#anyway street art my beloved

[gay-impressionist]

this this this

i love when street art pieces are already falling apart, it's like a performance in action

i love being able to discover stuff everytime i'm walking down the street, because they're new or because they've been modified. i love what comes out of these strange collaborations

like this mirror, which only had the white words at the top at first ("mais ce que tu es belle"), intending to make women acknowledge how beautiful they are. then several people painted over it, making the mirror unusable and turning it into an environmentalist piece ("refuse le plastique" / "je pollue je tue").

and i love this staircase in paris. it's run by a gallery and the pieces change all the time, being painted over by other artists or even the gallery as they repaint the whole thing regularly. everytime i'm in this neighborhood i make sure to check it out because i know i'm always gonna discover new gems

What I love about street art, beside the fact that we reclaim public space to be used for other things than capitalism and constant “BUY THIS” bombardment?

The transitory nature.

Don’t get me wrong, there are pieces I’d love to be able to look at forever and ever, but it’s unlikely that I will actually be able to do so. And that’s just the way it is.

Today I thought a lot about this, because one of my favourite pieces by Wordsmith, which got destroyed by the elements during the years, had been restored/reworked/reused.

And I took pictures thinking about pieces I’ve seen before and how they changed over time.

Some just managed to stay the same through the years:

Some were clearly deliberately destroyed:

Some fell victim to the elements:

Some were in the way of the next artist:

And some - out of the want to keep them around - evolved into something new -

Sometimes by the artist themselves:

And sometimes not:

[tecchous-thicc-buttocks]

blorbos in tha phone

[youngchesstheorist]

[hotvintagepoll]

Propaganda

Hermione Baddeley (Brighton Rock, Passport to Pimlico, Mary Poppins)— An absolute mainstay of British films from this period. She’s an icon who never takes shit from anyone in any of her movies, dresses for the occasion, and has the best line delivery! Also she started out in silent movies, and was a close friend of Noel Coward. In a desperate attempt to appeal to a large tumblr fandom, I will also point out that her first husband and one of her children were both called David Tennant. You like that name, don’t you tumblr??

Glynis Johns (Mary Poppins, The Court Jester)—LISTEN, I'd let that woman's voice with all its gravely hoarseness (positive) wash over me all goddamn day, but if that's not enough she managed to play the straight woman to Danny Kaye's jester, all with her cleavage so plunging it might as well have been catapulted into the ocean right after Basil Rathbone

This is round 1 of the bracket. All other polls in this bracket can be found here. Please reblog with further support of your beloved hot sexy vintage woman.

[additional propaganda submitted under the cut.]

Glynis Johns propaganda:

She walks the line between sexy and cute. Her best role for me is in "The Court Jester as Maid Jean. She's fantastic as the soft but tough captain of the outlaw band and she looks stunning in every gown she wears throughout the film. And of course we can't forget her iconic turn as the suffragette mother, Mrs. Banks, in Mary Poppins! Also shoutout to her distinctive and beautiful voice, kind of smoky and husky. Extremely hot and set her apart from many of her peers."

"Listen, listen. I was raised on Mary Poppins and "Votes for women! (step in time)" single-handedly taught me how to be a feminist. Also The Court Jester is one of my favourite movies of all time and she is UNBELIEVABLY gorgeous, charismatic, funny, and clever in it. She knocks several men out. Absolute icon."

"Like Bette Davis she has eyes to die for. Unlike Bette Davis you felt comforted by them, even when she was batting her eyelashes at you. Would glady go to Downing Street with her and throw things at the Prime minister"

"She had this wonderful wit and charm to her no matter the role and the most distinctive, striking voice!"

"She was amazing in Mary Poppins (the Suffragette song is severely underrated) and apparently she was Welsh? National pride! And she advocated for arts funding in Wales, which is very cool. Also, she died recently (RIP) making her one of the last survivors of the Golden Age of Hollywood, according to Wikipedia. Also also, she just has a cheeky energy I like? And her eyes are beautiful!"

"I mean, incredibly beautiful and talented, can do drama can do comedy. And she was a mermaid."

"I love Glynis Johns. Most of the reason is The Court Jester where she's a sensible and capable foil to whatever what going on with Danny Kaye at the time. She was also the first star I based an OC on. An OC that I still have to this day! Anyway here have some YouTube links love u bye"

Mermaid clip: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/1jUEA03mYTk

Court Jester (sharing a bed trope): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5d_qG9i054U

Court Jester (seducing the king): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-GuqFYElKg

"VOTES FOR WOMEN! Well, votes for this woman. Please."

Hermione Baddeley propaganda:

Propaganda for both Hermione and Glynis:

[kerubimcrepin]

Dofus: The Production - what is left of the old movie

Originally, the movie was supposed to tie in with the game and the Welsh & Shedar series, and be a trilogy.

As we had already explored on this blog, this did not happen for a variety of reasons.

Welsh and Shedar got cannibalized by other projects due to its cancellation, and the script of the movie "Dofus Book 1: Joris Jurgen" had to be completely rewritten from its old plot;

In that movie, Joris was likely supposed to be a street urchin, who survived together with Lilotte, who was a rogue, and the trailer we have for the older version of the movie reflects that:

As we can also see from the trailer, and the poster featured earlier, proto-Kerubim is also a part of the movie, and Khan was not yet meant to be a boufbowler.

(And considering the posters, the cat that inspired Kerubim's design was also a part of the movie. I wonder if it's related to Welsh's cat from Welsh and Shedar? But maybe I'm just crazy.)

Subsequently, the movie came out at a much later date than planned originally.

(two images included because, bizarrely, there are two versions - one with Joris's tail censored, and the other with his tail uncensored. This proves that already at this point they had a draconic backstory in mind for him, though we do know that at the time of Wakfu season 1 (and, likely, the cancelled DS game, as was noted in my post about it) it was not the case.)

Also, interestingly, it is the only art of this time to include the tail. A possible error on Xa's part, or something that was considered very briefly?

In the end, Kerubim (as well as Simone) swallowed up not just the design of Welsh's cat, clothes, and Ecaflip friend;

He also got the role Julith was supposed to have, both metaphorically, and also literally.

Or not entirely — considering the fact that Joris was supposed to spend time with him anyway, since we have art of Joris on his mount from that old draft.

It's quite interesting, to think of all that could have been different in the 2009-2012 version of the movie!

But even during the making of the second draft of the movie, a lot of things have changed. From the first idea of Joris winning Kerubim back at a pachinko machine, to the concept art of Joris's non-possessed appearance.

The movie was being actively rewritten at the time of the making of Aux Tresors, so some of the early drafts were already tied in with its canon — taking place in Astrub, to be specific — but not with its ending, because the show was still ongoing.

At one point there was supposed to be a whole cast of Huppermage characters, and judging from the fact one of them is mentioned in the following text, they did play some sort of role in the plot:

It is likely that from this early draft it was decided that Joris would be a boufbowl fan, which was then worked in as a plot point in Aux Tresors.

(Stélina may be a proto-version of Bakara.)

It also seems that at this stage, it would be likely that Lilotte was reworked to be the Princess of Bonta, before eventually becoming the Ouginak we know and love.

After this Ankama once again returned to the concept of Lilotte as an orphan, though — even when the movie was still set in Astrub!

And it seems that the draft involved travel between Astrub and Bonta, judging from the usage of a Zaap to attack Luis.

And even at this point they have come up with the tragically cut "Joris and Khan go to adult industry workers and Joris (10yo boy) engages in depressed underaged drinking" scene.

(I'll never forgive Ankama for cutting this. I still argue that it's in character for Khan, our detested/beloved turbovirgin, to do this — as long as he doesn't get together with any of the women due to thinking himself "too good" for them.)

Also, at some point the gods were supposed to play a role. And personally, I am glad it was cut — it feels a bit too grand for the first movie in what was supposed to be a series.

I don't have any grand statement, or conclusion, but it is interesting to see all the ways the movie has changed.

[thecarnivorousmuffinmeta]

Now that there's an animated adaptation of Midnight Sun coming, and given the industry's recent track record (see: Minecraft Movie), what's the worst, bad faith, cash grab adaptation idea you can imagine? I figure if we inoculate ourselves then the reality won't suck so much.

My nightmare: Streaming has a long history of making shitty attempts at "adult animation", so we'll get an Edward who constantly cusses and does lewd jokes. It'll be like the HBO adult animated Velma (Scooby Doo) show where the writers' disdain for the characters fills every scene. The first episode will focus on how Carlisle helps plan a murder of some overly suspicious deputy so they can keep living in Forks.

Anyways, worst case theories? So we can feel better when it's not THAT bad? Or else use the apollo prophecy meme on your post a year or two from now.

My 'realistic' prediction

Twilight: The Edgy Animated Adult Series with Twelve Times More Drugs and Swearing

Oh man, yours is worse than mine. I mean this guessing the future business is a little silly in general, but I think that wouldn't happen as Twilight's not...

How do I put this?

Scooby Doo is a beloved, vintage, IP that's so well-known it's a part of American culture/Americana. It's in that weird place where it's acceptable to do edgy reboots of it because everyone already knows the premise of the Scooby gang, each individual character, the bad guys, and their mysteries.

You don't have to explain who any of the characters are supposed to be, so you get a "ah ha ha ha isn't it funny that Velma swears now?" because you know she's from a 1960's cartoon.

Twilight's not quite old enough for that and, at least in my opinion, not pervasive enough for that. It was a huge sensation, but was never as big as HP, and dominated only a subset of the YA audience (female-targeted YA romance). Ask a person off the street and the most they can probably, maybe, tell you is "sparkly vampires and Team Edward and Team Jacob". So, at best you get riffs like we saw when Twilight came out with the Simpsons and various other parodies where the parodies... really didn't know what to do with the characters or what it was even about. "Milhouse turns into a poodle, I guess? Is that funny? It's funny, right?"

Twilight just isn't old enough and as big as it was, I don't think was widespread enough.

So, I think we're going to get an earnest reboot.

But you do now have me concerned. And I may be eating my words later on this post and reblogging with a clown face.

Other Theories

Alright, let's see what we've got/what we can come up with:

Yours: HBO adult comedy horror fest

Mine: Boring, Snoozeville, Tame, Generically Arted Palatable Twilight that is Designed to Be as Appealing as Possible

Other options I can think of are...

Interview with a Vampirepalooza/Oh God I Don't Know What's Popular: given the recent success of Interview with a Vampire, an edgier adult story with adult characters, Netflix will look to make Twilight their exact own version of that. Except they won't understand what made it work there. We sexy it up but in a CW way, the kids are all still in high school but the fact that the Cullens are fucking each other is brought up relentlessly in an edgy way. The vampires all look hot, hot, hot but in a normal human way where you're not terrified they're some crystal robot out to eat your limbs. We'll keep some of the artsy weird dialogue, but Edward will be both somehow made more sympathetic (as he is the lead we end up with) and 'dark' where he's dangerous in a sexy way and not in a "you smell like my personal heroin way".

The Buffy Route: remember that one teen show from the 90's that was so good it spun off an entire genre of television that essentially hadn't existed before? Twilight becomes a fun teen oriented show where the characters say witty, fun, teenage-like things and get into episodic mysteries while somehow trying to remain in the realm of Twilight. Edward loses his edge, Bella loses her unrelatable nature, and we really play up every time a character has a funny line and write a lot more in there. Unfortunately, it's not a well written teen comedy show and so the lines are just generally bad and the plot never seems to go anywhere and it's just boring.

Hannibal the Twilight: some really artsy director gets involved and we now have a show where the symbolism of Edward walking around as a man-deer takes over the entire fucking thing. Nothing ever happens, Edward just shows up in Bella's dreams as a snarling man deer. When characters talk to each other, it's in artsy nonsense dialogue where it feels like both are reading 2000's era chatbot scripts to one another as they mix metaphors about ponies, china pottery, and dust motes. The plot is so non-existant the only important episodes to watch in a season are the premier and finale, except even then it's unclear what happened.

Audience Input

Anyone else got any wild guesses here?

[wingedblooms]

Elain Archeron, member of The Tortured Poets Department

i’m hearing voices like a madman - so high school

i’m seeing visions / am I bad or mad or wise? - guilty as sin?

you can mark my words that I said it first / in a mourning warning, no one heard - cassandra

and for a fortnight there, we were forever - fortnight

leaving me bereft and reeling / my beloved ghost and me / sitting in a tree / d-y-i-n-g - how did it end?

i saw in my mind fairy lights through the mist - so long, london

i cry a lot, but I am so productive, it's an art - i can do it with a broken heart

but my bare hands paved their paths / you don't get to tell me about "sad" - who’s afraid of little old me?

so I leap from the gallows and I levitate down your street / crash the party like a record scratch as I scream / "who's afraid of little old me?" / you should be - who’s afraid of little old me?

i hate it here so I will go to secret gardens in my mind - i hate it here

one slip and fallin' back into the hedge maze […] i keep recalling things we never did - guilty as sin?

these fatal fantasies / giving way to labored breath, takin' all of me / we’ve already done it in my head / if it's make-believe / why does it feel like a vow we'll both uphold somehow? - guilty as sin?

wise men once said / "one bad seed kills the garden" / "one less temptress, one less dagger to sharpen" / locked me up in towers / but I'd visit in your dreams / and they tried to warn you about me - the albatross

a rose by any other name is a scandal / cautions issued, he stood - the albatross

i spied the catch in your breath - i look in people’s windows

what if I roll the stone away? / they’re gonna crucify me anyway / what if the way you hold me is actually what's holy? - guilty as sin?

