So you know how the handmaidens don’t have last names technically cause of the whole anonymity/security thing? Would they use the queen’s name as a “last name” if they needed one for something (like travel documents or whatever)? I still need to read the Padmé books but it’s also not mentioned on wookieepedia so maybe that’s just not a thing but it definitely adds an interesting layer to the whole depersonalization/separation of self thing that they have going on. Just some thoughts I’ve been having.
these ARE interesting thoughts. i’ll admit im not super up to date on padme’s beyond-movie lore either: i’ve looked around at the books and comics and i think there’s some cool stuff in there, but also part of the appeal of padme for me is that when people try and reinterpret her, they typically end up transforming her. they make her infallible; they make her the Worst. she’s a character who it’s very easy to get wrong, as evidenced by 90% of fandom making her the Girlboss and moving on. so when it comes to filling in the gaps for padme’s lore i usually return to the movies, no matter how disinterested in padme’s heart they are, bc watching comic writer #56 waffle between her and anakin’s relationship as Toxic or Domestic is pretty tiring. (i know they’re doing their best too ! it’s just not fun)
if i’m just sticking to the movies when thinking about this, i’ll say it’s pretty obvious the handmaidens enter into this arrangement expecting to live their whole lives around padme. they are the shadows in every room she’s in, they die for her, they speak for her, they surround her. any and all handmaiden characterization we get in the movies is through their interactions with padme. even when they’re dying, they only speak of her and their duty. you talk about “travel documents” but it’s hard for me to imagine a reason a handmaiden might need to travel independently from padme, or why they’d need legal identification other than “handmaiden of naboo”. even with the handmaidens supposedly going on to have lives after padme, that’s not how they’re represented in the films. even if they do have political careers, i’d imagine they’d get into the naboo system by being known as a handmaiden, not a new identity.
i think the devotion of naboo’s handmaidens, who chose to forsake their lives and names at 14 until they die, is a solid parallel to the jedi, especially in a trilogy so obsessed with duality. that’s really where i’d start with questions of names and depersonalization. think of the jedi’s monk levels of isolation for the sake of the Cause, but the Cause in this case is a fourteen year old girl, and you are also fourteen. and even when you are an adult with grey hair and supposedly moved on, you will still bear the mark of being fourteen and having served and loved this girl.
I do think Blazing Saddles handled its one depiction of native americans very poorly, and the full extent of its representation of chinese workers on the railroad is they were literally just there. not even one single speaking line. unclear if this is worse or better than the redface.
it's fucking phenomenal at lampooning antiblack racism though. extremely blatant, extremely funny satire, which is constantly and loudly saying "racism is the philosophy of the terminally stupid at best and morally depraved at worst, and we should all be pointing and laughing at them 24/7"
plus the main character is a heroic black man who has to navigate a whole lot of bullshit but is constantly smirking at the extraordinarily stupid racists and inviting the audience into the joke. the one heroic white character is a guy who was suicidally depressed until he met the protagonist and they just instantly became buds, and he's firmly in a supporting role the whole time and happy to be there. the protagonist saves the day with the help of his black friends from the railroad, and uses the position of power he was given to uplift not only those friends, but all the railroad workers of other minorities too, in an explicit show of solidarity.
anyone saying "Blazing Saddles is racist" had better be talking about its treatment of non-black minorities. it had better not be such superficial takes as "oh but they say the n-word all the time" or "they have nazis and the kkk in there!" because goddamn if that's the full extent of your critique I very seriously suggest you read up on media analysis. there is too much going over your head, you need to learn to recognize satire.
Heyyy! And could you write ghost and price with a chubby reader? :))
Hey there! Of course I can :-)
Price and Ghost with a Chubby!Reader
Price: It genuinely does not matter to Price whether you’re chubby or not. However, if you are chubby, then you better believe this man will not leave you alone. He loves you so dearly, he just wants to be with you whenever he can. And if you’re chubby? Oh, he’s never letting you go. He’s gonna hold onto you like a koala because you’re honestly just so precious. Will put his head on your tummy and use it as a pillow. This is an incentive for you to run your fingers through his hair so he may snooze for a little bit. If anyone ever dared to make fun of you for your size then he will throw hands. He’s a captain, he demands respect wherever he goes, so naturally the same goes for you as his partner. That fucker will end up with a broken nose, if not with a few broken ribs as well. And when you’re home? He’s gonna make you a nice and lovely meal. I feel as though once he’s gotten a taste of your chubby self he would become someone who genuinely likes chubby people. They’re just really soft for holding, you know? What’s better than putting your weary head on the lovely and soft thighs of your partner? Besides, he’d probably take the “if you have thick thighs you can fit more kittens on top of them” post to heart and might put a few kittens on top of you to see how many you can fit. Overall, he has heart eyes whenever you walk by. You’re beautiful, gorgeous, showstopping, and he’s gonna show you that he genuinely thinks that way about you. Besides, he’s kinda chubby too. So, you know, solidarity and all. However, he will blush if you ask to see his tummy. He won’t say no, but he’ll be embarrassed.
