#but her role was pivotal lmao

[danggirlronpa]

i like your interesting take on tsumugi as a protagonist. i don't hear tsumugi a lot in terms of meta reasons and appreciation and i'd like to hear your though about tsumugi being a main protagonist please. :)

I'd LOVE to. Protagonist Tsumugi is something I really do think fondly of and often wish for.

Firstly, I think Tsumugi is really the only mastermind who you feasibly could play in a perspective of without making them forget they're the mastermind (a la Izuru). So much of V3 is either pre-planned or run by others on Team Danganronpa that her actual involvement as a mastermind is essentially nil - she's just doing damage control. It would be very easy to foreshadow the reveal without outright revealing that she's involved, the same way as with Kaede in the first trial.

Tsumugi is also the V3 character who has the most vested interest in keeping the trials going and making sure they get solved, because if the trial ends there, then there's no show. I could absolutely see Tsumugi's protagonist interventions ("No, that's wrong!") as being subtle interventions to make sure that the group is on the right track, but justified in her not quite knowing the answers because she isn't an ace detective, she's just a cosplayer with a mic in her ear to tell her when she needs to get everyone back on track.

I also think that playing as Tsumugi would play into V3's greater theme of culpability and the control of the audience. By playing as the mastermind, you are directing the killing game. Within the fiction, you, the player, are personally responsible for what happens here. Again, Kaede plays into this in a lot of ways as well (I think a version of the game where you still play as Kaede at first would serve this AU best), but the slow burn of it all makes the realization that much more horrifying, in the same way as the realization that everyone is Remnants at the end of SDR2. Kiibo as protagonist could also accomplish this, since you'd be more connected to the in-universe audience, but I think Tsumugi would provide an interesting take unique to her where the player is really taking on the role of Team Danganronpa itself.

There's an overarching theme that Tsumugi fits into with previous protagonists, too; Komaru had no connection to the mastermind, Makoto was friends with the mastermind once, Kaede and Hajime were accomplices to the mastermind once, and Tsumugi is the mastermind/accomplice to the masterminds. You get the final entry into this sort of sliding scale of connection to the villain, which in current DR is kind of dangling open-ended.

And she's also the only character in V3 who really plays into Danganronpa's overarching theme of the imposter complex ("plain, plain, plain")! I think it'd be so cool to have a take on the I'm Just Some Guy nature of DR's protagonists that is actually very talented, but still has this low self esteem because of the way they think about their talent. They tried to do this with Shuichi a little bit, but imo it wasn't very effective, because it never really came up; Shuichi's arc wasn't about learning that he is actually a good detective, it was about overcoming trauma. A Tsumugi arc where she learns that her talent is valuable, that she can have an impact on the things and people she cares about - especially when we, as the audience, think she's talking about supporting the other players, but in reality she's talking about supporting the killing game? Oh. Ooooooooh. I love that shit.

I do generally think that they should have done a lot more with Tsumugi's character. And, in fairness to them, there are reasons for Tsumugi being just a quiet background character without much impact - it's the big startling counterpoint that she's secretly the mastermind, compared to the more traditional tropes of the rest of the game; Tsumugi's reveal is what really blows the game wide open and makes you rethink the entire story thus far. I just personally think that there are ways they could've done it more effectively, to really give it that oomph.

[vigilskeep]

hi! ive seen you talk about your surana a bunch but i dont know if ive seen her full story. what were some of the pivotal decisions she made? i love hearing you talk about your ocs, theyre always so in depth and thought out!

oh thank you!! :) my surana is my Eldest Daughter from my very first full playthrough of a dragon age game, so i think a lot of people newer to the blog (like... from less than a year and a half ago probably lmao) have less of the context in complete form. so i will attempt to summarise!! it may be... long...

minerva surana is a manipulative, driven elven circle mage, heart-breakingly willing to sacrifice whatever she believes is necessary for her Grand Goals, who is often so busy playing 5d chess she forgets she’s a twenty-one year old with no experience of the world outside the tower

okay it did turn out fucking long the rest is under the cut its like 9 bulky paragraphs enjoy

her family were tevinter liberati, elven slaves who had devoted themselves to buying their way out and very recently succeeded. her parents were desperate to see her and her elder sibling grow up knowing only freedom, and sent their children south with another part of the family while they remained to pay off the last of their debts. the journey was long and difficult, and they had little left when they ended up in the denerim alienage. in a twist of bitter irony, magic that might have made minerva someone of value in the imperium saw her freedom once more revoked in the south. minerva remembers nothing of tevinter, and only a few fragments of what came next: of light through the vhenadahl’s branches glinting on a templar’s blade, of her sibling fighting them and being knocked to the ground, terribly still, with blood in their hair, and of her grandmother saying what she might have said many times on that long journey south: we can survive anything, as long as we never look back. ironically, minerva often took that to heart by denying all memory prior to the circle.