"stay away from her" / the saboteurs protested too much - but daddy i love him

crashin' into him tonight, he's a paradox - guilty as sin?

it’s happenin' again / how did it end? / i can't pretend like I understand - how did it end?

this cage was once just fine / am I allowed to cry? / i dream of crackin' locks - guilty as sin?

thought I caught lightning in a bottle / oh, but it's gone again […] please / i’ve been on my knees / change the prophecy / don't want money / just someone who wants my company / let it once be me - the prophecy

cards on thе table / mine play out like fools in a fablе […] poison blood from the wound of the pricked hand / oh, still I dream of him - the prophecy

lilac short skirt, the one that fits me like skin […] and I'll tell you one thing, honey / i can tell when somebody still wants me, come clean - imgonnagetyouback

i, i hear thе whispers in your eyes / i’ll make you wanna think twice / you'll find that you were never not mine / (you’re mine) - imgonnagetyouback

'cause the sign on your heart / said it's still reserved for me / honestly, who are we to fight thе alchemy? - the alchemy

i'll tell you something right now / i’d rather burn my whole life down […] i'll tell you something 'bout my good name / it’s mine alone to disgrace / i don't cater to all these vipers dressed in empath's clothing - but daddy i love him

if long-suffering propriety is what they want from me / they don't know how you've haunted me so stunningly / i choose you and me religiously - guilty as sin?

[theriverbeyond]

#SPOILERS

ok so I watched arcane s2 act 1 and my immediate reaction is mostly mixed -- I think there was gorgeous art and strong individual emotional beats but I think it all got watered down by everything else -- I did LIKE it, I guess (?) and am reserving full judgement for the whole season until the next 2 acts release, but yeah.

warning for SPOILERS and also critiques below:

the deluge of new characters I have no reason to care about, and whom i am given no specific reason to care about (besides the itty bitty one, and that's just bc they are a child) does not hit. I dojt get it. why are these people special or chosen for the strike squad. they're just randos, and fangirls and one of them is a random dude you all seem to have grabbed off the street (?) also who tf is amara. was she even in season 1 at all?

the integrated music videos felt significantly LESS integrated this season than the last. last season it felt like the "music video" segments were just like.... really well done and stylized parts of the show, here they feel more like clipshows or standalone music videos during which the actual show takes a pause. some of them do advance the plot and all are gorgeously done but like, I dunno. feels a bit much, honestly, especially in a show that NEEDS to be incredibly economical with its time

relating to that, it feels as if nothing really happened at all besides setup, and I guess that was perhaps narratively necessary, but using THREE episodes of a 9 episode season to set up the plot feels..... REALLY wasteful, especially when i feel like those 3 episodes didnt have a tight plot OR tight character focus. everything feels very loose. the timeskip between s1 and s2 is like.... idk! why did we skip that. why didnt we just skip farther. how is Vi suddenly beloved by topside those bitches hate her!!! anyway. there is a lot happening and a lot being set up and, as i said before, a LOT of new characters being introduced and I'm not very emotionally invested in most of them. The differences between act 1 s1 and act 1 s2 are feeling incredibly stark right now.

To me, Arcane has always been a character driven work, so I can forgive it of plot issues if the emotional focus and character arcs are strong. I.... didn't feel that here! and even the big character moments didn't quite hit. for me. like ok CaitVi kissed. but like. they've known each other for a week? Why are they acting married? The most resonant and emotionally intense part of the CaitVi arc in act 1 was when Caitlyn HIT HER with HER GUN, in a way that felt deeply reminiscent of how encorcers probably hit Vi when she was in prison. And that was like at the very end. sorry but the kiss just did not hit for me. sorry. so sorry. you can kill me with Hammers if yuo want to

A lot of characters seem to be making plot centric decisions that simply do not feel within their character. Vi becoming an enforcer -- I literally do not care about the game, it is emotionally inconceivable for show!Vi to do be super down with gassing the undercity. Jinx and Sevika suddenly being buddy buddy is weird, even thought i LIKE it, it just feels.... fast. Jinx's arc, emotionally, feels the best and most consistant, and I feel like there's so much setup happening it isn't given the space it needs to breathe. Caitlyn becoming a facist is like.... fine, I guess. I really like the emotional conflict this inserts to the story but again it just feels inconsistant with her lifelong characterization as someone who is out of place on the force. also didn't she actually get fired lol. why is there a Kiramann supercomputer.

a lot of stuff just feels emotionally really off. Cait going wild with anger in her grief is fine, but then it feels.... bad that the redhead bitch who's CHILD Jace KILLED last season is a villian for wanting revenge also? maybe this is just an inherent weakness of the genre. or the source material. or whatever. i mean season 1 was pretty enforcer-critical at least in the first 2 acts. sorry for wanting a story made by people with money to be consistant in its negative framing of cops :/

l am deeply confused about the Noxian angle here -- I think it serves a meta narrative function of giving Topside and Bottom (aka, all the characters we care about, who hate each other rn) a common enemy to rally against, but there is just. a lot going on, honestly. too much? only time will tell. this all makes me deeply concerned/curious about the governmental system of Piltover though. why is Caitlyn like the town King now. why are they not electing new councilors.

don't even get me started on viktor being undercity jesus

Anyway. things I liked: the opening, especially its contrast to season 1. Jinx & Vi's fistfight was incredible I just wish Vi felt more emotionally consistant BEFORE it happened. I really LIKE jinx being given essentially a second chance in the form of saving and caring for a child in a situation that puts HER in a reversed position from her youth. like OK it definitely feels way out of left field but like, that's fine I guess. I like what they're doing with the kid. the art is gorgeous as always. I love how the enforcer squad is represented like hunting hounds, coming out of the gas. unfortunately i think their gas masks are wildly erotic. anyway. what was i saying?

that's my immediate thoughts. I'm definitely open for comments/explaining, but i really don't like the "it makes sense if you play the game/pay attention to LoL meta" kind of explanations I see thrown around -- it's a narrative weakness to be relying on viewers to know LoL lore, especially on the heels of season 1, which didn't need viewers to know anything.

[finnlongman]

About Me, My Books, and My Research (2024 Edition)

Hi, I'm Finn, a writer, medievalist, and all-round nerd. You may know me as the author of The Butterfly Assassin, "that person who wrote the trans Cú Chulainn article", the weird nerd in the Tumblr corner writing excessively long and incomprehensibly niche posts about their research, or something else entirely. I am all of those things! (Well, depending on what the 'something else' is, anyway...)

Currently, I'm a PhD student at the University of Cambridge researching friendship in the late Ulster Cycle (c. 12th-17th centuries). I have an MA in Early and Medieval Irish from University College Cork, and wrote my thesis about Láeg mac Ríangabra, my best beloved. I also have an undergrad degree in Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic from Cambridge, and wrote my dissertation about queer readings of Táin Bó Cúailnge, including transmasculine readings of Cú Chulainn.

You can find out more about my research on my website, which also includes info about all of my academic publications. This includes the aforementioned "trans Cú Chulainn article", an article about Láeg in the Death of Cú Chulainn, an article about the seven Maines, and a discussion of a conference on Caoineadh Airt Uí Laoghaire from the perspective of my own work on lament and grief. Whenever possible, I try to make my research available Open Access. If you're ever having trouble finding one of my articles, please contact me!

If you want recommendations for books about medieval Irish (or Welsh) literature, this list on my Bookshop page has all my go-to recommendations. If you buy via this link, I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you, so this is a great way to support me.

I am also an author, and I write both YA and adult novels. Again, my website is the place to go for all the info and links, but a quick summary:

The Butterfly Assassin trilogy (The Butterfly Assassin, 2022; The Hummingbird Killer, 2023; Moth to a Flame, 2024): YA thrillers about a traumatised teenage assassin who is trying (and failing) to live a normal life in a fictional closed city in Yorkshire. Featuring friendship, street art, Esperanto, zero romance, and a whole lot of murder, as well as increasingly unsubtle commentary on the UK arms industry and the military recruitment of vulnerable teenagers.

The Wolf and His King (coming Spring 2025 from Gollancz): a queer retelling of 'Bisclavret' by Marie de France which uses werewolfism as a metaphor to explore chronic pain and illness. Also very much about yearning, exile, and the mortifying ordeal of being known.

The Animals We Became (coming 2026 from Gollancz): a queertrans retelling of the Fourth Branch of the Mabinogi looking at gender, compulsory heterosexuality, and trauma, through the medium of nonconsensual animal transformations.

To Run With The Hound (coming 2027 from Gollancz): my take on the Ulster Cycle, looking at why Táin Bó Cúailnge is a tragedy and what it means to be doomed by the narrative, but not in the way you thought you were. Featuring a lot of feelings about Cú Chulainn, Fer Diad, and Láeg.

You can find out more about my recently-announced medieval retellings in this blog post.

I generally tag personal posts and selfies as “#about the author”; other than that, I think I’m pretty straightforward with my tagging system.

I’m very happy to answer questions about medieval Irish lit, my research, or my books, or just generally to chat. Send questions via asks, chat via DMs, and if you're looking for my articles, you can email me at finn [at] finnlongman [dot] com, which is also the best way to contact me for professional enquiries, whether academic or fiction related.

You can also find me on Bluesky, on Instagram, and on YouTube, where I (infrequently) retell medieval Irish stories for a general audience with lots of sarcasm and hand gestures. Technically I'm still on Twitter, but I'm trying to leave.

And finally, if you’ve found my research interesting or just generally want to support me, I have a tip jar and am always immensely grateful when somebody helps me to fund my book-buying habits: http://ko-fi.com/fianaigecht. You can also tip me directly on Tumblr if you like. I’m also a Bookshop affiliate, and you can buy books from my recommendation lists to support me and get some great reads at the same time.

[garmmy]

2024 jp trip report (sights edition)

i just returned from my week-long tokyo trip, and wanted to log them down so i can remember where i went. i split up the food and sights posts thanks to tumblr's image limit per post. also apologies for my unflattering pictures😂 i don't have a particularly good phone, i was taking pics more for the memories than the niceness

(food edition here)

Day 2 (14/5/2024)

starting with day 2 because we arrived at night on day 1.

we started the day at nakano broadway...where we spent too much time and money!! with its 10000 mandarake and other retro/anime goods stores. i forgot to take a closer picture of the entrance…anyway, just like in the hit video game Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth for the PS Vita and Nintendo Switch and PC and-

(expensive!!) twintails!! my beloved... <does not watch ultraman

and pokemon center in sunshine city ikebukuro! a very cool miraidon statue...and also a quaxly butt for some reason 😂

Day 3 (15/5/2024)

we walked around akiba and asakusa today. for a weeb in particular, i don't think you could finish walking akiba even in a week...anyway, just like in the video game Digimon Story Cyber Sl-

we walked the multi-storey donki in akiba. of particular note is the signage for the 'pokemon corner'....i'm crying 😭 love this graphic design

so we went around mandarake and a few other anime merch spots. soul hackers 2 merch spotted???? (i didn't get it since i didn't really need more acrylic stands.. :') arrow and his lil poltergeist friend tho...)

while walking, we passed by the otahimeinari shrine. it's always really nice to find these in the middle of the city..the tree's fruit were also huge!!

before we headed to asakusa, we walked by jinbocho. just like in the hit video game Persona 5 for the PS3- while i wish we had a bit more time to spend there (i would have loved to find some japanese language/linguistics-related books from prewar era), i really think most of the old books there are out of my depth 🤣 (it is a very nice place to stroll for lovers of old books and book smell though)

and after some train line switching screwups we made it to asakusa. as expected it's crowded even on a weekday! we saw the famous kaminarimon and also walked down the streets.

