#and they still could've had the dyad thing!! I like the dyad thing!!

[resurgentclass-stardestroyer]

everyday I get mad at how wonderfully the sequel trilogy could've been thematically tied together if Ben and Rey had just been cousins

[jamiepaige]

Constant Companions Closeup #1: DYAD

(also on spotify!)

Hello everyone!! It's been a couple weeks and change since Constant Companions, my newest album, was released unto the world, and I've been genuinely blown away by the response. Genuinely, thank you to everyone who's been streaming, commenting, making mashups, changing their pfps and usernames - it means the world to me!

I wanted to give some of that love back with something people have been asking me a lot about - and, admittedly, something I love doing. Song explanations! Deep dives! Dropping the lore! Welcome... to the Constant Companions Closeups...

For the next eleven days, I'll be going into each track one by one and babbling about the process, inspiration, details, feelings, and thoughts behind each one! We're getting sappy. We're bearing our hearts. We're telling unfunny jokes. And we're starting with track one - DYAD (featuring unit.0)!

---

Naturally, since this is the first track, it also serves as a great point to talk about my intention with this album as a whole!

I'll elaborate more on this with future tracks, but to me, there are really two main things that define the sonic progression of this album versus my previous work - guitars and vocal synths. Obviously, these things have been present in my work since I first started calling myself Jamie Paige, but Constant Companions is intended to be my overwrought, sappy confession of love to these two things that time and time again have made me simply want to make music. I love rock and I love Hatsune Miku dammit!!!

I had originally written this song in February of 2023 for a game-jam-esque online festival hosted by my friend Loni called HAPPY PARTY TRI, and at that time, I had found myself at a major crossroads. I had put out People Posture Play Pretend and :women_wrestling: the previous year, and while the response was nice, I was feeling listless and lost.

I love singing. I like my voice well enough. I certainly love writing music with lyrics!! But... there was something uniquely electrifying about using vocal synths. Amidst a lot of insecurity and emotional turmoil surrounding the process of making art and putting myself out into the world, it was one of the few things that just made everything feel right. Suddenly, I was making the same kind of music that had touched my heart so many times over.

Would it alienate people, though? Would I lose longtime listeners? Yes, that weighed on my mind more than I'd like to admit, but even more than that... I was worried I'd lose some part of myself, as silly as it sounds. Maybe what I thought was a bridge would become a barrier, and the messages I wanted to send across the gap would never find their way.

Ultimately, I felt that Dyad was the only kind of opener I could've possibly given this album, and a perfect fit for the album's motif. A dialogue between myself, stricken with loneliness and a lack of inertia running in circles, and that synthesized voice (ANRI Arcane my darling), grabbing the outstretched hand and asking a question I already know the answer to -

"Baby, do you know what you wanna hear?"

Yes, it's a love song, but it's not just for a person - it's a love song for the creative impulse, and for the places I wanted it to take me.

im resisting the urge to be jokingly dismissive of myself to diffuse tension but i still need to signal that the emotionally bare part of this is over so pretend im doing a funny little dance Anyways let's talk more technical stuff

---

Like many of my songs, Dyad came together from a patchwork of different snippets and ideas I had laying around. The back half of the chorus - "dream together, we can dream together" - originally came from this idea I had jotted down something like 9 months prior, but ended up being a perfect fit for Dyad in basically every way. The verse snippet that I'd written to go with it got reused for a later song on Constant Companions as well! (I say without naming it, as if it isn't literally lifted wholesale from this demo and thus incredibly obvious)

I wasn't originally planning on brazenly quoting the bridge of a Tally Hall song when I set out to write this song, but while toying around with a bridge idea involving a shortened version of the pre-chorus melody, I realized I had inadvertently copied it anyways. I was going to scrap it... but at the request of my dear friend and certified Tally Hall lover Marcy Nabors, I made it an explicit reference. Which I'm fine with, personally! The first CD I ever owned was a copy of Marvin's Marvelous Mechanical Museum my sister bought me all the way back in 2006 - You can pry that sentimental attachment from my cold, dead hands, TikTok kiddies.