young apprentice minerva was a sullen child, with few friends; karl thekla took an elder brother’s interest, and jowan clung to her talent. she only really flourished when, after her terror of her natural gift for spirit magic saw her self-hatred turn dangerous in her early teens, first enchanter irving took an interest. he was a father figure to her, and he showed her how to channel her power into control, and her distress into ambition. newfound devotion to elemental magic saw her hailed as a prodigy, and surely a future first enchanter with irving’s tutelage. (only irving considered her too headstrong for the role. he never told her, fostering the drive he had cultivated, both fearful for the state she might return to if he didn’t, and curious as to what else she might become.) she grew up arrogant and beautiful and deeply loyal to the circle, learning that it was only the weak and the defiant who would fail to thrive there, and convinced she was neither. many of her peers wanted to be her, and few of them wanted to spend much time in her company. except jowan, still the little brother hiding in her shadow, and halliserre amell, a rebellious rival with a winning smile, who made up for their lack of her discipline and raw power with sheer brilliance, and whose heated arguments eventually developed into... ah, something else heated.

not long before the start of the game, amell told her they were going to accept tranquillity. it didn’t matter how clever they were; with their weak magic, they would die in the harrowing. they’d only been so defiant of the circle before because, having accepted their fate, the risks were nothing to them. furious and unable to admit it was because she was in love, the last thing minerva ever said to them when they were whole was that they were a coward not to try. when jowan told her he feared he too would be made tranquil, minerva was still recovering from the loss, not to mention flushed with even more arrogance than normal from her own successful harrowing. she had been the perfect circle mage all her life, twice as good as everyone else to make up for every rumour about where she was from. surely she had earned one defiance. surely she could save this one thing, her oldest friend. and she is a loyal person, in her way, emotion powering her fierce drive, incapable of abandoning what she has set her heart on. irving, from whom she had learned everything, was ahead of her every step of the way. he arranged for her to be taken in by the grey wardens. she had proved herself as headstrong and unsuitable as he had feared—and she was shocked and bitterly betrayed to finally see that—but he also believed this might bring her to where she would truly belong.

as a grey warden, minerva’s highest concern is perception. when the stakes of the game are revealed, she has enough hubris to see it as a chance to not just save but change the world. defeating the archdemon isn’t enough. she needs to be seen defeating the archdemon, at the forefront, as an elven mage; she has enough idealism to believe it will really matter for her and people like her, and enough shrewd cynicism to consider what she may have to sacrifice to achieve it. mostly she approaches problems with the skill for diplomacy and management that irving taught her, with that good good Master Coercion skill. she gets many of the “better” and certainly more peaceful quest outcomes, not always motivated by altruism, but determined to be remembered well when she leaves each faction behind. her one great sacrifice of this goal to be seen as the perfect mage is when she takes up blood magic, determined after she sees its power that she alone can handle it, to get the job done and keep what’s hers alive fight after fight. but that only makes her more dedicated to her actions elsewhere

the real test and most pivotal moment of her arc is at the landsmeet. she has arranged anora’s marriage to an alistair hardened for the role (once more following irving’s example, learning to teach ambition as he had taught hers. is there love in that, or just selfishness? she doesn’t know). all that matters is that the joint rule neatly fulfils her desire for compromise to please all parties. but then she struggles between two aspects of her goal: she wants to be seen, personally, as the victor; she does not want every noble in ferelden to see her kill the hero of river dane with magic. she knows how that scene will be remembered, in the end. when riordan suggests recruiting him instead, it seems the perfect solution to everything, the salvation of the day. and then she realises she’s broken alistair’s heart, just when he’s breaking hers. she is incapable of backing down in front of them all (it’s only to alistair, her alistair, but she can’t do it—not to a human, and not to someone part of her will always see as a templar—not when everything she wants was so close.) he abandons her for the throne she taught him to want. she goes on with loghain in the party, and eventually—unable to let loghain snatch the final sacrifice from her grasp, and realising she does want to win and live, after it all—convinces him to do the dark ritual.

