do. She changed her mind pretty fast about playing by the rules. And then, when they miss the secret meeting that they follow Regina to, Emma decides to just break into Regina’s office and steal her files!  Emma has a quick change of heart when she realizes she did exactly what she told Henry she wouldn’t do, stoop to Regina’s level, and that all their ‘evidence’ is illegally obtained, so it won’t hold up in court. Emma’s pretty much done at this point, so Sidney pulls out the box of photos Regina had him take of her when she came to town. He also says he’ll go after Regina if Emma won’t. Now, here is where it goes off the rails for me. If Emma had let Sidney confront Regina at the City Council meeting without her being a part of it, she would have been able to look into his accusations without it coming back that things were obtained illegally.  It would have been Sidney, not a member of law enforcement, who had stolen the files, and then Emma could have confiscated them for evidence. But no, she decides to play her hand at the City Council meeting and ends up getting her ass handed to her by Regina when she reveals it’s a playground she’s building. So now Emma looks like a sheriff with a vendetta against the mayor because she accused Regina at a public forum and Regina tells Emma to stay away from Henry, so now she’s lost the one person who believed in her.

Evil Queen/Regina: I think I said in either episode one or two that the Evil Queen doesn’t know how to play a long con, that she only thinks in the short term, well, I was wrong. The way EQ manipulates Genie is genius. The moment she sees him she knows she can use him. We haven’t seen how Regina acted before she was the Evil Queen. We saw her in The Heart is a Lonely Hunter after Leopold died. She seemed at that point to be sweet and then we saw that she had been plotting all along. Snow seems to believe she is a sweet and loving step-mother, right up until she realizes that The Huntsman is meant to kill her under Regina’s orders. We don’t know how long Regina and Leopold have been married, so we don’t know how long she has been planning his murder.  Did EQ ever love Leopold?  Was this an arranged marriage? Was EQ nice at one point and morphed into the EQ because of this marriage? Hopefully, plot points we will learn in the future. But we see her skillful handling of Genie. She sees that he is taken with her, she uses it to her advantage. She makes him believe that she is lonely and unworthy of his love. She pretends she is going to kill herself with the Agrabahn Viper and makes Genie believe it is his idea to kill the king for her. Once his usefulness is done, she shows her true colors. Although, she has provided safe passage for him when she could have just let him take the blame and be killed, so it seems she had some feelings for him.

Regina uses Sidney in much the same way she used him as Genie, except, due to the curse, he doesn’t understand why he’s so devoted to her when he knows she’s using him. Regina knows just what to tell him to get him to do what she wants, and she tells him exactly what to say to Emma so she will do what Regina wants. Notice that when Emma accuses Regina of building a summer house in the woods with the stolen funds, Regina already has a slide presentation ready to go about the playground. She knew Sidney would steer Emma in the direction to confront her at the City Council meeting. And Regina uses the leverage she has over Emma making a fool of herself to keep her away from Henry. Game, set, match.

Snow/Mary Margaret: Neither are in this episode that much. Snow basically feeds into her father’s obsession with her. He calls her ‘fairest in all the land’ like her mother. She doesn’t seem to be bonding with step-mother dearest either as neither of them were talking to each other in the garden or the king’s party.

Mary Margaret is continuing her ‘affair’ with David. They are having secret picnics out by the old toll bridge, and she clings to Sidney’s advice that ‘sometimes doing a bad thing for a good reason is okay’ as to how she can justify her affair.

Henry: He’s sad that his castle is first destroyed by the storm, and then torn down by Regina. He also loses the story book when Regina tears it down, as he had hidden it in a toolbox in the sand. He later tries to recreate the story book from memory in his own notebook. Later, he’s playing on the new playground and tells Emma that she doesn’t have to listen to Regina when she tells him they can’t see each other for awhile.

The Stranger: He still doesn’t have a name. We only see him twice this episode. Once when Henry is trying to recreate the story book. Henry wants to know why the Stranger is really there, and he responds with ‘stuff’ (as was Henry’s answer when he asked what the book was about), and second when we see he has taken the toolbox and is now in possession of the story book. He seems in shock and awe and that this he knows exactly what it is that he is looking at.