Day 4 (16/5/2024)

we started the day at tsukiji outer market, which was very near tsukiji hongwanji! beautiful buddhist temple. (also just like in the hit video game Shin Megami Tensei IV for the Nintendo 3DS)

we went on to ginza which was nearby, and made it to itoya, the multi-storey stationery store i spent too much time and money in 😩 they even had a paper shadowbox art exhibition below! the art pieces on showcase there are 🤯 beautiful...

before leaving ginza/hibiya area...shin godzilla spotted!!

then we went to tokyo skytree and did..even more shopping... (and even though i didn't get any reservations it was so cute to see kirby cafe in person ;w;)

and then we headed to ryogoku, the sumo town, for dinner. it's near sumida river so i couldn't resist getting a view...just like in the hit video game Paranormasight for Nintendo Switch and PC (ok i don't think this is the correct bridge 🤣 but the view was still very nice! and we DID go to the ryogoku bridge too though i didn't get a good pic of it)

Day 5 (17/5/2024)

we started at shinjuku today to walk to shibuya. this was the day that totally killed my feet T_T (not that the other days didn't already lol). apparently the other days were averaging 10k steps but this day was 30k?? i'm not a fit person to begin with..

anyway we were greeted by a giant cat overlord near shinjuku station exit!

godzilla spotted again! and we also spent a bit too much at the multi-storey tokyu hands here...

nearby takeshita street, we took a walk to meiji jingu shrine. just like in persona fiv- i especially enjoyed the walk to the shrine (now if only i didn't have foot pain from excessive walking), the scale of the pathway and trees! coupled with the wonderful 25? celsius weather...i still miss it as i'm writing this while back in singapore where i'm sweating just by existing. lol

on the way to shibuya, we dropped by this store called 'birdmore' specialising in birb merch and pet bird goods. MY JAW WAS ON THE FLOOR this is the first time i saw sooo many birb-themed items in one place 😭 from socks to bags to stationery to mugs and bags everything. though the species are a bit focused on the few species that generally get the birb merch in japan (budgies, cockatiels, tits, bunchou, shoebill, etc.).

i had a little talk with the shopkeeper and i mentioned we were from singapore, and she said she was envious as she wanted to visit our birdpark ;w; i told her that the birdpark moved to mandai and how the birds are flying around outside of cages and are not scared of people so you can get reallyy close to them, and she seemed so excited..aa i really hope she gets to go one day..!!

we reached shibuya parco, and...DIGIMON CORNER... i think i could cry seeing a bunch of digimon merch lined up like that in person 😭😭😭 i wanted to buy up all of these otedama SO BAD but unfortunately money and space are an issue lol. i ended up settling for an imperialdramon DM otedama ;w;

there was also a capcom store at shibuya parco! of particular interest to me were the monhun and ace attorney otedama, they didn't have otedama of susato nor my boi yian kut-ku tho...😭 it was a tough choice between nargacuga and maya ace attorney but i settled for narga ;v; (crying at otedama edgey's face though)

some other iconic locations in shibuya! just like in the video game The World Ends With You for Nintendo DS and various other-

also before we return to the hotel..the ike-fukuro statue at ikebukuro station! (TL note: fukurou is japanese for the ural owl)

Day 6 (18/5/2024)

we took a day trip to miura peninsula today (it's about an hour train ride from tokyo), using the misaki maguro ticket! i gotta get some fresh tuna sashimi while i'm in japan 😤 this might be my fave day among the days...idk, i just really enjoyed the walk and sights and food and overall experience on this day soo much ;v;;

just like everywhere in japan they have to have their own cute mascot characters....miura tunanosuke the daikon-wielding tuna samurai and miuran the sakura fairy(??)

miura beach! a very short walk from miurakaigan station and a wonderful view. also, it's just like in the hit video game Persona 5 for- (i swear i'm not specifically hunting for videogame spots lol but if i come across them why not🤭 i still find it a bit surreal how persona 1-4 were all in fictional japanese cities and suddenly..persona 5 in tokyo!)

after that we took the train to misakiguchi station and about a 20?min bus ride to misaki port. we went to the urari marche (a seafood and veg market); other than market stuffs, they had a bunch of crane machines filled with just fish and tuna merch...i respect the dedication to the theme lol! there were also other fish-related merch like this eyemask that looked like an ikura platter i wanted it so bad :')

after misaki port, we took a bus to jogashima. CATS!!!!!!! while it's not particularly a 'cat island' like some of the more famous cat islands in japan, it's still a pleasant surprise to see these cats roaming around.

and some pictures of jogashima. we walked along the uneven coast where there was no clear marked path; having stayed in the city all my life (even the nature trails here are usually cleared for easier walking) and rarely venturing overseas lol, i've never really had this sort of experience before? i didn't prepare myself for this and so my shoes meant for normal walking and not hiking kinda split halfway through the trek on uneven ground 😂 it was really beautiful, but i think because of my fitness (lack thereof) i caused extra worry...i would like to experience something like this alone sometime so i can go at my own pace without feeling pressured like i am worrying others who could've gone much faster if only i weren't there.

Day 7 (19/5/2024)

we had a morning walk at ueno park, which is HUGE and really nice to walk in, and also houses museums such as the national museum of western art, national museum of nature and science (nature museums my beloved), and tokyo national museum. sadly we didn't have time to check out the museums this time, but i'd love to visit them if i do make another trip here... my mother said before that a tour guide once told her 'singaporeans don't seem to like museums much, they prefer shopping' and sadly i am not proving that uncultured singaporean stereotype wrong with all my weeb shopping 😂😭

ueno toshogu shrine, which was built in dedication to tokugawa ieyasu. i wasn't aware till now but apparently toshogu (東照宮) refers to any shinto shrine in which ieyasu is enshrined with his deified name, and ueno toshogu is just one of the toshogu.

shinobazu pond! it was really a sight to behold in person.

ok i hit the post photo limit skdfjdkgh well the rest of the day was walking around akiba with my friend 😆 we tried to look for 13 sentinels merch (we checked out radio kaikan, suruga-ya and other places) but there was none to be found /_\ i did pass by the square enix cafe though! i was tempted to get the 16-bit arrange albums of octopath and then realised i do not have a CD player anymore..and also managed to see the one (1) bravely default merch!!

just gotta slowly save up for that next trip...someday... .w.

[peggy7447]

Connect skin and soul

Soo, after my first art piece, here's my very first fanfiction!

This tells the story of how my beloved Marshal Commander, and my cheery little Jedi medic OC have first met!

To see my art of them, click here :3

I hope to bring more about these two because I have soo many ideas in my head (and in my notes) about them, only I tend to overdo things :D (This fic meant to be around 2k. Yeah.)

(Also there's an illustration in the works for this one, so stay tuned! Note: I also tend to overdo art, so it may take a while, but it is in progress, I swear!)

Anyway, I hope you enjoy, please keep the feedback coming even if it's about mistakes! I'm always open to being better at something! (Just be kind please <3 )

Huge thanks to @electrikworm for being the beta for this one!

The beautiful divider is from @saradika

Tagsies! @lonewolflupe @tentakelspektakel

Summary: The day was a usual long one for the medic. All she needed was to get some well deserved sleep at the end of it. Only, the Force had another idea, and decided to surprise her

Rating: Teen and up

Tags and Warnings: SFW, some fluff, medical procedures, mild blood, needles, some medical jargon, attempted medical accuracy (not perfect, sometimes on purpose)

Word count: 8.666

The day was a particularly long one, stretching well into the night, but at least it was not one of the hardest. Lasha, the togruta Jedi sentinel was currently cleaning up her cozy little “doctor’s office”, her white and beige lekkus swinging after her as she was moving around and about, her violet hands efficiently putting all her instruments, medicines and wastes of the day, away. She lived on the middle levels of Coruscant, running this small medical facility. She was a healer, but not like the ones in the Jedi Temple. She was much more of a practical kind: she used the equipment the civilians did, while also wielding her talent with the Force. She liked to combine those two - felt it was the most effective way of healing. Not every little wound or injury even required the use of her special talents. 

As for the location: well, there was much less help down here, than on the upper levels of the planet, and the people needing help were more in numbers, too. She was always drawn towards the ones in need, that’s why she became a sentinel in the first place. She wanted to live among those who needed her, not above them, like most of the Jedi did. Not that those were despised by her, this was just more her way of seeing and doing things. 

As most days, this specific one also went as smoothly as it could have. There were a lot of patients, but majorly only cuts and bruises, and simple illnesses like a cold or a stomach bug. She had not even come across any clones. 

The Coruscant Guard was pretty well known to her by now. As the war had started, clones began to appear here too. They were also patrolling the lower levels, and wounds did not appear to evade the boys.

She was placing the last half-empty bottle of disinfectant on the shelf, when she felt something strange. Her stomach constricted, her brow furrowed as this unpleasant feeling crept from her gut up to her throat. It was like, worry? She was not sure. She felt worry before, of course, but somehow it was deeper; while still her own, it came through the Force. Suddenly she felt the urge to go outside into the alley beside her office.

As she stepped out of her backdoor, the usual smell of filth assaulted her nose. I am never going to get used to this, she thought disapprovingly and reached to rub the offended sensory organ on her face. She looked around in the barely lit pathway, only seeing the ever present boxes, bags and the trash container. She couldn’t see anything out of place, so she listened for a few seconds instead. Still nothing out of the ordinary: just the scurrying steps of people from the streets, the whirring of flying speeders on the airways, and the hurried hustling of small animals. She would have retreated into the clean smelling office if not for her increasing worry, so she followed her feeling and decided to check behind the container.

As usual, her instincts did not fail her: in the cover of the metal bin, slumped into the corner was a clone on the ground, unmoving. She quickly got down onto her knees beside him, and in a probe of consciousness asked him “Trooper! Are you okay?” but she got no answer. She didn’t have to search for injuries for long, because on the left side of his white chestplate blood was steadily flowing to the ground, painting it a matching red as most other parts of his armor. 

With practiced hands she went to remove his bucket. On first note, without even a thought, she sucked in a breath. She had seen this one before. This specific face had regularly presented itself in her dreams. She quickly blinked and concentrated back on the task at hand - the face underneath was pale instead of the telltale tan of the clones, making his big scar across his nose pop, his otherwise dark, but graying curls stuck to his sweaty forehead, eyes closed. She was going to have time to think about the strangeness of the situation after he was surely safe. 

As a first step she reached for the carotid, right under his chin, to check for a pulse. It was there, strong, but a bit fast, the same being the case with his breathing. Relieved that he probably won’t die in the next two seconds, she went ahead and positioned herself on his side, so she could pick him up in a bride's carry. She laid his head on her shoulder, put the bucket into his lap, then, with the help of the Force, she lifted and carried him inside. 

With the commander (assuming from his kama) safely laying on a medical bed, she went ahead and got rid of the upper set of his armor, and stashed it safely away in a closet kept for such occasions. Finding the source of the bleeding was no big task after cutting away the blood soaked undersuit. There was a neatly circular slugthrower wound on his left armpit area, steadily oozing. She grabbed a handful of bandage sheets and pushed them on the wound, slowing the flow. Next she grabbed the clone’s upper arm, and rolled him onto his right side, so she could check for an exit wound - and found one, just as perfectly circular. Grabbing another bunch of sheets, she basically clamped him like a vise between her hands. 

Now, with the bleeding controlled, she shut her eyes and reached out with the Force to map out the extent of the injury. The man had been very lucky, she had only found torn flesh, no shrapnel, and a small scrape on the brachial artery. That was the source, but the damage was luckily not big enough for a full blown arterial bleeding, thus causing the heavy, but steady flow. With the help of the Force she willed the muscles of the artery to close the small gap, and the cells of the wall to divide at a bigger than natural rate to keep it that way. Purely healing with the Force was a talling task, but in this case, it only drained her a tad bit, making her tired, but not entirely useless.

With the bleeding now mostly under control, she disposed of the bandage sheets, and went to obtain a pair of gloves, her suture kit, and an ampulla of lidocaine. Firstly she injected the anesthetic, then put her gloves on, prepared the suture and needle, and disinfected the area. With the amount of times she had to close up such wounds, she made quick work of it, only needing a few stitches per wound. 

After cutting the last bit of suture, she wiped off the remaining blood from his - surprisingly - strong shoulder, arm and chest, and inspected her work. Subcutaneous stitches with absorbable sutures would have been more preferable but with such small wounds interrupted stitches were much more practical. The clones always preferred the former ones given there was basically no further bother with it - but these kinds had to be removed. Either by herself or by their own medic. Now that was absolutely up to them - both were common occurrences. 

Making sure everything looked alright, Lasha placed two bacta patches on the wounds, and layed the still unconscious man back into a supine position. She then turned and grabbed a scanner to make sure his vitals were okay. Now that the bleeding was fully taken care of, everything should have been mostly back to normal but instead his HR was still elevated so as his breathing, and also had hypotension. She frowned - something was still going on. She adjusted the settings on her scanner and instead of just a simple vital check she had run a more thorough examination. 

“What, by the Force, have you done to yourself?” Lasha whispered out as her brows climbed up on her forehead reading the results. The clone on her cot was severely dehydrated and so fatigued like - with a slight exaggeration - he hadn’t slept in a week. “You’re definitely staying the night, Commander” she firmly told him, pointing at him with her free hand for good measure, and then moved to retrieve an IV kit, an 18 gauge catheter (He’s a big, strong boy, he’ll deal with it), two bags of sodium lactate solution and some midazolam to make sure he’ll sleep through the night. 

Getting back to him, she examined his right arm for the small procedure and found that he had such strong veins she wouldn’t even be needing a tourniquet. She smiled to herself at that revelation. Every medic likes a good vein. Before inserting the catheter she calculated the amount of sedative for 5 hours and injected it into the two bags of fluids. Her biggest volume on stock was a 1000ml one, so she would need to change once during the night - resulting in 10 full hours of peaceful sleep and rehydration. 

With the IV set up, the drop-rate checked, an alarm for herself set, and the clone comfortably tucked under a (maybe unnecessarily) soft gray blanket, satisfied, Lasha herself retired for the night. Only, her mind was full of her patient’s face. Skin like honey, the thick scar across his nose, the soft smile he almost always wore in her dreams. Those deep chocolate brown, shiny eyes full of tiredness but love. Those perfect dark curls speckled with gray strands. She had seen him so many times before, it was hard to will him away when he essentially was dropped on her doorsteps. She had the strong suspicion before, that she should have some business with this man. But he was a clone. He had hundreds of thousands of brothers. And it was always just his face - no armor, no background, nothing that could’ve helped her find him. So she just waited for the Force to guide them to each other some day. Well, she could’ve guessed that their meeting would be something like this given their professions, but still… It was so unexpected. 