in terms of her most important relationships with companions: minerva traditionally romances zevran, who is in many ways uniquely her match having learned the same bitter lessons with the crows that she learned from the circle, and who is so dear to her and capable of lightening her heart when no-one else can. i’ve also experimented with the idea of her romancing alistair, to really dramatise the Landsmeet Divorce and capitalise on future political shenanigans where she could one day be his mistress, but more traditionally they are simply an extremely closely trauma-bonded pair of people who are incapable, at least that year, of really understanding each other deep down. it falls into a pattern where she loves someone with all that fierce drive, enough to die for them, but she will always prioritise what she thinks they need over what they are saying and what they want, often with misjudgements and terrible consequences for them both. it was true with amell, it’s true for many others

she has something very intense and homoerotic going on with morrigan, she has a strained relationship with leliana and wynne, and she has respect and comradeship and a fair bit of fundamental disagreement with sten and loghain. the awakening squad are the people she will consider family for life, most notably nathaniel who she started out not liking at all and is now her work wife, her right hand, can finish her sentences, etc.; anders, who remembers her as karl’s annoying teacher’s pet telltale little sister and is still sometimes baffled by who she’s become; velanna, who makes minerva her most genuine self by having regular screaming matches with her as a sign of affection; and oghren who tried to quit drinking at the same time she tried to quit blood magic, leading to many conversations that deeply baffled everyone around them.

the “current” minerva surana is a sharp-tongued leader who was born for the role of warden-commander, who loves her work and that it matters, who has a truer confidence that is less blindly arrogant and more willing to admit to mistakes, who has worked her breathless way up to h*lding h*ands in public with someone she loves, who has finally learned the hard lesson that the world needs more than an heroic example who followed all the rules to truly be bettered... and who, as rebellion brews, has never been one to sit back and watch while others changed the world

[morethansky]

***TBB FINALE SPOILERS***

"The Cavalry Has Arrived" aka MY OTP IS CANON NOW

A truly absurd amount of meta and thoughts and screaming under the cut:

Overall

• I...loved it????? This is the biggest plot twist of all for me. Like I've said incessantly, I've had so many issues with the writing choices for this show, and I'm so grateful the brainrot set in so I could start watching it through a fandom lens and have way more fun with it than through a media critic lens and being a hater. But like...that was actually really satisfying to me within the parameters of where the show had led to in the last four episodes??

• As everyone on the planet probably knows by now, I would've been much happier if this show had led to the Batch choosing to do the right thing and joining the clone resistance, and if we never get another clone series, I will continue to be unbearable and salty about the lost potential of telling that story. But after Echo left and we stopped following his story, I gave that hope up. And ofc nothing about my criticism of this season is invalidated. But given the pieces on the board, I'd pretty wholeheartedly give the finale my stamp of approval!

• I'm ultimately glad that this show ended on a "We don't leave our own behind" note, because that's the clone energy and general Star Wars energy I'm looking for, and they did a great job of applying that theme to every non-villain in this episode, minor and unnamed characters included—but it's still so darkly funny for them to have continued to push this idea even though the first season is literally about them leaving their own behind and moving on. And then Crosshair calls them out on it. And then he just...leaves himself behind. Even in their first appearance in TCW, the Batch's entire vibe is that they keep trying to convince Rex to leave his own behind lmao. I just feel like the show wanted this adage to tie everything together, but then forgot to keep applying it somewhere along the way. But hurrah for this abundant use of it!

• My overall biggest criticism was that even within this one episode we got back on the rescue/captured/rescue/captured treadmill. It's the biggest plot crutch of the show. It's so goofy that Omega and Echo rescued both the children and the imprisoned clones by themselves. The setup made it so that by going to rescue Omega, Hunter, Wrecker, and Crosshair actually put her in more danger. And because they were there, more clones died, wtf!! But I do like the narrative flip—Echo and Omega were both saved by the Batch in their introductions in this era, and here are they are being the ones to save them in return. Omega and Echo also are the characters in the main cast who deserve the rescuer plotline the most, since they have been consistently portrayed as helping those in need no matter what.