Ghost: Another man who thinks he doesn’t care about your size, but in reality he loves chubby people. He’s a big, rough, and rugged man, so would he really complain about his partner being soft? Do you really think he would? Like Price, he also has some chub around his tum. A healthy amount that makes him cute as a button, for a man his size, that is. He’d love to pick you up and throw you onto the bed or couch just to hold onto you. He’s probably gonna learn how to become an even better cook just to be able to cook you nice meals and keep you nice and fed. It’s his way of saying “You’re so fucking gorgeous, I love you, please never change”. And if it comes from Ghost you know it’s genuine. If anyone ever hurts you then he’s going to plan their murder in his head the second those insults leave their mouth. You’d need to hold him back so he doesn’t just kill that asshole. When you get home you can count on him being all over you, kissing you oh so gently everywhere you let him. He’s gonna do everything he can to make you feel like the royalty you actually are. You’re precious, you’re wonderful, he loves you. All those things are final. Besides, no one would ever dare to make fun of him for having some chub, right? So why would they make fun of you? Ghost usually isn’t a man of many words, but he’ll say whatever comes to mind to help you feel better. Overall, I kind of feel as though you’d help him feel better about himself as well. He’s not self conscious about his tummy per se, but you being chubby yourself, and him being so attracted to you and loving you this much, makes him feel better about himself.
interesting lore moment with the francophone yesterday (as in, it personally gave me brainworms) ft. qétoiles’ horrible, no good, stupid (lack of) self-preservation . subs in English, transcript below the cut
All spoken in French — translated into English subtitles
[Video transcript:
Etoiles: And, actually, I have a theory. Basically what happened is that I’ve just returned from a mission from Cucurucho.
Antoine: And what was the mission?
Etoiles: To do a dungeon, and to recover something from the dungeon.
Antoine: And what was this “something”?
Etoiles: And the “something” was a book that sorta says that I’m a test subject.
Antoine: A test subject?!
Baghera: What’s up with your arm? You’ve got a coded arm.
Etoiles: Uh, it’s from holding the shield, basically.
Baghera: Ahhh
(Pause)
Antoine: Watch out that it doesn’t contaminate you, or else you’ll turn into a code, man.
Etoiles: That’s impossible, man, I can’t be a code.
Antoine: That’s what the old codes said before becoming codes, you know.
Etoiles: No— well, we’ve never spoken.
Baghera: Maybe you shouldn’t be using the shield as much then, no?
Etoiles: Well, as it stands, I’ve been using it for a really long time, and my mind is still healthy, honestly. And the proof is—
Baghera: Well, half of his face took the brunt of it instead.
Etoiles: Yeah, but it’s not all there is, you know.
(Pause)
Baghera: Let me worry, Etoiles, right now.
Etoiles: You’re right. You’re right! But everything’s going well, I’m doing very, very well—
Antoine: It’s true that you look a bit sick.
Etoiles: Uh, yeah, for the past seven years, it’s a chronic illness, it happened—
Antoine: No, but not this one, the other— you seem even sicker, still.
Etoiles: Yeah, okay. Yeah but no, I’m fine. No, no, it’s fine, honestly.
no joke but what I really want for Buddy Daddies as a fandom is to make fanart and fanfic post present time ep12 where Rei wears an arm orthosis when working.
I think varied disability aids being represented would be fantastic, and personally would write Rei as someone being deeply proud of something he's done for his family, but also understanding with time that using an orthosis also helps him at work and in raising Miri. with a giant portion of mobility/motorics aids being represented by prosthetics, seeing more variety and exploring it in fiction would also help making a step in normalising disability treatments.
you ever just have a lot, a LOT of feelings all at once about a character and not even remotely enough words or brainpower to FORM the words to describe everything you're feeling. so it feels like you may explode. yeah
*Annoying old man voice* These botw fans have it too good, back in my day your favourite npc would appear once in a vaguely obscure title and then get forgotten by Nintendo forever
Feel free to ignore if this is intruding but I remember you posting about dealing with caffeine addiction and I hope you're doing ok <3 Addiction is really hard to deal with so I hope everything is going alright for you!
!! thank you for checking in <3333
i haven't cut it out completely (i really don't think i'd be able to) but i'm still doing much better, i've cut down from 6 shots per cup to only 2. i've also changed my sleep/eating habits so now i don't feel like i need the caffeine as much because i just don't feel as shit anymore.
honestly the more i hear about engstars and its TLs the more i absolutely dread the inevitable release of poltergeist and what may ensue from it, bc if if the translators themselves are already invalidating arashis identity then i Really Truly do not want to see how theyll translate natsume and tsumugis microaggressions/transphobia towards her. esp since ive noticed a rise in people being comfortably transphobic towards her, and i REALLY do not wish to see natsume and tsumugi being stupid fucking morons be used as evidence to discredit her
and i think this is all the more reason why its VERY IMPORTANT for engstars to DIRECTLY ACKNOWLEDGE arashi and her gender. bc sometimes characters are STUPID and RUDE and APATHETIC. enstars is a story with NUANCED and FLAWED CHARACTERS, and when a character is being a fucking asshole youre meant to PROVE THEM WRONG. but they dont even acknowledge arashi as a girl themselves. so, if you do use engstars, please keep pressuring them bc omfg this is so bad and i can only see it getting worse
Okay so this is probably gonna turn into a whole rant ™️
You guys were so accepting with me exploring my pronouns and it feels so good and so loving to be in a community like this 💕
Here’s the thing -
For years, I’ve thought about changing my name because Caroline never really felt like my name, it didnt feel like it was me.
And then at work, I was helping out at another store and people thought my name was Maya because one of the guys got it wrong from the beginning. So it became a standing joke that they’d call me Maya.
And I started to respond to it and I just, I don’t know, I can’t explain it but it just felt like it was supposed to find me? Like that name was supposed to find me.
I’m not changing it legally just yet, I want to see how it feels. But I was hoping that you guys would (once again) help me out with figuring out a new thing about me, if it’s right or not 🥺
So for now, my preferred name is Maya 🫶🏻
If you made it thus far, you’re a real one 💕
Tagging some friends because id like to share it with yall 🩵