Gold: Again, very little screen time, but he does give Emma and Sidney some good advice. He tells them that ‘emotional entanglements can lead us down very dangerous paths.’ Speaking from experience again I assume. He also tries to ally himself with Emma again but she turns him down. He has some agenda that he needs Emma for, we just don’t know what it is yet.

Henry, Sr.: We see the depth of his love for Regina, as he will do anything to help her escape her marriage. He even mentions this to Genie that the guards know he would die for Regina. He goes to Genie with the box containing the viper and tells him that it will help free Regina. Does he know how evil Regina is becoming, does he know that the king will be dying once the vipers get to Regina or does he honestly think she will use it to kill herself like she makes the Genie believe? I am very interested in Henry, Sr. and Regina’s background. He loves her very much, so how did he let Regina get into a loveless marriage. Why is he her manservant? Where is Regina’s mother?

Questions:

When was Sidney fired from the paper? After he ran an article about Emma being in jail? After he lost the election? Was that just part of the ploy to get Emma to feel sorry for him? Has this scheme of Regina’s been going on since the election?

How long was it between Genie coming to the castle and the king’s birthday?

Is there a judicial system in Storybrooke?

How did Genie get the mirror out of the lamp to give to Regina? 

How does Regina not spot the sheriff’s car following her into the woods? They are the only two cars on the road!

Did Gold give Emma and Sidney a lift back to town or did they call a tow truck?

Didn’t Sidney say he was fired from the paper? Why do he and Emma meet at the newspaper office to look at the blueprints and escrow statements?

Did Emma even look at the blueprints? They clearly state the ‘mansion’ Emma thinks Regina is building is only 4 feet tall if she read the measurements.

Why is the playground being built in the middle of the woods?

How did the playground get built so fast? Henry was playing on it the day of or after the council meeting.

Is the Stranger the author of the book?

Observations:

Genie states that he’s granted 1001 wishes and seen them all go wrong. 1001 is not divisible by 3, so either he’s exaggerating or some people didn’t get to make all their wishes. Most likely this is a reference to 1001 Arabian Nights, the collection of stories Aladdin is originally from.

The lamp still grants wishes without the genie.

Regina’s name in EF is also Regina.

Not only does Regina’s computer not have a password, but it turns on immediately!

Emma types in ‘land, sold, Gold, property’ to find the correct files on Regina’s computer.

Regina has a large amount of skeleton keys in her office.

Even if Regina used the City Council funds to build a playground, it’s still illegal to take the money secretly and build a playground without the rest of the council’s approval. 

The Agrabahn Viper has a head on either end and no tail.

The jewels in the lamp start out green. Once all the wishes are made they are now red.

Timeline Issues:

Sidney tells Emma that Regina stole the City Council funds at least 3 weeks ago (according to the records). Emma confronts Regina about it and plants the bug that day and then follows Regina to the meeting with Gold that night. Obviously, Regina is buying the land to build the playground on, unless she’s sending Emma on a wild goose chase. Then it seems as though Emma and Sidney go to break into Regina’s office later that night, or possibly the next night. Then the City Council meeting is the next day and since Regina so conveniently has the slide show presentation ready about the new playground, it would seem she was planning on bringing it up to the council. After the meeting, Regina tells Emma to stay away from Henry. We next see Emma watching Henry on the already built playground, most likely later that same day or the next day. How is this playground built already? Also, Emma wears the exact same outfit in every single scene in this episode even though it takes place over several days (black pants, dark grey turtleneck, grey beanie, and blue, leather, racer jacket). Regina has three changes of clothing throughout.

I didn’t like this episode. Emma is made a fool of by using her emotions instead of her instincts. She’s manipulated by both Sidney and Regina and makes awful choices. Regina is now attempting to play nice by asking Emma to do her job as sheriff instead of looking for things that aren’t there. She never once raises her voice or insults Emma as she had been doing. And Emma paid the price for her foolishness and can’t see Henry for awhile. Honestly, this episode should have been called Fool in Love or Foolish Heart for how foolish Emma, Genie, and Leopold were in this episode.

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