• Hilariously, one of the most pivotal roles that the Forest Trio plays in regards to the GFFA at large is that they were essentially Rampart's rideshare drivers, thus enabling him to be there and force Nala Se not to hesitate to destroy Project Necromancer.

Rampart and Nala Se

• Hemlock saying his work makes him indispensable is fantastic dialogue; it just seems like some dickish thing he would say to shit on Rampart, but it ends up giving Rampart the idea to try to leverage his work to become indispensable himself, and in saying that line, Hemlock ushers his own ruin!!! This is the kind of script work I've been begging for.

• Also I was so right about Rampart being like a Kallus foil! That infamous shot of him in his sad, sterile room after Bahryn is mirrored here with Rampart sitting in pretty much the same position, except his path is the opposite from Kallus's.

• They did an EXCELLENT job with Rampart's fate. I was worried they were neutering him these last couple eps, even if the comedy was gold, but this was very well done. Everything that happens leading up to his death makes complete sense for his character, and it accomplishes the very key plot point of destroying Tantiss. At the start of the season I couldn't figure out how and why the Batch was going to end up delaying Project Necromancer for like thirty years, so I feel validated that they pretty much don't. Very typical of this show to not have the protagonists do the heroic work, but fuck it, I like this instance.

• The humanizing of Nala Se in this show has always been a bit of an interesting choice given that this is feels like such a direct successor to TCW and she was so clearly a villain there. But although they don't quite redeem her, her motivations and her fate were also artfully executed here. Her conversation with Omega pretty much takes into account every Nala Se scene in this show, which is a great way to wrap her character up. And I really like the mirror of Nala Se giving Omega her datapad in the season premiere, and Omega giving Nala Se a datapad here. Both times, Nala Se is determined to set Omega free.

• And I'm so glad there was a follow-up to the destruction of Kamino as well! Nala Se getting a bit of revenge against one of the beings responsible for the genocide of her people and destruction of her homeworld is not something I expected at all, and I love it. And the setup of Nala Se picking up the detonator and Rampart picking up the blaster is just fantastic, because you know from just those two shots that Rampart is willing to kill to gain Palpatine's favor for himself, and Nala Se is willing to die to make sure the being she loves will be free.

Echo and Omega supremacy

• Give me an Echo-led rebel show where he convinces all sorts of people in the Empire and the underworld to defect/help them, please!!! He's so good at it, completing Emerie's turn so efficiently! We have to assume Rex is also good at it given his cell and that he has clone spies and even undercover agents, but every time he sees Hunter he has tried and failed to recruit him lmao. Also REX'S NAMEDROP but him not showing up surely means...we'll see a continuation of his story soon after this...right??? Also this means Howzer still lives, oh, thank god.

• "Because it's exactly what I would do." Strategist Echo comeback yessss!! A nice little callback to the Techno Union arc that kicked this story off as well. And HELL YEAH Omega's relationship with Echo is my favorite out of all of her connections, and I'm living for their spotlight together this ep. I'm extremely invested in found family stories not relying on nuclear family narratives, and I love that you see throughout the show that Echo doesn't "raise" Omega like a kid—he trains her like a cadet. Like someone who he intends to be his equal, which is a nice and very appreciated contrast to others treating her like a precious sheltered baby.

• Their goodbye scene in "Truth and Consequences" is one of my favorites in the show, and I just adore that when Omega is upset, Echo doesn't coddle her—he reminds her of her duty to watch over the others, giving her a purpose and a reason to stand tall. When he conveys that he was worried about her and thinking of her while she was captured, he gifts her a weapon he designed and made for her during that time, so that she won't have to be defenseless after being defenseless for so long in captivity. It's so clone trooper, and I love it and the glimpses these details give us about clone culture and how the older clones cared for the shinies and the cadets and showed their love for each other.

• I also liked that Omega couldn't have escaped without Tech's training, since slicing was so vital. And all her stealthy stabbing is of course reminiscent of Hunter. And finally some emotional payoff for the ongoing bit about Wrecker being afraid of heights! I'm weak for inspirational Star Wars quotes, and this show hasn't had many, but "Just stay focused on what's ahead, not what's below," is a lovely one.

Forest conversations, my beloved

• The Kiners scored the fuck out of this episode!!! So many clever, thoughtful reprises. This is the first reappearance of Crosshair's theme that's played on the synths since he began healing! And then it segues into a soft violin tremolo version that makes me cry, and then it intertwines with "The Sacrifice" from Tech's death, ouchhhh. I have a lot of meta I need to write out about the tracks "The Reunion" and "They Always Work It Out" and how they say so much about Hunter and Crosshair, but I can't believe how well my analysis paid off in the cues in this scene! More on that in another post.