Lastly - not really behind the scenes so much as just a shoutout - thank you to unit.0 for the lovely lead guitar work on this song!! He's been a beloved collaborator of mine for many, many years now, and one of the people who ultimately convinced me this direction was the right one to go in, so it means a lot to share this song with him. Go listen to his music!!! Now!!!!!!

That's about it for this song! Not to sound like a fucking YouTuber, but genuinely, if there are any details you'd like to hear more about, let me know and I might made a bonus post at the end of all this. Otherwise, thank you for listening! Tomorrow: Not Quite There, featuring telebasher!

❤️💚

[piglet26]

Alright, Is the Star Wars Fandom Sexist?

As you probably know Daisy Ridley signed onto do another Star Wars film. I welcomed this..... mostly. If they don't reunited the Dyad I'm very curious as to what would be the point (more on that later.) Well, I saw this quote from a recent interview of hers, "I think my take is things get blown out of proportion and the interactions I've ever had with people have been nothing but wonderful and supportive," Ridley said. "I've only ever been embraced. And I think we're going to make a great film."

Now whether or not Ms. Ridley actually feels this way.......she's intelligent enough to say just this. Undeniably, all of the men who have talked shit about her for the past 7,8 odd years will now have softened to her for simply not holding them accountable. Hey, that's the biz kids. Don't make enemies out of your audience. No man wants to be called a sexist even if he actually is one.

Is there sexism in Star Wars? Yes and no. It has never been a straight answer. Now if you ask a lot of men in the Star Wars fandom if they are sexist..... they'll say no. Why? Princess Leia of course! Padme! Strong women who directed men, issued orders and politically led. They did and do support these women. In fact, if you had asked me if the fandom was sexist prior to The Sequel Trilogy I would've said that the SWF is one of the most progressive fandoms for women and has been since the 70s!

Where did it all go wrong?

Well, maybe this

Or, this

Maybe just good ole fashion paranoia. Personally, I think it's a combination of all three. The minute Disney bought Star Wars the fandom was primed to distrust it. Change, for better or worse, was on the horizon. Hell, even worse, corporate change. It's Rage against the Machine raging FOR the machine. Least we forget how Star Wars started...... as a "fuck you" to corporatized assembly-line movie production.

However, we are not her to discuss whether The Sequel Trilogy was good. Debatable..... with the exception of Reylo. That's just iconic. We are here to discuss how on earth Daisy Ridley ending up bearing the majority of the responsibility for its failures. Maybe even more importantly the "Feminization" of Star Wars.

A sane person could tell that. The same people screaming "Star Wars is Dead" for the last seven years are still saying the eulogy. Still going on whining and complaining about it. There is a general rule when franchise start to go off the track - you ignore it was ever made. Godfather 3? Tokyo Drift? Never happened.

If you don't like what Star Wars has become then the first person on your shit list should be it's creator. George Lucas. George could've signed over Star Wars under the guarantee that whatever outline he produced for The Star Wars Sequel Trilogy, Disney HAD to stick to - he didn't. He could've signed on a producer - he didn't. He could've picked someone else except Kathleen Kennedy to replace him - he didn't. Somehow George Lucas has escaped any responsibility in what his life's work has become. Maybe the fandom got it out of their system after the Prequel Road Rage.

News that George Lucas's treatments were thrown out and the extended universe being cancelled didn't exactly calm down the public.

Maybe the next person should JJ Abrams and Kathleen Kennedy for for thinking that there was something wrong with Star Wars. Star Wars already was diverse. It already HAD strong females. Yet, there they went finding problems that didn't exist. Why? Money. Disney has a powerful female/family demographic. Star Wars a strong male demographic. Disney sought to combine the best of all worlds in one franchise and they were the company to do it. Look at what they accomplished with Marvel!

Then the announcement came that there would be a female protagonist. A female Jedi to be exact. I thought this was different and interesting. The men did not. What they saw in there head was THE FORCE IS FEMALE in flashing bright lights. This was it. Confirmation. Star Wars was about to get pussyfied. From the get-go Daisy Ridley's Rey was to be a focus, a target, for the mistrust, uneasiness and rage from the men.