The more she had thought about this topic, the more content she was. She felt a soft and soothing warm enveloping her insides: it was like the rising sun on a spring morning - the cold and crisp night slowly warming up to a just perfect light sensation of warmth on one’s face, making them feel content and happy and secure. They hadn’t even exchanged words but she felt so safe knowing he was there, just a room away. 

“Oh, kriff!” the Jedi whisper-shouted as she shot upright in her bed, scaring the beige and white fluffy tooka away, as the truth dawned on her. He kriffing got a bond from the Force. She was so shocked by this revelation, her mind just froze as it was and got stuck on “You have a bond. With a clone. A Force-bond. With a clone commander.” She was way too tired for this now. These bonds were super rare. She only heard about them just as a mention in one of her lessons as a youngling. There was probably no known example for centuries! And now it’s her! With a clone. 

She started to feel dizzy - she realized she was already hyperventilating. She needed to calm down. There was nothing she could do with this, least of all at this exact moment. She needed to meditate before she passed out. She tried to regulate her breathing: in for 4 through the nose. Hold for 7. Out through the mouth for 8, let the panic flow into the Force. Again. In for 4 through the nose. Hold for 7. Out through the mouth for 8, let it leave… At this point, the previously frightened little creature calmed down and climbed onto her lap, starting to purr. She continued her breathing exercise now complemented with the repeating motions of stroking soft fur. 

After about 5 minutes she was able to calm down mostly. She was still present with the fact of what had happened. Still felt the presence in the Force warmly envelope her, making the experience real. There was still excitement for what would come after such a discovery. But she was able to let go of her panic. There was no use of panicking. In the morning, after she had made sure that the cause of her current predicament was safely back with his brothers, she could meditate more on the matter, go to the Temple for some research. All in due time, not now.

“Sorry Boo” she offered to the tooka, who was now watching her intently with two, big brown eyes. “I’m okay now. We’ll figure it out in the morning. Come on, let’s sleep!” And with that, she tucked herself back into her fluffy blanket, momentarily lifting it up for Butternut to scoot under himself. After a few more minutes of stroking the soft fur of her companion (and the never leaving face of the Commander), she managed to fall asleep.

Not so surprisingly after the events of the evening, her dreams were, yet again, filled with a certain clone commander. Only difference is that now, they were a bit cleaner. She got a look at his armor, and she got the feeling that he was very high in rank and respect. And was radiating exhaustion. Like a lot of it. His whole being was utterly spent.

When the alarm had woken her, she herself felt like she had not slept at all. This kind of Force-plaguing fatigue had the trait of being infectious. She slowly sat up, trying to at least get functional for the few minutes of changing the fluid pack. Quickly throwing a robe onto her as a protection from the cold of waking, she made her way out from her personal room, and into the small patient ward. 

The clone, thank the Force, was still sound asleep on the cot right where she left him. His face was still pale in the dim white light, but was almost back to its natural color, his features relaxed and peaceful. She couldn’t regulate herself, and smiled softly at the sight, as the warmth in her belly flared up once again. She sighed, made a face palm at her impossible situation, then forced herself to concentrate on the task at hand. Again.

 As intended there was only a few more drops left from the first pack of fluids. Before changing though, Lasha got her scanner out to do a vital check. This time she took in the readings much more satisfied. He could still use that second dose of sodium lactate, but they were back within normal range.

Putting the device back in its place, she made quick work of the bag change. She did not really have to worry about waking her patient given that the light dose of midazolam was still actively keeping him under, but she couldn’t help herself and was more careful than actually needed. She just felt that she must be tender and careful, measuring all of her soft movements, her hands lingering a bit more on the clone’s arm than necessary.

I don’t even know this man! she grumbled in her head when she, yet again, became aware of her own actions. She sure would need a lot of time and meditation to figure this out and accept it. She had great trust in the Force, knew that it would not want her anything bad, but still. Her situation was absurd. This was a strange man, who she had found in an alleyway. Unconscious and bleeding out, and she just did her duty as with any other being, any other clones, for that matter! And yet here she was, feeling like she had always known him, and was the safest person she had ever met without even exchanging a word! 

As for the hundredth time in the last few hours, she let go of her confusion and anxiety with a deep breath, patted the arm of her patient and went back to bed.

The rest of the night had passed surprisingly quiet. Not even dreams had appeared, none at all. When Lasha woke up to her alarm yet again, she felt remarkably well rested. As she positioned herself on the side of her bed, she took a moment to think. Maybe the Force had decided to have mercy on her, sparing her both from the dreams and the overwhelming fatigue they brought with themselves. She smiled to herself content with this turn of events. 

Despite yesterday's happenings she felt strangely positive and excited. Naturally she was still stunningly confused and she knew she would need a lot of time and probably a long talk with her former master to process this fully, but somehow she felt energized and a bit rejuvenated. 

Preparing herself for the day, she made a big stretch with all four of her limbs and quickly made a mental plan for herself about the morning, going through her tasks, before actually enacting them. 

After quickly changing from her night clothes, she emerged into the ward to detach the, by now, almost empty bag of fluid, but she had left the cannula in, just for safety. She’d remove it, when the clone had fully woken - he was still deeply asleep. The effects of the sedative should wear down by the time she’d be done with her morning errands. Taking a quick glance on her patient, she happily noted that the color had now fully returned to his face, and the bacta patches had stayed in place. The poor man had probably not been moving around too much in his, well, not entirely natural slumber. 

Having her check concluded, Lasha went on and comfortably got her usual morning things done, while keeping an “eye” on him with the Force for the entire time. She did not want him to wake up with herself not being there and just leave. Yes, this had happened before with other clones. Sometimes she felt like those idiots would do anything to not come face-to-face with a medic. 

When she appeared out of her ‘fresher after taking a quick shower, Butternut was already waiting for her just outside the door. He knew exactly, that after the shower, came his favorite thing - breakfast (okay, all meals were his favorite, but the night was the longest time he had to go without food, so breakfast was his favorite of the favorites). It was a literal agility check to make the short way from the refresher when the little creature constantly wiggled around and under your legs, making the cutest of little begging noises in the process. As soon as she stepped into the kitchen, firstly she swiftly presented the oh so wanted meal, then much more lazily made herself a cup of warm tea. 

With the whole of her routine completed in the ordinary rhythm, with the mug in hand, she made her way back into the ward. The commander was still in the same position she had left him after getting him off the fluids, however, she could feel him very slowly getting closer to consciousness. Calculated she smiled to herself, carefully sitting on the cot right next to his hip, occasionally taking a sip of her warm liquid.

It took only a few more quiet minutes of drinking tea (she was just at the half of the mug), when the first wrinkles of wakefulness appeared on his face, and his calm and slow breathing started to pick up a bit. She did not engage, just sat in complete silence, mug loosely cradled on her lap, observing.

The first prominent movement he made was scrunching up his face, and lifting his right arm towards his injured shoulder, but let out a plaintive huff when he felt the cannula in the crook of his elbow, making his brow furrow further. He abandoned the movement and his arm plopped down onto his midsection. Which was still covered in the unnecessarily soft and fluffy blanket. There was a pause. Then a few stroking movements on the fabric. Then a brow that furrowed even deeper - now he was full on grimacing both in pain and utter confusion, which Lasha found so incredibly cute and funny she actually had to gather her strength in order not to puff out a laugh. 

After a good few seconds of grimacing he finally opened his eyes, looking at the ceiling, carefully inspecting, what looked like, every bit of imperfection or spider web, or anything, blinking slowly in concentration. The analysis of the ceiling did not get the preferable results it seemed, because in the place of the previous focus, the scowl of bemusement returned and after a second seemingly all his muscles tensed up. He probably figured out that he did not recognize the place where he was. It was time to intervene.

“Good morning, Commander” Lasha softly addressed her patient, to which he visibly startled and snapped his gaze into the direction of the voice - and found a stranger. His eyes widened in surprise, and his first instinct was to try and sit up (and presumably get out of here as fast as possible). The Jedi swiftly reached out with her left hand and by his good shoulder, gently but firmly, pressed him back onto the bed before so much as his scapulas could leave the sheets.

“Don’t get up yet!” She ordered him, which earned her a disapproving stare. “You’re safe here. You’ve been shot with a slugthrower yesterday night, while on patrol, I assume.” At that, he tried to sit up again, opening his mouth to speak, but Lasha, her hand still on his shoulder, did not let him. “Yes, you’ve slept through the night. You needed it. Really needed it. And that too” She glanced towards the cannula still securely in his arm, then up at the now empty fluid bag on the IV pole, next to the cot. The trooper followed her line of sight and made a face. “You have been as dehydrated as a desert upon the bloodloss.” She told him, looking into his face for a moment with narrowed eyes. 

“Who are you?” He demanded instead of any reaction to his current state, glaring first at her hand that still lingered on his bare shoulder, and then squarely in the face, intimidatingly. At that, the Jedi sighed guiltily, removed her hand from him and instead cradled her, now almost empty, mug of tea in her lap, looking down at it. 

“My name is Lasha Kahli. ” She answered her tea. “I’m a medic. I’ve had a few run-ins with your brothers before, so you may have heard my name before.” She looked up at his face. “You had managed to collapse a few meters from my backdoor, that’s how I’ve found you.” His expression was still stern, but she could feel through the Force, that he was no longer so worked up, as upon waking, now that he made sure no one was about to kill him in the next second.

She felt eyes on her, and noticed that he was watching her intently. Not really her face or so, but he was seemingly analyzing again, now her appearance. His gaze first got stuck on her robes for a few seconds, then started wandering lower, reaching her belt and, finally, it fixated on her bronze hilted saber, which was dangling at its usual place on the right side of her hip. After an embarrassing few seconds of medication clogged processing, his eyes widened for a brief second, then his professional mask immediately slipped into place, and he started to straighten up once more, but yet again, couldn’t beat the medic-jedi reflexes, and was pressed into place.

“Please don’t, you do not have to, I’m no part of the GAR. I’m not your superior, I’m just a civilian, who likes to help people” she smiled sheepishly trying to convince him that ranks did not matter to her at all. 

“With all due respect General, all the Jedi are generals” He answered, still in his professional mode, muscles rigid under her palm. Lasha sighed sensing her defeat. She did not give up on her goal, though.

“Then, Commander, my order is to relax, and treat me like you’d treat any other civilian.” She stated in a fake, too serious tone. She got a glare as an answer. “Please, this place should be one, where everyone can feel safe. Including you, and your brothers.” She begged as a last resort, squeezed his shoulder a bit, then let go physically. With the Force though, she tried to radiate calmness and safety, hoping that he could feel it through the bond.

After about a minute of silence, he finally let out a big sigh, and let his head fall back on the thin pillow of the cot, and groaned out a word she was not familiar with. She smiled to herself at her little win, and did not prod the topic further.

With his head now cleared a bit, he started to assess his situation. He carefully lifted his right arm again, now fully aware of the offending equipment in it, prodding at the bacta patch on his left shoulder. He made a small grimace in pain, and asked “How bad?”

“You’ve been lucky. Clean through-and-through, without much internal damage. Had to fix a small cut on your artery though. But nothing lasting. Using the patches, and making sure it won’t tear” she shot him a stern look right into the eyes, and emphasized the second half of the sentence “the stitches can be removed in a week, and you’ll be as good as new”. She finished.

“Removing the stitches?” he questioned with a narrowed look, a wave of displeasure radiating off of him, already opening up the patch to peak under it.

“The wounds were too small for subcutaneous stitches. Had to do it the traditional way. I know you guys prefer the former, sorry” she replied factly, sending an apologetic smile his way. 

After having had a look at the stitches, he gave a short nod and layed the bacta patch back into its place. Declaring this matter taken care of, he went for the next, and squinted at the cannula. “What about this?”

“Wanted to leave it in until you had fully woken” she informed him. “I can get it out now”. 

“Please” he affirmed, and she nodded in answer and got up from the cot to get rid of her now empty mug, and to retrieve some cotton pads, a roll of cohesive bandage and a pair of scissors. 

Upon arriving back to her patient, she reached her hand out, and the clone obediently placed his arm in it. While making quick work of removing the cannula, she told him “I’ve used a bigger sized needle so I could give you the fluids a bit faster. That means a bigger wound. So I’m gonna put a bandage on it. You’ll just have to leave it there for about 30 minutes. Good?” She could, yet again, feel a bit of displeasure in the Force, but he still nodded in affirmation. 

“Okay, that’s it, then.” Lasha had told him after finishing up the bandage. “I’ll fetch you your armor, I’m sure you would like to leave. But” she made an emphasis here “I’ll ask you to comm a brother to pick you up.” To that, he immediately opened his mouth to start arguing, but she held up a hand “I have given you sedatives for the night. You look like someone who can take care of themselves, but currently you're still under the influence of the med and that would give your opponent an unfair advantage. And we are not on the upper levels.” 

“I was in worse shape before and managed just fine. I don’t need an escort, sir” he argued anyway. Maker, clones are so incredibly stubborn she fumed in her thoughts. She almost shot back another reasonable and logical argument, when an idea struck her.