• Gosh, Wrecker's injury scared the shit out of me. But I love him so much and I'm glad he got at least a little moment, even if he didn't really have a story arc here. Or you know, in the entire damn show. And I ultimately liked that the purpose of it wasn't just to freak us out but to give them a plausible disadvantage and to give Crosshair someone to fuss over the whole time and act more recklessly because of it, thus reiterating this key character trait of his.

• I love Crosshair being worried about Wrecker and Hunter and them being worried about Crosshair. That's the squad content I crave and have been missing!! Unfortunate that it specifically has been happening when Omega is out of the picture. Writers, I swear to you, you can do both.

• Can't believe it took another half season for someone to say something about Tech's death, and it was Crosshair, who wasn't even there?? Cool line and sentiment, but man, so frustrating. I like this callback to his conversation with Rampart, though. "Depends on who's giving them" and in this first act he keeps trying to give those orders himself. Thinking of Rex on Umbara: "We're not programmed. You have to learn to make your own decisions."

• God the forest conversations in this ep and the previous one fed me so much. Hunter saying, "And so do those clones" had me literally jumping out of my seat and cheering. Baby boy, it took you so goddamn long, but thank you for finally actually giving a shit before the conclusion of your story. And "It's what I deserve," hnghhh that's the good shit, and it hearkens back perfectly to "I belong in here." And Hunter immediately telling Crosshair hell no made me very happy. And then later Hunter saying "Crosshair—" when he's worried Crosshair is still going to sacrifice himself, but Crosshair reassures him that he'll be right behind them... My heart! What a Crosshunt feast we got in this ep!!!

• Can't believe we also got so many Crosswrecker moments from the get-go and they kept coming! And my three precious little Techwrecker crumbs: the way Crosshair specifically chooses Wrecker to say the cutting remark about Tech to; the way Wrecker bows his head because that was right on target; and Wrecker being the one to watch Tech fall and to scream, "Don't do it, Tech!" in "Plan 99" yet the one to say with such conviction here, "We've always known the risks. And so did Tech." That's just so...finally accepting your beloved is gone ;_; Not really deserved by the text, which kept all but a total of like maybe one total minute of mourning off screen for some fucking reason, but.

Clone X, more like Clone Sexy

• There aren't nearly as many Clone X dudes as I expected?? I guess Crosshair's situation wasn't that rare after all? Or do they just run through them super quickly because Rex's team keeps taking them down?? Regardless, god, THEY ARE ALL SO SEXY. The way they animated their movements was so creepy and hot. And them not speaking was so eerie, I loved it. And then the moment that CX-2 did was so effective and terrifying!!! But remembering that those were clones in there is so, so heartbreaking.

• I really like that Echo really felt like both a clone trooper AND the resistance agent he is now this whole episode, and Hunter, Wrecker, and Crosshair actually briefly got to feel like commandos. The slick stealth and silent communication was also very sexy.

• MY GOD, I loved these action scenes. They were lit and choreographed so cool, they were super intense and had real consequences and close brushes with death, and the logic of the fight flow was really good, too. A character being incapacitated because they went to try to help an ally is always a wonderful driving force for action and gives it that crucial character-driven element that raises the stakes, and is great for making sure the main characters aren't too OP, and there was a ton of that here.

• Hunter and Wrecker getting shot by laser cannons and Hunter pushing Wrecker away from the blast made me shriek in terror AND THEN CROSSHAIR SHOOTING THE PILOT DEAD ON NO HESITATION NO ANXIETY NO TREMOR BECAUSE HOW DARE YOU HURT MY HUSBAND I'M FUCKING LIVINGGG. And then Wrecker stumbling over to Hunter and lifting the debris like he does in TCW. Boom, three pivotal character-driven action scenes in a row that divulge a key characteristic of each character! Excellently written and directed.

• Also I am SO SO SO HAPPY that we're getting to see this protective Crosshair come out in full force!!! This is the Crosshair who risked his life to try to save Mayday, who shouted hysterically when Hunter fell into the ice and was so desperate to get him out, who worried over Omega on Teth. I also really like this contrast with how he was about Echo—"Echo's on it." He knows Echo will get the job done and be safe and that's despite his former prejudice against regs. He's worried about Hunter and Wrecker and that's despite previously spending time trying to hunt them down. And when he suffers consequences, it's because of him worrying about them, and that's so delicious.