Let's me be clear men are ok girls liking their stuff. As long as girls are not in a position to influence whatever it is they like, or rather "ruin it." Can you blame them? If a bunch of straight dudes came in and started writing Sex and the City I'm telling you- they'd ruin it.

The Force Awakens finally arrives and curiosity was able to lure in even the most salty man. Not to mention the possible joy of seeing Han, Luke and Leia on screen together again. TFA is a perfectly decent film. There were two glaring choices in this film. One, Han is killed. Two, Rey beats Kylo Ren at the end. All things considered we should not have been surprised what the internet had to say. Rey was a Mary Sue. Men who didn't even know what a Mary Sue was were even saying this.

The term “Mary Sue” was first coined in 1973. A young main character, usually a woman, who was portrayed as unreasonably gifted across every discipline: intellect, combat, the arts, etc. This character would often become respected (and maybe even loved) by main characters and would end the story by saving the day in heroic fashion.

You don't have to like Rey. You don't have to love her. Rey isn't even the greatest character ever developed, but come on! I wonderer if the people criticizing her even watched the movie. I heard criticism that Rey was too likable! Well, she's the protagonist. She's too pretty! That's a bad thing? She's too nice! She comes off really brash and naive actually. She's the greatest pilot ever! She flew once and not that well. Most of the criticism around Rey was disingenuous and petty as hell.

Many critics have taken the lazy route of she has no character arc or character, but that’s not a very observant take. Her yearning for family and her desperation for her parents to return, while understandable, made her vulnerable to Kylo Ren. Her loneliness made her ultimately vulnerable to anyone who would be nice to her. Now I understand there was no consequences for her faults. However, there can't be both criticism. She either doesn't have a personality, or, she has one, but doesn't suffer consequences for it.

“How could she fly the Millennium Falcon so well?” “How could she beat Kylo Ren when she’d never used a lightsaber before?” “How could she resist Kylo Ren’s interrogation?” The film answered most of these questions. Ironically, no one questioned the 8 year old Anakin Skywalker or the farm boy Luke Skywalker for being amazing or great at anything because of The Force.

She grew up defending herself in melee combat. Her quarterstaff is not a lightsaber, of course, but it was established early on that she has the instincts and the reflexes to hold her own in a fight. While I don't agree with Rey beating Kylo Ren I understand how it was accomplished. Pure, dumb luck. It was luck that Ren was physically and spiritually crippled during their confrontation. Not to mention he had the hots for you. Finn was able to hold him off mostly because Kylo was toying with him, but when he grew bored Finn ended up face first in the snow. No one questioned how Finn the janitor could wield a lightsaber.

Let's talk about Finn, or rather John Boyega. All things considered pretty lucky guy. He got a likable that he played well and got paid well. You wouldn't know it by listening to him. He complained bitterly. He attacked the fans. He attacked Disney. He attacked America. He got off Scott free with fandom. Most remember him with nothing but fondness. Maybe because he is black people feel slightly uncomfortable going after him. But, the women? No problem. Even when fans hate male characters, they talk about what they hate with nuance.

Daisy Ridley did her job and she went home. She carried on beautifully and respectfully with what she was given by the production team. That is all any actor can do. The same would apply to the girl who played Rose Tico. Yet, criticism of what was happening on screen started to bleed onto the actresses in real life.

Mark Hamill shit talked the Sequel Trilogy - fair, enough. But why did you sign on? It he because he needed a job? Hondo wasn't a great leader. I agree. But, countless people ended up losing their lives due to Poe because he refused to listen to the female authority around him. Where was the fandom with their logic bitterness scorecard? The majority of the criticism I heard (Literally several videos on Youtube) was criticism towards Hondo for not telling a newly demoted soldier all of her plans.