“You know what?” she asked and earned herself a half-raised eyebrow and a questioning look, so she continued “If, without any aid, you are able to reach that door” and she pointed to the entrance of the ward in the room’s other end “you are free to go on your own. If I need to catch or aid you, you call a brother. What do you say?” She presented her fabulous idea.

To that, a sassy, barely visible half smiley presented itself on the clone’s face, eyes glinting with determination. That’s it! They can’t say no to a challenge! she tried to conceal her amusement, managing to stop herself from slowly shaking her head. 

He hadn’t even answered, but started to sit up on his bed and tug the blanket off of himself.

“Wow, wait a minute!” She quickly intervened. “Let me at least put a sling on, before you tear my stitches.”  

“So I have only one working arm?” he grumbled, his legs dangling from the cot.

“You only have one working arm!” She shot back, starting to lose her cool. She nearly never lost it. Before he could put his legs down, she reached out her arm and called a sling to herself with the help of the Force and quickly put it around the neck of her patient, holding him in place with it for a moment of glaring. After a sigh, he tried to lift his wounded arm for her, and failed at it, frowning in offense. The Jedi just gave him a knowing look to that, and carefully inserted the arm into the equipment. 

Lasha took a step out of the way, but was concentrating with all her senses on the commander, to make sure he would not injure himself further by stumbling immediately. He had the intelligence of carefully lowering himself and using the bed as a stable point. He was probably much more dizzy and weak than he had let on. He was hiding it pretty well though, one must give credit for that. 

Being able to use only one arm, it took him a few moments to get fairly steady on his feet. Which were, of course, also significantly wobbly. He made a face of displeasure again, then carefully started to take a step, good arm still on the cot for support. With this method, he managed to reach the end of the bed, where he took a bit of time, most likely planning his next move, now that he had run out of additional support. After a deep breath he met the challenge head on and started to measurely put one booted foot in front of the other.

Lasha was watching still from beside the cot, arms crossed, instincts on edge, but she wore a quite amused expression. This one had a good amount of determination to himself, that's for sure. She almost started to worry that this hadn’t been such a good idea and he would easily overexert himself on this short track.

He was about at the half of his journey for the desired destination of the ward door, already panting, when suddenly his legs tangled and gave out, and his face started its way to meet with floor, but abruptly stopping, suspended midair, as there was a Jedi already being ready for something like this to happen. 

He was frozen in place just for that short time of quick strides Lasha had made to meet and help him stand steady once more. As she carefully guided him back to the bed, one hand across his back, the other grabbing his good arm in support, she whispered a barely audible “I won” which resulted in a disapproving grunt from the commander. 

When he was safely sitting on his butt, and she made sure he wouldn’t fall again, as promised, she started to get his pieces of armor out of the locker in the corner of the room, the first being the vambrace which had the comm unit in it. She had the thought that he could check on it while the remaining pieces of plastoid were being presented. 

“Oh, and” she suddenly called midwork, and turned a sheepish face in the direction of her patient “tell anyone who’s coming to bring another piece of upper blacks. I may have had to cut that into pieces” she delivered that kind of important info elongating the “I”.

His fingers froze above his communicator, frowned, made eye contact, then the question “You did what?” slipped out of his mouth following with throat clearing and a “sir”.

“Yet again, sorry, but a piece of cloth was not my priority when a patient of mine was actively bleeding out on my medical cot” she commented scrunching her eyes, pointing to the still present patches of blood on the cot, and started to wonder whether he was this clueless about medical protocols, the midazolam messed with his head, or he just liked to hold people accountable for every small nuance. Or all of the above. He was no simple case, that was for sure. 

His response was a very prominent huff of air this time. How talkative she mused and finished stacking the armor neatly on the bed beside its owner. Surveying the pieces she took note of the dried blood still present on them too, ruining the neat painting. Thinking for a few seconds, she came up with an idea. It was already her plan not to leave the clone alone until his escort arrived, and now she had just the reason for that. 

“Would you like me to clean the gear?” So she softly inquired with a kind smile. The question visibly caught him off guard, as he suddenly picked his head up from his work on the comm, making a face like he was not believing what he just heard: eyebrows slightly pulled up beneath the curls, and mouth just a tad bit open. 

After the initial surprise he promptly pulled himself together arranging his face and swallowed upon closing his lips. 

“That is not your job, sir, you’re a medic.” He stated, the previous surprise making his voice a little bit less serious than intended. 

“My job is to help and care. In any way. And I would like to. You only have one arm, we can do it together” She offered with a knowing smile. 

To this, came a sigh and a whisper of okay, as he gave his attention back to his comm, and, barely even noticeable, but the corner of his lips twitched into a shadow of a small smile just for a fraction of a moment.  Also, he radiated genuine confusion into the Force, which made Lasha become somber. How often did the clones get offered genuine care? The question filled her mind as she made her way into the kitchen to get some clothes for the cleaning. 

Upon her return, the commander was already sitting cross legged on the bed, leaning above and inspecting the first bit of plastoid, his white chestplate, that had suffered the most of the results of his bleeding. Clothes in one hand and a spray bottle of hyperol in the other, Lasha seated herself on the opposite side of the pile of gear, matching the clone’s stance. She handed him the rug, and grabbed the chestplate holding it out for him. 

“This” she placed the bottle at his knee “is hyperol. Great for getting rid of blood”. The commander nodded, and like this, they made their way through all the pieces that needed cleaning in silence. Lasha was helping to keep them in place, and was rotating them if needed, and he took care of the actual removal of the blood. It was not an uncomfortable silence though - they just did not feel the need to talk, concentrating on the task at hand instead. She was not bothered by this kind, and it felt like he wasn’t either. She could actually get the impression of contentment from him in the Force, and that made her feel comfortable as well.

They were in the middle of cleaning the last part when a ring interrupted them. 

“Oh, someone’s at the door” Lasha announced “I’ll be back in a minute” He responded with a “Mhm” so she got up, and hurried out of the ward and into the waiting area where the main door led to. She glanced at the display beside the entrance that revealed a Guard member with wings on his helmet. He got here fast! she thought and pushed the button that swung the door open with a whoosh.

“Hey there!” She greeted the newcomer. “Here for the Commander, I guess?” she smiled. 

“Ma’am” the clone saluted “Precisely. And good to see you in person! I’ve heard a lot about you!” he chimed in a cheery voice.

“Is that so?” she almost giggled a bit flustered.

“You’ve patched up a few of my men before. Commander Thorn at your service, sir” he saluted again, and stood at attention. 

“Ah yes, I’ve heard of you! Please, at ease, and come on in!” She gestured inside as she got out of the way, so Thorn could make his way from the street. He nodded as a thanks and made his way inside, though still in parade rest. 

The Jedi closed the door and followed him, while saying “Please, relax! I don’t expect formalities, especially here.” To that, he halted on his steps and turned back to her, tilting his helmeted head a bit. 

“I’ve heard that you’re not really into the military formalities, but I did not want to rush into things. Thank you!” He replied, his voice though modulated, it sounded kind and happy. “May I?” He questioned gesturing to his helmet. 

  “Why, of course!” She quickly encouraged him with a bright smile, so he went further with his gesturing hand and got rid of his bucket, attaching it to his belt. Underneath sat a bright and happy face, his eyes radiating joy. On both sides, on his cheeks were a pair of tattoos which depicted something resembling two red claw marks, stretching a bit with his smile. On his chin sat a small patch of beard that matched the color of his dark hair, that was held together in a bun on the back of his head, although a few escaped, and too short curly strands had given him a bit of a messy look. 

“Please feel comfortable, Thorn!” Lasha told him happily with a smile. 

“As you wish, sir!” He grinned and jokingly bowed. 

“With that. Lasha will do just fine I don’t really like the “sir” thing, I’m not your superior”

“Well okay, then, Lasha!” he chimed. Now at last someone who can ease up a bit! she cheered in her head.

“Come on, the Commander’s in the ward, back there!” She waved in the direction of the door and began to lead her guest. “Oh, and” she smiled up to the clone beside her, sheepishly “I hope you got the message about the destroyed blacks.” 

He kept eye contact for a moment. Then burst out laughing with his head tilted back, hands on his belly and everything, like she had just said the funniest thing he’d heard that day. Lasha’s cheeks flushed with red at that turn of events and embarrassedly rubbed at her neck the sheepish smile still on her face. 

“Oh no, I’m sorry” Thorn quickly reassured right after he could take a breath again. “It’s not you, I can just see Fox’s face at that info” he giggled again. “I’m sure he was so happy! I got the blacks for him” and he waved towards one of his red pouches

“That is for sure!” She calmed down from her bashfulness and made a small chuckle. “I almost thought he was angry at me, given his reaction.” She made a small pause, then added, a touch more quietly “Ah-hah, so that is his name” 

“Wait what” he stopped, a step away from the door “He hadn’t told you his name? I thought you preferred our names?” he looked at her, baffled.

“Oh, that is absolutely correct. He’d just never introduced himself. I assumed his rank from his kamas.” To this revelation, Thorn made a huff and said something in another language - mando’a, probably, but she did not speak that. 

“That is so him. I’m sorry if he was being rude. He can appear quite icey, but he’s a good man” he said apologetically, love radiating off of him in the Force. A gentle smile appeared on her lips at the feeling. 

“Yeah” she sighed and continued in her mind I can feel that he’s a good one. Unconsciously her hand moved to her belly that was still enveloped in the warmth of the commander.

“By the way, he is our marshal commander, in case he also forgot to mention that.” That honestly surprised her. She could feel, last night, that he was high in rank, but the highest ranking clone on the planet? That’s just. Wow

“Well yes, he certainly did not mention anything like this. I’ve been calling him “Commander" and he seemed fine with it.” She replied, astonished. After a few moments of processing this information, moving on from her surprise, she chuckled “Well it is a good thing he decided to collapse before my door, then! Let’s not make him wait though, I think he’s grumpy enough already!”

Thorn nodded with a grin, and took a step out of the way, and gestured to Lasha to be the first one through the door, so she opened it with the panel, and stepped into the room, the clone trailing right behind her. 

Fox - as she’s just been made aware of - was still sitting on the cot in the same position, only now he was trying to make the final touches on his pauldron keeping it mostly in place with his shin and wiping it with the rag in his right hand. At the sound of the door whooshing however, he paused in his work, and lifted his glance at them, one of his eyebrows climbing up on his forehead. 

“This place is much bigger than I’d initially thought” he commented, eyes scanning both of them. 

“Good morning to you too, brother!” Thorn completely ignored the remark and heartily greeted the commander, beelining to his bed. “How are we feeling today?” 

“Just give me my shirt!” the other grunted in response. 

“Okay, someone’s really grumpy this morning” Thorn noted but reached into his pocket and handed the black top piece to his brother, who snatched it out of his hands and promptly started to peel his sling off. And immediately scrunched his face at the attempt. 

“If you clones could be just a bit less stubborn, my life would be so much easier” Lasha grumbled as she swiftly made her way to interrupt the commander in his stupidity. “Let me help you with that, by the good Force, please!” She begged, her voice gradually shifting from annoyance to softness with each word, the last merely being a sigh.

This seemingly made her patient soften, at least a bit, as he stopped with his struggling, his shoulders dropped, and he made an audible exhale. 

“May I?” She queried kindly, and reached out with her left hand, signaling Fox to scoot over to the edge of the bed. After a moment of hesitation - or because of the increased processing time due to the sedative - he did oblige, and made himself sit in front of Lasha, legs dangling. “Thank you” she mumbled as she gently got hold of his left arm, holding it in place while she slid the sling first off his arm, then from around his neck, finally she laid the cloth next to him on the blanket. 

Next, she carefully let go of his bad arm, and pointed his attention to the bandaged other. “I’m gonna see if I can get this off” she announced the nature of her actions and tenderly took hold of said arm in his right one, the left slowly removing the cohesive bandage, then waiting for a good handful of seconds making sure there was no more bleeding from the small wound. Satisfied, she let go and concentrated back on the original task.

“Give me the shirt!” She instructed him sternly but tenderly, to which he, yet again, complied. “First I’m gonna put your left arm in, then around the neck, then good arm. Okay?” He silently nodded, and let her go through the process, aiding when necessary but not interfering with her, and together they made quick work of putting the garment on. 

“Now, wasn’t it better this way?” She smiled at him, a bit cocky. He did not respond, but she could catch that small twitch of a smile at the corner of his lips. And actual gratefulness in the Force! The warmth spread from quietly sitting in her belly to fully enveloping her whole being, with such intensity it took a great effort not showing it (however she was almost positive that her cheeks went red which put an additional layer of embarrassment on top).

“Need help with the armor too?” She asked, hurriedly changing the topic before the situation became even worse. 

“I can..!” He instantly started the protest, but a knowing look from the Jedi made the words die in his throat. She did not even have to utter a single word, a few seconds of intense glaring made the clone slump again in submission. 

To this twist, Lasha felt a wave of utter disbelief hit her through the Force from the back. By the vibe of it, Thorn was actively trying to figure out if he was dreaming or not, or something very similar could have been playing in his head at that moment. The feeling almost made her laugh out loud, but at least it boosted her confidence a bit - it was probably much harder getting through the stubbornness of the commander on a normal day.