• Finally got to hear Crosshair screaming! And Hunter was already the screamer in this show, but goddamn does he get to scream in this episode. Thank you, directors, for this whump material! My man Steward Lee never lets me down.

• THE WAY THAT WHEN CROSSHAIR IS TRYING TO SAVE WRECKER HE REACHES FOR A DC-17 OMG!!!! I feel so validated! And just like with Mayday, he's incapacitated afterward...

• God the way CX-2 waits to be tossed the vibrosword and then leans down with it while Crosshair is already incapacitated is SO brutal, like this is not a battle injury. It's straight up what Anakin fucking Skywalker does to Count Dooku just before he becomes a Sith Lord, like holy shit, dude. This scene is so cool and I've watched it 10,000 times over the past 24 hours, but also why did he do that lol, is he just supposed to be particularly cruel?? Obsessed with tormenting Crosshair for some reason?? Also, these vibroswords are exactly how I've pictured Ahsoka's being in A Future for Us :D

• At this point I was like, uhhh, the messaging of Crosshair struggling with this psychomatic hand tremor since the first episode of the season and then the symptom literally being taken out of his........hands sure is a Choice, especially coupled with how they've treated Echo (or you know, not). When they showed him still with the symptoms later, I was very relieved, AND THEN HUNTER LITERALLY CURES CROSSHAIR THROUGH THE POWER OF THE LOVE AND FAITH AND TRUST HE HAS FOR HIM IS THERE ANYTHING MORE BEAUTIFUL IN THE WORLD???? But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Echo is the GOAT

• "You were helping us, Dr. Karr?" / "I am." I love this subtle line and how Emerie acknowledges that she wasn't sure of her loyalties before but is certain now. And I love that she says such a clone trooper thing, "You have my word," and then doing the clone shoulder pat, especially in direct contrast to the natborn kids hugging Omega just before.

• "Hey, kids. ...And other kids." is just so fucking 501st, I can't explain it. I'm just so ecstatic that they did Echo such justice in the end, giving a nod to everything about his character, even his dorkass cadet personality. And it wasn't just so he could die, thank god!!!

• Like Echo even got a DARTH VADER homage??? That's his mass-murdering general (affectionate). More on this here!

• Also is there anything more Big Dick Energy in the world than Echo eviscerating Rampart—who either the clones would recognize as a former vice admiral or at least see his captain rank plaque—with what may not be a theme this show really earned but is ABSOLUTELY a theme that Echo deserves and has shouldered for over two seasons...and then just straight up shoving him out of the way so that he can talk to his brothers???? And with his stormtrooper helmet—which is like Echo refusing to dirty his hands (including his new, long-awaited one) by touching Rampart oh my god??? Sexiest man alive.

• So the answer is no, there isn't. Fives is hollering from the afterlife. Half those clones immediately developed a crush on him in that moment. That one clone later placing a blaster in Echo's arms so gently confirmed this for me (remember the symbolism of Echo making the energy crossbow for Omega? He even gives her his borrowed blaster in this scene), but it's so sad that he died because of it, whyyy.

• Also I love the "Clones don't leave our brothers behind" riff on the "We don't leave our own behind" adage. It's very fitting that Hunter would put it that way because he only means his squad (+/-1), whereas Echo would see it as meaning his people.

• And I love how when Rampart first shoves Echo, the clone in front that Echo's been talking to prickles and makes brief eye contact with him, to be like, "Should we take him? I've got your back." I felt that girls (gender neutral) in the bathroom energy so hard.

• The clones helping each other out of their cells made me so emotional. And it's the same way that Hunter and Crosshair do later...

• Echo asking for volunteers, just like Rex did on Umbara..................

• I think this post is breaking and I'm still only two-thirds of the way through my rewatch, oops. And yesterday I stayed up until 8 a.m. after I put it on again after watching it for the first time... I'm so normal about this show. More tomorrow!

• Part 2!

[mrfartpowered]

Hey! Just wanted to ask a question because I’m bored, lol. What is your favorite RC9GN episode(s)? I’m curious to know!