Anywho Rey has this new movie coming out...........okay. Not sure who wants to come back for it other than her. After TROS and the fans most co-stars seem good doing other things. OG characters are killed off. There is one person with stunning jet black hair, 6'3, plush naturally red lips, a big dick, freckles and a heroic run that she's in a dyad with that would make this whole movie worth it. Do I faith they'll do the right thing and pay Adam Driver whatever they need to to bring him back? No. Cause there is a little bit of an agenda. For some reason love in the Star Wars universe doesn't do very well, but for the woman it's none existent. The concept that a strong woman doesn't have to die alone seems odd to the very people that want equality for women. For example I saw this comment, "Rey Skywalker is her own character and her continuing story doesn’t have to revolve around Ben Solo. Daisy Ridley’s return shouldn’t be overshadowed by fan expectation over Adam Driver returning."

Yes, it does. This film needs to work. I cannot stress that enough. You know people want to see this film fail. Reylo isn't purely for sentimental reasons (I WOULD SEE MY DYAD REUNITED FOUR TIMES IN THEATRES) Reylo is the biggest marketing advantage Disney Star Wars has..... you knew that when Solo flopped. Do the smart thing, put these people on mute and give us a iconic fight fuck scene.

Rey also wear clothes appropriate with her environment and match the physical needs of what she needs to accomplish like her male peers. Logical and refreshing. I hear the men mostly complain about the lack of hot women in their fantasy.

We could also talk about the sexism Carrie Fisher faced from the not only the studio, but the fandom for the crime of getting older and gaining weight. Her in a metal bikini is already in the spank bank - she contributed enough.

Again, neither Carrie Fisher nor Daisy Ridley in a smart world could ever really own that. Anymore than the Rose Tico actress could. Worse, they could never really tell the Fanboys what they really think of them. I love me some Fanboys, I do, but they aren't a perfect group of people. They just criticism everyone's work like they are. We're suppose to ignore the giant dump they take on anything and everything that comes out. I genuinely think the people beyond The Star Wars Sequel Trilogy sought out to create a great story. To honor what came before. In many respect they did. They aren't George Lucas though.

There is legitimate criticism towards Disney for how it has handled the Star Wars franchise. Currently it can't exactly be be described as quality over quantity. The writers seem like they are writing for early 00s Disney Channel rather a complex space political fairytale. Characterization has not been wonderful. Again, it's not simple. While Disney has not steered the ship perfectly. I would argue there was an audience sitting in ill will and waiting to be disappointment.

[dalekofchaos]

My thoughts on Adam Driver's interview on Bendemption/Dyad/Reylo not being planned.

As much as I love Reylo, I honestly would've preferred Supreme Leader Kylo Ren as the big bad of the sequel trilogy.

And honestly? The vibe I got with Rian is he still intended for Kylo Ren to go down the path of the big bad. It was the studio who chose for the result we got because they saw how big the Reylo fandom got, but wanted to appease all sides, hence the stupid result we got.

A part of me feels like the entire trilogy was building up Kylo Ren as the villain. If it were his destiny to abandon the dark side and The First Order, he would have either joined Rey or left in exile and eventually return and join Rey to end the war together. But that didn’t happen. Trust me I wanted that to happen, I wanted Rey to convince Ben to stop the fleet, take her hand and come home and while Rey flies the Falcon, Ben goes to Luke and Leia to make amends. Then Luke and Ben together would stop The First Order on Crait.

But here’s why I think TLJ was setting up Kylo Ren as the villain. In TFA, Kylo Ren killed Han Solo, but did not yet fully embrace the dark side. The deed split his spirit to the bone, which made him unbalanced and conflicted. He was so conflicted that in TLJ, he was unable to pull the trigger to kill his mother. At this point, he still felt a call to the light. Also, in ROTJ, Palpatine said to Luke, “Strike me down with all of your hatred, and your journey toward the dark side will be complete”. While Luke resisted temptation, Kylo Ren did not. When faced with the opportunity to kill Snoke, he didn’t hesitate. I see him turning the lightsaber to strike true. And now, foolish child. He ignites it, and kills his true enemy! At this moment, his journey towards the Dark Side is complete. Then, after the fight against the Praetorian Guards, Kylo Ren was given a chance by Rey to be redeemed. However, he went straight for the throne. He went straight for power. Even during the Battle Of Crait, knowing very well that Leia was probably in the base, Kylo still gave the command to take no prisoners. He was now willing to kill his mother and even ordered that the Falcon be shot out of the sky with both Rey and Chewie on board. He killed Han and Snoke. He was willing to kill Leia, and he indirectly caused Luke’s death. From this point of view, Kylo Ren has fully cemented himself in the dark side and it was a shame we could not continue this path and a shame they just HAD TO bring back Palpatine.