Once more, putting the pieces on went in a silent and compliant process thus making it easy and fast apart from the few pauses due to the moving of painful areas. Even with this slight hindstep she knew that it was much more efficient and comfortable with her help than it would have been without and that made her more than happy. As a last step, she went ahead and placed the sling back in its place on her patient, kindly smiling at him as a hint of displeasure reached her.

“I know you do not like the restriction, but if you use it for a few days, you will heal much faster and will be able to return to active duty sooner, which, I guess, is what your goal is” she addressed him with a squeeze on his - now mostly armored - right shoulder. He made a silent nod as an answer. “Okay” she mumbled, then turned around and went for the medicine cabinet grabbing some mid-dosage paracetamol tablets and a zip bag she could measure them into. He counted the amount needed for the next week (and a few extra, in case) and scribbled “Fox’s painkiller”, and the active agent and dosage (in case their medic asked) on the bag with a matching-red pen, and also grabbed a pack of bacta patches. She walked back to the clones (Fox was now standing, helmet readily in her hand, beside Thorn, who looked ready to catch him, if he even made a strange move), and extended the little bag of pills and the pack towards Fox. 

“This is some painkiller. Take one each morning for a week, and there are a few extras if it becomes worse. And the others are bacta patches - change those daily!” Then she turned to Thorn. “Watch him on your way, not even half an hour earlier his face almost met with my floor” she warned him light heartedly, which got a snort of suppressed laugh out of the other commander and a cheerful “Yes ma’am” with a salute. To this interaction Fox only grimaced, which made Thorn’s smile grow even wider. And that, of course, had earned himself a stern look, so he cleared his throat.

“Thank you for scraping our Marshal Commander off the ground, Lasha. I’ll make sure he stays in one piece” he said half jokingly, but she could feel the honest appreciation and sincerity behind those words, which made her smile from her heart. 

The said marshal commander let out an annoyed huff and determinedly started to stride towards the exit, when he, yet again, staggered on his feet, but Thorn was expecting something just like this, and was ready to catch his CO. As he was stable, Thorn gave him a look, made a gesture to balance him into place by squeezing both of his arms, looked at Lasha with a grateful smile, saluted, then walked out of the ward door, leaving the two of them alone. 

Now this she could not place. She looked questioningly at Fox, who was currently intently watching his boots and rubbing the back of his neck with his unscathed hand, but after a long minute in silence he lifted his gaze in her direction. 

“I really should be grateful for you” he admitted “I’m sorry. You did save me, and I was a ” And he used mando’a again, that she did not understand. I need to ask them to teach me, next time I meet a clone. He really was radiating regret, so in order to counter that, she sent calmness and lightness towards him. 

“It’s okay!” She assured him, taking a step closer, now standing face to face (though she had to be looking up because of the height difference between them). “You had woken up in a fully unknown place with a stranger, while being vulnerable and full of sedatives. I do not blame you, I would have also been pissed, probably.” She made a joke to ease his nerves a bit, however, to give more emphasis on her sincerity, she gently took hold of his right bicep.  “No harm has been done. And if it had been, you’ve certainly made up for it with you honesty”

He straightened into attention, the mask of professionality slipping into place and spoke “Thank you, sir!” Lasha could only sigh at that. 

“Just promise me that you’ll take care of your wound and my stitches, and take it easy before they are removed. And I told you to ease up, I don’t even know where this suddenly came from.” She gestured to him, made a pause, then added, smiling “And please, let me escort you to the door”

He did manage to relax a bit, though his face stayed in the same blank expression. If I see him again, I’ll make it my life goal to get him to relax! she thought, and after a confirming nod they strolled to the door, where she made sure Thorn was still there when she said her goodbyes.  

To her surprise, the warm feeling had stayed with her long after he was gone. A bit less intensely, she was able to feel the distance, but it became a steady and reliable source of warmth and security in the broody middle levels of Coruscant.

PS: Naturally, on their way back to the headquarters, Thorn had scolded Fox for being a shabuir to the nice lady, and had teased him for weeks because how easily she had “tamed” him, which Fox, of course, just blamed on the drugs, and absolutely ignored the strangely good feeling that had arisen in his gut on that day, and was there ever since. 

[mvltisstuff]

hello again, i’ve requested a few times (the feels and sweet nothing) and i was hoping i could request again? (i think i might add an emoji at the end bc i love your writing and will keep requesting as much as you allow ❤️❤️) anyway, i hope you’re doing well and things are going good.

i was wondering if i could request a buck fic where is partner is an artist and he finds a sketchbook of sketches of him and when he asks about it they talk about how pretty he is and how deserves to be appreciated and just making him feel super loved with it. thank you if you get to it and ofc no troubles if you don’t. take care 🥰

also is 🚒 good for a way to recognize me??

wasteland, baby! - e.b

summary: request

evan buckley x reader

a/n: omg you always have such creative ideas! i love receiving requests so always feel free :)) 🚒 = ❤️‍🔥 i also won’t be posting as frequently for the next few weeks due to finals, but after that i’ll be posting a ton!!

buck had come over to y/n’s apartment after his shift for dinner, and the scent of thick acrylic paint and primer had stung at his nostrils. he began to love the smell, as he knew that it meant she was around. he had let himself in with his key, taking in all of the perfectly placed plants and artwork on the walls.

she had a canvas that was almost complete, with just a few finishing touches. buck had walked over to it to examine. her talent was extraordinary. he knew it was out of this world, and the way she was so proud of her pieces his made his heart swell up with love.

“hi, buck!” y/n says, beginning to walk out of the hallway from her room to her art. she was wearing a pair of dark green pants and a white t-shirt which somehow complimented her beautifully. her face had small specks of blue and red on her cheeks and black and grey streaks on her shirt. “sorry it’s such a mess in here, but doesn’t this look great?”

“no, don’t worry about the mess, but how long did that take? it’s amazing!” buck stutters a big, not being able to comprehend how art like that could come out of her hands.

“thank you, love,” she replies, taking his belongings and placing them down for him. “how was work today? anything good?”

“just a normal old day, but you know it’s the 118.”

“it is never normal at the 118,” y/n smiles and gives him a cheek kiss before going to wipe her face off. buck goes to sit down in her living room on the couch, and she follows behind him with a quick change of shirt. she placed a small pizza in the oven to cook for them, and cuddled up next to him while they told each other stories about their day.

“it was wild, y/n,” buck starts. “i mean this woman literally rose from the dead after like 15 minutes, after being under a street. oh! you’re going to love this- and we saved some puppies in a sewer.”

“oh my god, are they ok?”

“they’re all fine, but i’m not sure if we are right now.”

“what do you mean?” she asks, slowly and carefully.

“you don’t smell something burning?”

she takes a deep inhale and looks over to her smokey kitchen. it wasn’t too bad, but definitely enough to make it inedible. “shit! fuck, i forgot about it!” she says, bouncing the pan up and down while trying not to burn herself.

y/n was busy discarding of the pizza when buck looked over at her with joy. he had a cheeky smile on his face and was laughing at the forgetfulness of both of them. he looked back down in front of him and the coffee table, and he saw a book that y/n always has on her. she brings it to work, to her family, anywhere she goes, she has it. it was her beloved sketchbook, filled with hundreds of small doodles and big pieces. buck has seen a lot of things in it, admiring each one before he comes across a bookmarked section.

when he flips the pages of the book, he notices that the person that is sketched and shaded looks particularly familiar. he makes note of the sharp nose and soft, but hard jaw. he sees the famous birthmark on the side of his face. he’s never looking right on, though. he’s always focused on something or has a light grin on his face. buck knows these are of him, but he doesn’t think he had any importance to be the top drawing in her book.

y/n walks back in to greet her boyfriend, “i think we might just have to ord-“ she looks at the sketches that she had put on that paper. a heat rose up into her face, reddening her cheeks and making her feel a sense of embarrassment.

“a-are these me?” buck asks, quietly. y/n nods, slowly, praying that she didn’t make him uncomfortable and that she will see him again tomorrow. “i-um..”

“you don’t have to say anything, buck. i never meant for you to see those and if you don’t like them, i’ll never do it again i swear. you just, you’re so beautiful, buck. and i love to draw beautiful things.”

“i just don’t know what to say, these are so good. i feel like you know me more than i know myself,” he says, chuckling a bit.

“you like ‘em?”

“i love them,” buck says.

“good, i just couldnt stop myself. you are always so pretty, no matter what and i want you to know that, so i tried to convey it through this. i was going to show you eventually, but i wanted to do more.”

“why me, though? you could draw anyone,” buck asks.

“no one else is you! you might have a pretty face and all but there is really nothing more beautiful than your soul. you are filled with so much love and sweetness and i’ve been dying to find a way to show you, because you are loved, evan. i love you and i wanted to put my two favorite things together. not a day goes by where i have anything but love for you.”

suddenly, the feeling in bucks chest is rising stronger, feeling like it’s going to burst. when it does, he has strong riptides of tears in his eyes. with a pure smile on his face, he passionately leaves a kiss on her lips, and he feels loved for the first time.

growing up, his parents never showed him love. he always begged for it from everyone he knew, and now he feels like it isn’t deserved. but someone, y/n made him feel like he will forever be worthy of love. and he will never forget how she fixed him for the best.

[pyjamaart]

Year 4 of submitting art for the SiIvaGunner Art Gallery!! >:]

For the fourth time now, I can proudly present my entry for this years SiIvaGunner Birthday Gallery! I had to put up with a lot of obstacles this year, like starting in June when I normally always started in early May, my parents and my brother visiting during the exact time frame I wanted to work on this, a crippling addiction to playing Dragon Quest Monsters and many more.

But as you can see, I really locked in at the end and finished it exactly one day before the deadline (17th June).

Now to explain my vision for this piece: I'll have to admit, since starting my new job in February, I didn't have any time to keep up with the loads of SiIvaGunner rips that are uploaded each day, since I always listened to them at my old workplace while I took care of my mountains of scientific journals. At my new job, I don't have anything to do with journals anymore. I mostly talk to students at the counter all day. Can't really listen to YouTube videos when someone wants something from you every minute. I also do a lot of things related to facility management in between (our library buildings are practically falling apart in some places...), so even when I'm not at the counter, I have way too much stuff to do to listen to rips. Sigh. Sometimes, I miss my old job.........

But I'll try my best to catch up some time in the future. At the very latest in September. My first vacation days in 7 months... Anyway, let's get back to the image at hand:

In the foreground, there's obviously my beloved dynamic duo of besties: Woodman and Nozomi. Woodman has been missing from the channel for 1 and a half years. Please bring him back. I miss my wife, Tails...

For this piece, my theme was centered around my favorite SiIvaGunner joke from the past few months (or has it been years?): The raft ride. I wanted something fun and summer-y, so I decided to put all the characters I drew in cute little sailor outfits. For Woodman, I just drew him in something simple that I thought of myself, which complimented and incorporated his usual armor.

Next we have Nozomi, who dons her outfit from μ's fifth single "Wonderful Rush". I had a few water themed outfits to chose from with her (and Honoka, for that matter), but I chose Wonderful Rush for Nozomi since it just fit with the aesthetic I was going for.

Next to those two is Coraline from the 3DS street pass game "Ultimate Angler", which is also prominently featured on the channel. For her outfit, I just modified her usual attire a little to fit in with the sailor vibe. I also turned her sun visor around because I could for the life of me not figure out how to draw it properly at this angle. Uhhh... I mean, I turned it around because I thought it looked cool.

I hope you can see that I had an absolute breakthrough in Gimp. I think I already talked about it on my Buck fanart, but I finally discovered layer modes. After 4 years of working with Gimp. Spectacular, I know. If you don't notice it here, you'll definitely notice it on the next image in queue for the robot master quest I have going on. I can already spoil you who it's gonna be this time: Tornadoman! I honestly couldn't believe what I was drawing. I think I was possessed by something for a few hours. It was honestly a little scary. But I think you'll see what I mean once you see the actual image, it's really different from the usual stuff I draw.

Getting back to the topic of this picture, let's talk about the background now. I decided to draw a little ship with lots of familiar faces making up the crew.

The ships captain is Honoka, who is standing on the very left of the deck. I took her outfit from μ's single "Heart to Heart!", which also fit into the aquatic theme quite nicely.

Right next to her, under a rainbow flag that's fluttering in the wind above them, is Aquaman. My beloved. Since I drew him into last years birthday gallery image, I decided to do the same this year. I also put a little starfish on his hat because I think it looked cute ;)

Standing epicly and mysteriously on the top of the boat is Meta Knight. I don't know if you can see it when it's zoomed out so far, but he's holding some kind of folded map in his right hand. Maybe they're looking for treasure??

And on the very right of the ship are Tito Dick and Robbie Rotten, reenacting that one famous scene from the Titanic movie.

After that, we shift our focus to the left of the image, where we can see Fluttershy flying over the island from Tomodachi Life.