HIIIII AHAHA I have been meaning to make a post abt this for a while actuallyyy so this is perfect :33

I think Shloomp! There It Is (the body swap one) is one of the best episodes in the entire show, if not THEE best. I think its jokes are unmatched, its story is soooo strong, and the crew’s passion for the show is so so visible in Shloomp!.

my number one favorite thing about this ep is the choice to let Andrew Lewis Caldwell voice Randy!Howard. in a lot of media the body swap trope tends to swap voice actors along with physical traits, and imo, that’s kind of a copout. when your voice actors are professional voice actors, not just actors who happen to land a role in animation, they go above and beyond. Caldwell’s performance as Randy!Howard speaks not only to his skill as a VA, but to the show’s atmosphere and his relationship with Ben Schwartz. Caldwell performed an arguably-flawless Randy Cunningham, from the cadence to the mannerisms to the comedic timing.

his performance is enhanced by the love and care of the animation!! obviously the Randy hair on Howard’s model, but the facial expressions, the hand motions, AAAA it shows how well the animators know their character, how consistently their protag is animated — AND that they can confidently and smoothly translate those quirks onto other models.

obviously it’s not a perfect ep — I’m a big fan of acknowledging the flaws in things u love and I even think they’re kinda fun to talk about. so I wanna take a minute and complain about the Theresa subplot. I know a monster was important to keep the plot moving, but I do not think the audience knew enough about Theresa to care about her that much. Shloomp! feels like a pivotal episode, esp cuz it’s paired w McOne Armed and Dangerous — maybe not narratively, but definitely character development-wise. and it felt…like…unearned for Theresa to get so upset when Nomirandy made a pass at Heidi. at that point, Theresa had only had that prom moment w Randy in Sorcerer in Love, he’d saved her a couple times, and then Der Monster Klub. I just didn’t feel like we’d learnt enough about her and Randy’s relationship for me to care that she was jealous and heartbroken.

THAT BEING SAID…..the heart in Shloomp! is palpable. I’ll have to make a compilation of my favorite Shloomp! moments someday ugh I have rewatched it more than any other ep. I actually watched it while I wrote this LMAO and I also shmoked a little hdngksnfk so I am.getting bored of writing now 😭😭 BUT trust that this is not the last time I’ll wax poetic abt Shloomp! There It Is

[atopvisenyashill]

Why do you ship book theonsa? Theon/Jeyne is more likely to happen

that feels like a crazy assumption to make lmao no shade.

i think the concept of theon confronting his feelings towards being a hostage of the starks on a more intimate level + his trauma with sex AND grappling with the sexual abuse he himself has perpetuated, through a relationship with a stark, who has her own issues with sex, AND is now in a position where she has a lot of power. And that’s where it’s interesting from Sansa’s end, again you have this story of hers where she would grapple with another Not Quite A True Knight + being in the position of some power in a relationship for the first time, being that he is like, physically wrecked, and on the hook for a Lot Of Crime, plus emotionally indebted to her (bc of his guilt over sacking Winterfell).

they both have very similar arcs where they romanticize the Establishment & are a bit delusional about their own role in it & the dangers presented in it, are very violently reminded that life is not as neat as it is in a story, and experience a sort of descent into the underworld alongside a shady captor/mentor, and are reborn in new, stronger identities, while all along harboring a secret resentment and longing to be themselves again. they’re both hostages, they’re both imo on a collision course to be at or around winterfell at the same time bc they are deeply drawn to it as The Scene Of Their Childhood, they’re both unlikely heirs to a pivotal kingdom (obviously theon starts off as a slightly more typical heir given he is a man, but theon as he is now is not a seriously considered contender for iron islands), and they both have very similar ~disordered thought processes~ that i find interesting as well.