To me Kylo Ren is what Vader could've been had he reached his full potential. A Vader who was never wounded on Mustafar, a Vader who killed a close family member and his master. He is the villain they were looking for, but no they had to course correct.

Now yes, it would've been sad that Ben dying unredeemed as much as Ben dying after being redeemed. My suggestion is if villain Kylo happens, we could either get the following

Ben lets the light in and surrenders to Rey and does what he should've done and call off the fleet. Ben makes peace with Leia and it ends with The First Order and Resistance signing a peace treaty, while also symbolizing the balance in the force and peace in the Skywalker family

Exile. After embracing the light and doing the right thing, Ben knows he cannot live the life his family wanted for him. He cannot live a peaceful life with Rey after everything he's done, so Ben goes into exile on Ach-To or Jakku to repent for the life he lived.

Atonement. Basically what should've happened in TROS. Ben lives and has to separate from Rey. He takes the Falcon and goes to snuff out First Order holdouts and releases the systems that was conquered in his name. To make things right and the movie ends with Ben walking off into the sunset like an old Spaghetti Western like ROTJ was originally meant to end.

Paying for his crimes. Kylo Ren refuses to let the light in and gives into the dark side fully. But Rey won't kill him, not after promising Leia. So Rey would disarm Ben, destroy his lightsaber and sever Ben's connection to the force. So he cannot harm anyone ever again. The war is over.

The First Order would be put on trial. Kylo Ren, Hux and Phasma(ideally she lives and faces punishment) would be put on a Nuremberg styled trial as they are tried as War Criminals. Just the thought of the FO leadership facing a Space Nuremberg tribunal is too fun to think about. Just imagine Ren, Phasma & Hux backstabbing and shit-talking each other in jail. Then we see the people who are the victims of their atrocities. Finn and the various Stormtroopers who were forced as children to kill for them. Eila and Kel from SW Resistance tells everyone exactly what Kylo did to their home planet of Tehar. Kazuda Xiono and the rest of the Hosnian Prime survivors will voice heartbreak and outrage for what Hux did, while Hux reminds everyone “I am not alone to blame, Supreme Leader Ren was there as I voiced the plan to Snoke, he did not object and stood by and watched from a distance and did nothing he is just as guilty.” Both Poe and Finn will come forth as witnesses to the massacre of Tuanul. Rey will then come to Finn and stand as witness to the murder of Han Solo. Rose will voice what the First Order did to her home and how Hux confirmed it when she was aboard the Supremacy. R2-D2 will come forth showing the footage of the Jedi massacre. Rey and Poe will come forth and say they were victims of torture by his use of the force and Rey then say “I gave him the chance to turn his back on the FO and save the Resistance twice, to save his mother and he still chose to let everyone die and he almost succeeded on Crait. and still gave the order to wage war until the very last man” Literally everything is stacked against them and finally, Kylo, Phasma and Hux will get their say. Phasma will be unapologetic for her actions. “I grew up on a hellhole. Each day clawing my way to stay alive. I killed my own family. Went from clan to clan. Then one day The First Order came. I saw my opportunity and I chose them. I saw power, strength, order and unity. And I did what I had to do to get to where I am today. I do not regret what I’ve done in the name of The FIrst Order or rescuing children and forging them into an army the likes of which this galaxy has never seen.” Phasma then looks at Finn and her former Stormtroopers. “Only you chose disobedience and cowardice instead of greatness. I don’t regret it. That’s the difference between us. I know what I am, and I embrace it. I’m proud of it. I fought for everything that I have, every bit of what I am.” Hux will go on a Nazi like rant, saying the New Republic was a lawless and corrupt state that usurped it’s rightful government and it deserved to die! He shows absolutely no remorse whatsoever, only pride. “WE COULD HAVE DESTROYED THE LOATHSOME RESISTANCE, IF ONLY OUR SUPREME LEADER DID NOT LET HIS PATHETIC EMOTIONS CLOUD HIS JUDGEMENT!” Hux will say “LONG LIVE THE FIRST ORDER!” and does his salute and expects his former men to do the same, only the former Stormtroopers doesn’t do anything but look down in shame. Kylo Ren will show just as little care or empathy for his actions. Basically he will say the galaxy fell without Imperial rule. Without the example of Darth Vader. He will dare claim “I became a stronger Vader, one not held back by sentiment or compassion. I killed the past and became better for it. I was abandoned by everyone, but came back to burn everything down. I do not apologize for ANYTHING I DID! I AM PROUD OF IT. I AM THE SUPREME LEADER AND MASTER OF THE KNIGHTS OF REN, WHERE WOULD YOU BE WITHOUT ME OR THE FIRST ORDER? A CORRUPT GOVERNMENT THAT ALLOWED SLAVERY AND A LAWLESS GALAXY? WE BROUGHT ORDER BACK TO THE GALAXY! I UNITED YOU AGAINST ME AND YOU BECAME STRONGER FOR IT! YOU ALL NEEDED ME! WHERE WOULD ANY OF YOU BE WITHOUT ME? Do what you will, I know what we did was right.”