And that's it for this image folks. I hope I'll finish my Mega Man Fully Charged art before the weekend ends, so stay tuned for that next! And after that, we're going right back to the robot master grind. ;)

Until then, this has been Jenny Pyjamakama, signing off. ;)

[hotvintagepoll]

Propaganda

Glynis Johns (Mary Poppins, The Court Jester)—LISTEN, I'd let that woman's voice with all its gravely hoarseness (positive) wash over me all goddamn day, but if that's not enough she managed to play the straight woman to Danny Kaye's jester, all with her cleavage so plunging it might as well have been catapulted into the ocean right after Basil Rathbone

Eartha Kitt (Anna Lucasta, St. Louis Blues)—My friend and I have a saying: NOBODY is Eartha Kitt. A thousand have tried, and they've all come up empty and will continue to do so. Everyone knows her for something: from "Santa Baby" to Yzma in Emperor's New Groove to Catwoman to making Lady Bird Johnson cry for the Vietnam War. She was a master of comedy and sex, an extremely vocal activist, and she aged like fine wine... I honestly don't know what I can say about her that hasn't already been said, so I'll stick to linking all my propaganda. Like what else do you want from me. She was iconic at everything she ever did. Literally name another. How can anyone even think of her and not want to absolutely drown?

This is round 4 of the tournament. All other polls in this bracket can be found here. Please reblog with further support of your beloved hot sexy vintage woman.

[additional propaganda submitted under the cut.]

Glynis Johns:

She walks the line between sexy and cute. Her best role for me is in "The Court Jester as Maid Jean. She's fantastic as the soft but tough captain of the outlaw band and she looks stunning in every gown she wears throughout the film. And of course we can't forget her iconic turn as the suffragette mother, Mrs. Banks, in Mary Poppins! Also shoutout to her distinctive and beautiful voice, kind of smoky and husky. Extremely hot and set her apart from many of her peers."

"She was amazing in Mary Poppins (the Suffragette song is severely underrated) and apparently she was Welsh? National pride! And she advocated for arts funding in Wales, which is very cool. Also, she died recently (RIP) making her one of the last survivors of the Golden Age of Hollywood, according to Wikipedia. Also also, she just has a cheeky energy I like? And her eyes are beautiful!"

"She had this wonderful wit and charm to her no matter the role and the most distinctive, striking voice!"

"I mean, incredibly beautiful and talented, can do drama can do comedy. And she was a mermaid."

"Like Bette Davis she has eyes to die for. Unlike Bette Davis you felt comforted by them, even when she was batting her eyelashes at you. Would glady go to Downing Street with her and throw things at the Prime minister"

"Listen, listen. I was raised on Mary Poppins and "Votes for women! (step in time)" single-handedly taught me how to be a feminist. Also The Court Jester is one of my favourite movies of all time and she is UNBELIEVABLY gorgeous, charismatic, funny, and clever in it. She knocks several men out. Absolute icon."

"I love Glynis Johns. Most of the reason is The Court Jester where she's a sensible and capable foil to whatever what going on with Danny Kaye at the time. She was also the first star I based an OC on. An OC that I still have to this day! Anyway here have some YouTube links love u bye"

Mermaid clip:

Court Jester (sharing a bed trope):

Court Jester (seducing the king):

"VOTES FOR WOMEN! Well, votes for this woman. Please."

Eartha Kitt:

"A hot vintage woman who was not just known for her voice, beauty, poise, and presence, but also her unapologetic ways of speaking about how she was mistreated in the show business as a girl who grew up on cotton fields in South Carolina in the 1930s through the 1940s coming to Broadway first and then Hollywood."

"Have you watched her sing?? Have you seen her face?? Have you heard her talk?? How could you not fall instantly in love. She makes me incoherent with how hot she is."

"She can ACT she can SING she can speak FOUR LANGUAGES she is a GODDESS!!! Although she is (rightfully) remembered for her singing, TV appearances (Catwoman my beloved), and later film roles, her early appearances in film are no less impressive or noteworthy!! She’s an amazing actress with so much charisma in every role. She was also blacklisted from Hollywood for 10 years for criticizing the Johnson administration/Vietnam War, so. Iconic. Also Orson Welles apparently called her “the most exciting woman in the world.”

"She had such a stunning, remarkable appearance, like she could tear you to shreds with just a glance- but the most undeniable part of her hotness was her voice, and it makes sense that it's what most people nowadays know her for. Nothing encapsulates the sheer magnetism of her singing better than this clip of her and Nat King Cole in St. Louis Blues, she pops in at 2:49. Also I know it's post-1970 but her song that was cut from Emperor's New Groove is likely to make you feel Feelings."

Even with as racist as Hollywood was in the 1950s and 60s, Eartha Kitt STILL managed to have a thriving career. She also once had a threesome with Paul Newman and James Dean, and called out LBJ over the Vietnam War so hard that it made First Lady Johnson cry. Eartha Kitt was talented, sexy, and a total badass activist.

[blackswaneuroparedux]

Anonymous ask: What do you think of the new Indiana Jones movie? And of Phoebe Waller-Bridge?

In a nutshell: From start to finish ‘Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny’ is watching Indiana Jones being a broken-down shell of a once great legacy character who has to be saved by the perfect younger and snarky but stereotypical ’Strong Independent Woman’ that passes for women characters in popcorn movies today.

I went in to this film with conflicted feelings. On the one hand I was genuinely excited to see this new Indiana Jones movie because it’s Indiana Jones. Period. Yet, on the other hand I feared how badly Lucasfilm, under Kathleen Kennedy’s insipid woke inspired CEO studio direction, was going to further tarnish not just a screen legend but the legacy of both George Lucas and Steven Spielberg. The cultural damage she has done to such a beloved franchise as the Star Wars universe in the name of progressive woke ideology is criminal. The troubled production history behind this film and its massive $300 million budget (by some estimates) meant Disney had a lot riding on it, especially with the future of Kathleen Kennedy on the line too as she was hands on with this film.

To me the Indiana Jones movies (well, the first three anyway, the less we say about ‘Kingdom of the Crystal Skull’ the better) were an important part of my childhood. I fell in love with the character instantly. Watching ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’ (first on DVD in my boarding school dorm with other giggly girls and later on the big screen at a local arts cinema retrospective on Harrison Ford’s stellar career) just blew me away. 

As a girl I wanted to be an archaeologist and have high falutin’ adventures; I even volunteered in digs in Pakistan and India (the Indus civilisation) as well as museum work in China as a teen growing up in those countries and discovering the methodical and patient but back breaking reality of what archaeology really was. But that didn’t dampen my spirit. Just once I wanted to echo Dr. Jones, ‘This belongs in a museum!’ But I happily settled for studying Classics instead and enjoyed studying classical archaeology on the side.

I couldn’t quite make sense why Indiana Jones resonated with me more than any other action hero on the screen until much later in life. Looking like Harrison Ford certainly helps. But it’s more than that. I’ve written this elsewhere but it’s worth repeating here.

‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’ is considered an inspiration for so many action films yet there’s a very odd aspect to the film that’s rather unique and rarely noticed by its critics and fans. It’s an element that, once spotted, is difficult to forget, and is perhaps inspiring for times like the one in which we currently live, when there are so many challenges to get through. Typically in action films, the hero faces an array of obstacles and setbacks, but largely solves one problem after another, completes one quest after another, defeats one villain after another, and enjoys one victory after another.

The structure of ‘Raiders’ is different. A quick reminder:

- In the opening sequence, Indiana Jones obtains the temple idol only to lose it to his rival René Belloq (Paul Freeman). - In the streets of Cairo, Indy fails to protect his love, Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen), from being captured (killed, he assumes). - In the desert, he finds the long-lost Ark of the Covenant, only to have it taken away by Belloq. - Indy then recovers the ark only to have it stolen a second time by Belloq, this time at sea. - On an island, Indy tries to bluff Belloq into thinking he’ll blow up the ark. His bluff fails. Indy is captured. - The climax of the film literally has its hero tied to a post the entire time. He’s completely ineffectual and helpless at a point in the movie where every other action hero is having their greatest moment of struggle and, typically, triumph.

If Indiana Jones had done absolutely nothing, if the famed archeologist had simply stayed home, the Nazis would have met the same fate - losing their lives to ark’s wrath because they opened it. It’s pretty rare in action films for the evil arch-villains to have the same outcome as if the hero had done nothing at all.

Indy does succeed in getting the ark back to America, of course, which is crucial. But then Indy loses the ark, once again, when government agents send it to a warehouse and refuse to let him study the object he chased the whole film. In other words: Indiana Jones spends ‘Raiders’ failing, getting beat up, and losing every artefact that he risks his life to acquire. And yet, Indiana Jones is considered a great hero.

The reason Indiana Jones is a hero isn’t because he wins. It’s because he never stops trying. I think this is the core of Indiana Jones’ character.

Critics will go on about something called agency as in being active or pro-active. But agency can be reactive and still be kinetic to propel the story along. It’s something that has progressively got lost as the series went on. With the latest Indiana Jones film I felt that Indiana Jones character had no agency and ends up being a relatively passive character. Sadly Indiana Jones ends up being a grouchy, broken, and beat up passenger in his own movie.

Released in 1981, ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’ remains one of the most influential blockbusters of all time. Exciting action, exotic adventure, just the right amount of romance, good-natured humour, cutting-edge special effects: it was all there, perfectly balanced. Since then, attempts have been made to reproduce this winning recipe in different narrative contexts, sometimes successfully (’Temple of Doom’ and ‘the Last Crusade’), usually in vain (’Crystal Skull’).

What are the key ingredients of an Indiana Jones movie? There are only four core elements - leaving aside aspects of story such as the villain or the goal - that you need in place before anything else. They are: the wry, world-weary but sexy masculine performance of Harrison Ford; the story telling genius of George Lucas steeped in the lore of Saturday morning action hero television shows of the 1950s; the deft visual story telling and old school action direction of Steven Spielberg; and the sublime and sweeping music of the great John Williams. This what made the first three films really work.

In the latest Indiana Jones film, you only have one. Neither Lucas and Spielberg are there and arguably neither is Harrison Ford. John Williams’ music score remains imperious as ever. His music does a lot of heavy lifting in the film and let’s face it, his sublime music can polish any turd.

This isn’t to say the ‘Dial of Destiny’ is a turd. I won’t go that far, and to be honest some of the critical reaction has been over-hysterical. Instead I found it enjoyable but also immensely frustrating more than anything else. It had potential to be a great swan song film for Indy because it had an exciting collection of talent behind it.

In the absence of Spielberg, one couldn’t do worse than to pick James Mangold as next best to direct this film. Mangold is a great director. I am a fan of his body of work. After ‘Copland’, ‘Walk the Line’, ‘Logan’ and ‘Le Mans 66’ (or ‘Ford vs Ferrari’), James Mangold has been putting together a fine career shaped by his ability to deliver stories that rediscover a certain old-fashioned charm without abusing the historical figures - real or fictional - he tackles. And after Johnny Cash, Wolverine and Ken Miles, among others, I had high hopes he would keep the flame alive when it came to Indiana Jones. Mangold grew up as a fanboy of Spielberg’s work and you can clearly see that in his approach to directing film.

But in this film his direction lacks vitality. Mangold, while regularly really good, drags his feet a little here because he’s caught between putting his own stamp on the film and yet also lovingly pay homage to his hero, Spielberg. It’s as if he didn't dare give himself away completely, the director seems too modest to really take the saga by the scruff of the neck, and inevitably ends up suffering from the inevitable comparison with Steven Spielberg.

Mangold tries to recreate the nostalgic wonder of the originals, but doesn't quite succeed, while succumbing to an overkill of visual effects that make several passages seem artificial. The action set pieces range from pedestrian to barely satisfying. The prologue sequence was vaguely reminiscent of past films but it was still a little too reliant on CGI. The much talked about de-ageing of Harrison Ford on screen was impressive (and one suspects a lot of the film budget was sunk right there). But Indiana’s lifeless digitally de-aged avatar fighting on a computer-generated train, made the whole sequence feel like the Nazi Polar Express. Because it didn’t look real, there was no sense of danger and therefore no emotional investment from the audience. You know Tom Cruise would have done it for real and it would have looked properly cinematic and spectacular.

The tuk tuk chase through the narrow streets of Tangiers was again an exciting echo of past films, especially ‘Raiders’, but goes on a tad too long, but the exploration of the ship wreck (and a criminally underused cameo by Antonio Banderas) was disappointing and way too short. 

The main problem here is the lack of creativity in the conception of truly epic scenes, because these are not dependent on Ford's age. Indeed, the film could very well have offered exhilarating action sequences worthy of the archaeologist with the whip, without relying solely on the physicality of its leading man. You don't need a Tom Cruise to orchestrate great moments but you could do worse than to follow his example. 

Mangold uses various means of locomotion to move the character  - train, tuk tuk, motorbike, horse - and offers a few images that wouldn't necessarily be seen elsewhere (notably the shot of Jones riding a horse in the middle of the underground), but in the end shows himself to be rather uninspired, when the first three films in the saga conceived some of the most inventive sequences in the genre and left their mark on cinema history. There are no really long shots, no iconic compositions, no complex shots that last and enrich a sequence, which makes the film look too smooth and prevents it from giving heft to an adventure that absolutely needs it.

And so now to the divisive figure of Phoebe Waller-Bridge. 