WIth that, The First Order Triumvirate is sentenced for life in prison. Phasma still looking as the sole survivor. Hux uttering threats. In one final moment, Kylo Ren would be taunting Leia and Rey. Goading them all to sentence them all to be killed by a firing squad. Leia turns away with Poe wrapping an arm around her, Finn & Rey supporting her.

Even though I ship Reylo and love what Ben Solo could've been. Even I understand that in the context of no redemption, dyad or Reylo existing. Kylo Ren ending the trilogy as a disgraced and jailed war criminal seems to be the only realistic solution the more I think about it. Leia doesn’t lose her son but he faces consequences for his crimes. He absolutely must face the consequences of his actions and spend the rest of his life imprisoned for crimes against the galaxy and the Republic. Kylo Ren does not get to have a happy ending. He stood by as Hosnian Prime was wiped out, he killed Han, Luke and wanted to kill Leia, Finn and Rey and countless other atrocities. He chose his path and he has to live with the consequences of his actions.

But overall I'm glad we got Bendemption and Reylo, even if it ended poorly, but ultimately I recognize Carrie Fisher’s death radically affected the plot of Ep IX for better or for worse.

[unpassive-viewer]

The Hunger Games: Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (mild spoilers)

Welcome, welcome to the [10th] annual Hunger Games,

Good news everyone, I'm living my best life and back in the depths of my Hunger Games obsession that I'd thought I'd retired at thirteen years old. I saw the Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes and by golly do I have some opinions.

TL;DR: This was overall a fun film, although WAY too long. By Act 3 I just wanted to go home. Still a good watch, but I could have used an intermission or something.

Staying true to the vibe of the Hunger Games franchise, director Francis Lawrence is back with lots of wide angle shots and close-ups, explosions and rubble. He did a pretty good job of translating young Snow's inner narrative to the screen, although I don't think he totally captured what a sociopath the character was throughout the entire book (which I have indeed read).

The casting, as was the case in the first 4 movies, was pretty much perfect. I liked that the other characters were interesting outside of the Lucy Gray/Snow narrative. Hunter Schafer dominated every single scene she was in. The shot where she, Sajanus and Snow watch Lucy Gray on television? You could've removed Tom Blythe and Josh Andres Rivera and I would not have noticed. She carried.

Viola Davis and Peter Dinklage were equally interesting. I wish Peter Dinklage's character had more screen time, he played his part so well. And as we know, I would lie down on train tracks if Viola Davis asked me to, so that's my opinion on that. Although her red and white outfit was... interesting.

Rachel Zegler was amazing, and her voice was so pretty that I actually did not mind how often they made her sing... (seriously, there was so much singing. An unbelievable amount of singing for a non-Disney princess movie). She and Tom Blythe have wicked chemistry, even when he decides to go full Evil Snow in the second half of the film. The only thing I really couldn't stand was how she couldn't maintain her accent.

I really wish that the second half of the movie had more character interactions outside of the Lucy Gray/Snow dyad. I felt that's where the film got a little dry - I simply did not care about their relationship, regardless of what it meant to Snow's character development. Their interactions in the first half benefitted a lot from those around them, rather than their blossoming interest in one another.

The costume and set design in this film was super interesting. The first film in the Hunger Games trilogy leaned very hard into displaying the Capitol's culture through their clothing, since we got so few glimpses into the citizen's actual lives. I feel this film did that equally well, although I didn't feel it adequately showed the depth of Snow's poverty. Considering this was incredibly important to his character arc, I wish we could've seen more of that.

I also didn't particularly like how obvious the callbacks to the original films were. I think the comments about swamp potatoes could have been scaled back. I also would have appreciated if there was less focus on the hanging tree song. To me there were too many direct ties to the scenes we got in the 74th/75th Hunger Games. Culture changes a lot in sixty years - lyrics change, tunes change, dances change, clothes change. Too much of this film felt like it stopped time between what is technically the next Hunger Games films.

However, the movie did get a lot right in this respect. Specifically, you can see the warping of the Appalachian culture between the 10th and 74th Hunger Games. Lucy Gray's character belonging to a travelling band was a great illustration of the way that the Capitol caged its citizens for nearly 100 years.

Anyways, I watched all of the older films this week and reignited my love for Peeta and Finnick. I still like Catching Fire the most, and I don't think I'll add Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes to my annual franchise rewatch. For what it was, though, it was pretty fun. A little part of middle school me was fulfilled, remembering showing up to the original movies on opening day in full costume... (I was a nerd). I miss the fancasts for the other games, the makeup trends, the deep dives into characters on YouTube and the fan-made movies?? Ah, when times were simple.

Anyways, did you see The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes? What'd you think? Are you deep into your formerly-retired Hunger Games phase too?

Let me know.

[bearpillowmonster]

Duel of the Fates #5 and #6

Source:

I know people will be mad that Rey uses the Jedi mind trick on Poe but it's an interesting idea to use it on an ally. Not to mention that Luke out right says both Kylo and Rey will be more powerful than Vader and Leia's "Rey, help us." The dialogue in this is prequels levels of uncomfortable, at least the prequels had intention and meaning behind them though, this just seems unfinished or like placeholder text.

I will say that though brief, I liked Luke more in TROS because here he more less just tells people what to do "Do this." "No!" both Kylo and Rey then he goes to complain to Leia, they could've delivered on that idea better. Finn gets a much better role though, they do a decent stormtrooper rise and he's also the one to rally forces together (but don't worry he still does those occasional screams just not for Rey).

Lando comes back, it's more of a surprise this time around. They introduce "Brutetroops" which sound cool, they have helmets similar to Shoretroops

but chrome, yet I thought that's what made Phasma unique and when it was pitched, JJ specifically said that he wouldn't have it as a regular trooper, I think...? Or Kylo for that matter.

That Han scene in TROS was great but there's a Han scene here too, it's interesting because Rey goes through some memories on Mortis and then Kylo does the same thing, they don't bring up the "dyad" though. But instead of her parents hiding her from Palps, it was Kylo, and he was doing it for Snoke, yet Kylo is supposedly around her age? I don't buy it.

Chewie flies an X-Wing while Poe flies the Falcon...wth. R2 gets shot and Finn takes his memory drive and places it in BB-8 (ay-yi-yi) but when Finn tells C-3PO to get out of the way, he refuses to leave R2's side, I really felt that, I actually almost cried, I got more feeling out of those few panels than the entirety of TROS. Daft Punk all over again.