It’s important here to separate the person from the character. I like Phoebe Waller-Bridge and I loved her in her ‘Fleabag’ series. She excels in a very British setting. I think she is funny, irreverent, and a whip smart talented writer and performer. I also think she has a particular frigid English beauty and poise about her. When I say poise I don’t mean the elegant poise of a Parisienne or a Milanese woman, but someone who is cute and comfortable in her own skin. You would think she would be more suited to ‘Downton Abbey’ setting than all out Hollywood action film. But I think she almost pulls it off here. 

In truth over the years Phoebe Waller-Bridge, known for her comedy, has been collecting franchises where she is able to inflict her saucy humour into a hyper-masculine space. I don’t think her talent was properly showcased here. 

Hollywood has this talent for plucking talented writers and actors who are exceptional in what they do and then hire them do something entirely different by either miscasting them or making them write in a different genre. I think Phoebe Waller-Bridge is exceptional and she might just rise if she is served by a better script.

In the end I think she does a decent stab at playing an intriguing character in Helena Shaw, Indy’s long lost and estranged god daughter and a sort of amoral rare artefacts hustler. Phoebe Waller-Bridge brings enthusiasm, charm and mischief to the role, making her a breath of fresh air. She seems to be the only member of the on-screen cast that looks to be enjoying themselves. 

To be fair her I thought Waller-Bridge was a more memorable and interesting female character than either Kate Capshaw (’Temple of Doom’, 1984) and Alison Doody (’Last Crusade’, 1989). She certainly is a marked improvement on the modern woke inspired insipid female action leads such as Brie Larson (’Captain Marvel’), or any women in the Marvel universe for that matter, or Katherine Waterson (’Alien Covenant’). Waller-Bridge could have been reminiscent of Kathleen Turner (’Romancing the Stone’) and more recently Eva Green, actresses who command attention on screen and are as captivating, if not more so, than the male protagonists they play opposite.

To be sure there have been strong female leads before the woke infested itself into Hollywood story telling but they never made it central to their identity. Sigourney Weaver in ‘Alien’ and Linda Hamilton in the ‘Terminator’ franchise somehow conveyed strength of character with grit and perseverance through their suffering, while also being vulnerable and confident to pull through and succeed. Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s character isn’t quite that. She doesn’t get into fist fights or overpowers big hulking men but she uses cheek and charm to wriggle out of tight spots. She’s gently bad ass rather the dull ‘strong independent woman’ cardboard caricatures that Marvel is determined to ram down every girl’s throat. If Waller-Bridge’s character was better written she might well have been able to revive memories of the great ladies of Hollywood's golden age who had the fantasy and the confidence that men quaked at their feet.

What lets her character down is the snark. She doesn’t pepper her snark but she drowns in it. All of it directed at poor Indy and mocking him for his creaking bones and his entire legacy. It’s a real eyesore and it is a real let down as it drags the story down and clogs up the wheels that power the kinetic energy that an adventure with Indiana Jones needs. ‘The grumpy old man and the young woman with the wicked repartee set off across the vast world’ schtick is all well and good, but it does grate and by the end it makes you angry that Indy has put up with this crap. I can understand why many are turned off by Waller-Bridge’s character. As a female friend of mine put it, we get the talented Phoebe Waller Bridge’s bitter and unlikable Helena acting like a bitter and unlikable man. But it could be worse, it could be as dumb as Shia LaBeouf‘s bad Fonzie impersonation in 'Crystal Skull’.

I would say there is a difference between snark and sass. Waller-Bridge’s character is all snark. If the original whispers are true the original script had her way more snarkier towards Indy until Ford threatened to leave the project unless there were re-writes,  then it shows how far removed the producers and writers were from treating Indy Jones with the proper respect a beloved legacy character deserves. It’s also lazy story telling.

Karen Black gave us real sass with Marion Ravenwood in ‘Raiders’. Her character was sassy, strong, but also vulnerable and romantic. She plays it pitch perfect. Of all the women in Indy’s life she was good foil for Indy.

Spielberg is so underrated for his mise-en-scène. We first meet Marion running a ramshackle but rowdy tavern in Tibet (she’s a survivor). She plays and wins a drinking game (she’s a tough one), she sees Indy again and punches him (she’s angry and hurt for her abandoning her and thus revealing her vulnerability). She has the medallion and becomes a partner (she’s all business). She evades and fights off the Nazis and their goons, she even uses a frying pan (she’s resourceful but not stupid). She tries on dresses (she’s re-discovers her femininity). Indy saves her but she picks him up at the end of the film by going for a drink (she’s healing and there’s a chance of a new start for both of them). This is a character arc worth investing in because it speaks to truth and to our reality.

The problem with Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s character is that she is constantly full on with the snark. Indy and Helena gripe and moan at each other the entire film. Indy hasn’t seen her in years, and she felt abandoned after her father passed, so there’s a lot of bitterness. It’s not unwarranted, but it also isn’t entertaining. It’s never entertaining if the snark makes the character too temperamental and unsympathetic for the audience to be emotionally invested in her.

I think overall the film is let down by the script. Again this is a shame. The writing talent was there. Jez and John-Henry Butterworth worked with James Mangold on ‘Ford v. Ferrari’ and co-wrote ‘Edge of Tomorrow‘ while David Koepp co-wrote the first ‘Mission: Impossible’ (but he also penned Indiana Jones and the ‘Kingdom of the Crystal Skull’, and the 2017 version of ‘The Mummy’ that simultaneously started and destroyed Universal’s plans for their Dark Universe). I love the work of Jez Butterworth who is one of England’s finest modern playwrights and he seemed to have transitioned fine over to Hollywood. But as anyone knows a Hollywood script has always too many cooks in the kitchen. There are so many fingerprints of other people - studio execs and directors and even stars - that a modern Hollywood script somehow resembles a sort of Ship of Theseus. It’s the writer’s name on the script but it doesn’t always mean they wrote or re-wrote every word.

Inevitably things fall between the cracks and you end up filming from the hip and hoping you can stitch together a coherent narrative in post-production editing. Clearly this film suffered from studio interference and many re-writes. And it shows because there is no narrative fluidity at work in the film.

Mads Mikkelsen’s Nazi scientist is a case in point. I love Mikkelsen especially in his arthouse films but I understand why he takes the bucks for the Hollywood films too. But in this film he is phoning in his performance. Mads Mikkelsen does what he can with limited screen time to make an impact but this character feels so recycled from other blockbusters. Here the CIA and US Government are evil and willing to let innocent Americans be murdered in order to let their pet Nazi rocket scientist pursue what they believe to be a hobby. But to be fair the villains in the Indy movies have never truly been memorable with perhaps Belloq, the French archaeologist and nemesis of Indy in ‘Raiders’, the only real exception. It’s just been generic bad guys - The Nazis! The Thugee death cult! The Nazis (again)! The Commies! Now we’re back to Nazis again which is not only safer ground for the Indy franchise but something we can all get behind.

However Mads Mikkelsen’s Dr. Voller, is the blandest and most generic Nazi villain in movie history. At the end of World War II, Voller was recruited by the US Government to aid them in rocket technology. Now that he’s completed his task and man has walked on the moon, he’s turning his genius to his ultimate purpose, the recovery of the ‘Dial of Destiny’ built by Archimedes. Should he find both pieces of the ancient treasure, he plans to return to 1930s Nazi Germany, usurp Hitler, and use his advanced knowledge of rocket propulsion to win the war. In a sense then he was channeling his inner Heidegger who felt Hitler had let down Nazism and worse betrayed Heidegger himself.

So there is a character juxtaposition between Voller and Indy in the sense both men feel more comfortable in the past than the present. But neither is given face time together to explore this intriguing premise that could have anchored the whole narrative of the film. It’s a missed opportunity and instead becomes a failure of character and story telling.

Then there are the one liners which seemed shoe horned in to make the studio execs or the writers feel smug about themselves. There are several woke one lines peppered throughout the film but are either tone deaf or just stupid.

“You trigger happy cracker”-  it’s uttered without any self-awareness by a black CIA agent who is chaperoning the Nazi villain. Just because white people think it’s dumb and aren’t bothered by it doesn’t make it any less a racial slur. If you want authenticity then why not use the ’N’ word then as it would historically appropriate in 1969? The hypocrisy is what’s offensive.

“You stole it. He stole it. I stole it. It’s called capitalism.” - capitalism 101 for economic illiterate social justice warriors.

“[I’m] daring, beautiful, and self-sufficient” - uttered by Helena Shaw as a snarky reminder that she’s a strong independent woman, just in case you forgot.

“It’s not what you believe but how hard you believe.” - Indiana Jones has literally stood before the awesome power of God when the Ark of the Covenant was opened up by the Nazis, and they paid the price for it by having their faces melted off. Indy has drunk from the authentic cup of Christ, given to him by a knight who’s lived for centuries, that gave him eternal life and heal his father from a fatal bullet wound. So he’s figuratively seen the face of God (sure, he closed his eyes) and His holy wrath, and has witnessed the divine healing power of Christ first hand. And yet his spews out this drivel. It’s empty of any meaning and is a silly nod to our current fad that it’s all about the truth of our feelings, not observable facts or truth.

For me though the absolute worse was what they did to Indiana Jones as a character. Once the pinnacle of masculinity, a brave and daring man’s man whose zest for life was only matched by his brilliance, Henry Jones Jr. is now a broken, sad, and lonely old man. Indiana Jones is mired in the past. Not in the archaeological past, but in his own personal past. He's asleep at the wheel, losing interest in his own life. He's lost his son, he's losing his wife. He's been trying to pass on his passion, his understanding to disinterested people. They're not so interested in looking at the past. He remains a man turned towards the past, and then he finds himself confronted by Helena, who embodies the future. This nostalgia, this historical anchoring, becomes the main thread of the story.The film tries to deconstructs Indiana Jones on the cusp of retirement from academia and confronts him with a world he no longer understands. That’s an interesting premise and could have made for a great film.

It’s clear that the filmmakers’ intention was for a lost and broken Indiana to recapture his spirit by the film’s end. However, its horrible pacing and meandering and underdeveloped plot, along with Harrison Ford’s miserably sad demeanour in nearly every scene, make for a deeply depressing movie with an empty and unearned resolution. 

By this I mean at the very end of the film. It’s meant to be daring and it is. There’s something giddy about appearing during the middle of siege of Syracuse by blood thirsty Romans and then coming face to face with Archimedes himself. The film seems to want to justify the legendary, exceptional aura and character of Indy himself by including him in History. Hitherto wounded deep down inside, and now also physically wounded, Indy the archaeologist tells Helena that he wants to stay here and be part of history. 

It's a lovely and even moving moment, and you wonder if the film isn't going to pull a ‘Dying Can Wait’ by having its hero die in order to strengthen its legend. But in a moment that is too brutal from a rhythmic point of view, Helena refuses, knocks out her godfather and takes him back to the waiting plane and back to 1969. The next thing Indy sees he’s woken up back in his shabby apartment in New York.

I felt cheated. I’m sure Indy did too.

After all it was his choice. But Helena robbed him of the freedom to make his own decisions. She’s the one to decide what’s best. In effect she robbed him of agency. Even if it was the wrong decision to stay back in time, it’s so important from a narrative and character arc perspective that Indy should have had his own epiphany and make the choice to come back by himself because there is something worth living for in the future present - and that was reconciling with Marion his estranged wife. But damn it, he had to come to that decision for himself, and not have someone else force it upon him. That’s why the ending feelings so unearned and why the story falls flat as a soufflé when you piss on it.

‘Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny’ feels like the type of sequel that aimed to capture the magic of its predecessors, had worthwhile intentions, and a talented cast, but it just never properly materialised. In a movie whose pedigree, both in front and behind the camera, is virtually unassailable, it’s inexcusable that this team of filmmakers couldn’t achieve greater heights. 

The film was a missed opportunity to give a proper send off to a cinematic legend. Harrison Ford proving that whatever gruff genre appeal he possessed in his heyday has aged better than Indy’s knees. He may be 80, but Ford carries the weight of the film, which, for all its gargantuan expense, feels a bit like those throwaway serials that first inspired Lucas - fun while it lasts, but wholly forgettable on exit.

I wouldn’t rate ‘Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny’ as the worst film in the franchise - that dubious honour still lies with ‘Kingdom of the Crystal Skull’.  Indeed the best I can say is that I would rate this film at the benchmark of “not quite as bad as Crystal Skull”.But it’s definitely time to retire and hang up the fedora and the bull whip.

For what’s worth I always thought the ending of ‘Last Crusade’ where Indy, his father Henry Jones Snr., and his two most faithful companions, Sallah and Marcus Brody, ride off into the sunset was the most fitting way to say goodbye to a beloved character.

Instead we have in ‘Dial of Destiny’ the very last scene which is meant to be this perfect ending: Indiana Jones in his scruffy pyjamas and his shabby apartment. Sure, the exchange between a reconciling Indy and Marion is sincere and touching. But that only works because it explicitly recalls ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’. That's what Nietzsche would call “an eternal return”.

I shall eternally return to watch the first three movies to delight in the adventures of the swashbuckling archaeologist with the fedora and a bull whip. The last two dire films will be thrown into the black abyss. Something even Nietzsche would have approved of.

Thanks for your question.

[rendrkii]

paint markers my beloved 💗💗 anyways here’s a thing from a street art inspired assignment from school. took a lot of inspo from decora !!