the thing about theon/jeyne is i’m not sure jeyne is getting over her sexual abuse any time soon nor do i think theon would ever feel comfortable having sex with her. they mention in theon’s chapters that the lords have started getting uncomfortable because everyone can hear ramsay make jeyne cry at night - she’s experiencing some pretty acute abuse here that i think it’s going to take her a long time to wrap her head around. she also offers to be theon’s “woman” to get away and theon rebuffs her; i think theon would be very aware of how disturbing it would be to essentially take her up on the offer now. whereas there’d be more of a willingness to have sex with someone else down the road, because they weren’t literally in the room being sexually abused right along with theon, ya know. which isn’t to say that i don’t get the appeal here, but i think realistically, theon would be too preoccupied with feeling like he’s taking advantage of jeyne and i think jeyne would feel like she “owes” sex to theon in this scenario. even if theon doesn’t eventually go “maybe this is a line i shouldn’t be crossing” i can’t imagine the two of them like, with any group who wouldn’t go “theon what the fuck is your PROBLEM” if they found out he was fucking jeyne lmao. like asha alysane sansa jon snow etc i think they’d find it inappropriate. which isn’t to say that like jon snow of all people wouldn’t find theon & sansa fucking to be wildly inappropriate but what authority does jon snoe have over sansa lol, while jeyne poole is very low born & very easily bossed around by just about anyone, social status speaking.

[sillystringsimpsons]

I can imagine Legs being the more responsible out of the capos, almost being the mom-friend to Johnny and Louie; along with his soldiers as well (since you said he treats his soldiers nicely lol.) He might also risk neglecting his own mental health, and that can lead to some problems later. But for now, he’s happy helping his friends.

(Sorry if this sounds stilted I didn’t know where I was going with this. I just wanted to infodump about my analysis of Legs��� character lmao :>)

In my AU, Johnny is a bit detached from the other two - nothing happened between them or anything, he's just a bit of a stray cat type of friend, coming and going as he wants. But Legs is 100% the more responsible out of him and Louie, and he always looks out for him, which, you're right, sometimes costs him his mental health; especially since he's taken a lot of the accident the two got into onto his own conscience.

He's appropriately strict with his soldati, but he shows the most kindness and consideration out of the three. For example, a lot of people mistreat Suricato because of his skittishness and small size, but Legs always stands up for him and makes it clear that he's one of his most valued men.

Legs was also the first person in the mafia that Valentina came out to. Though he doesn't take as big of a role in guiding her transition (that's more done by Mikey), his acceptance plays a pivotal role in her story.

[greta--gill]

I have to say that I’m honestly just in disbelief that people are still NOT talking about Emily Sonnett on their post-game coverage and what she did for the team. I get it. We lost, so it’s not like that’s the first thing they’re going to say. But it’s sad to me.

oh lord, dear anon. you’ve just opened the can of worms i’ve been trying to keep shut lmao. i have a lot of feelings about this, but i’m just going to let them fly because i have to let them go.

i couldn’t agree with you more. it’s a damn shame that there’s, in some cases, a real lack of zooming out on these shows/podcasts/interviews/whatever. yes, we lost, but i think that the emphasis ive appreciated in some of the ones i’ve listened to/watched so far is that this team is going towards the future. and i think sonnett 100% deserves to be a part of that conversation. she had the absolute game of her life yesterday in terms of her national team career, and while it’ll be a difficult moment to look back on i’m sure, nobody can take that away from her. her leadership on the field - i will bang my drum talking about how you could hear her screaming on the field forever, not because of the act but because of what it means that she was calling for what needed to go down - and her ability to read that game and what had to get done deserves more praise, even though i hope to god that none of the players are on socials right now and will never hear the fresh noise, good or bad.

in my opinion, sonnett was the best centerback in the league in 2021. for the national team, she’s played almost every version of a position on the back line. she’d barely played midfield for the team before yesterday. she’s subbed in during crazy moments, good moments, terrible moments. she started in one of the biggest games for the history of the uswnt yesterday, and she did the damn thing. her career has not been easy (if you haven’t, take a look at the sam and sonnett swatch watch story, it gave me great insight into the ideas of hard work and dedication but also a really poignant (though brief) overview of what makes sonnett great, and her and sam’s friendship), nor has she gotten her flowers, nor was she set up to succeed, but like tobin said, she fucking did anyway. i hope with time things will change. i firmly believe that from what we’ve seen she’ll go down as one of the best teammates the wnt has ever seen. that list is likely neither ranked nor exclusive by any means and it’s definitely not short. but it’s still true. and honestly, i think that if julie really is retiring, sonnett may have just carved out a home for herself in the six. if we’re lucky, we may even see her and sunny in a continued double pivot role at times, depending on what a game calls for. i can only hope.

thanks for this ask, anon. i needed to get some thoughts out and i really appreciate you coming to my lil inbox to chat lmao

[dipplinduo]

Have you ever scrapped ideas for Sweet & Sour?

Yep!

My process has luckily been more of "transform an idea that doesn't fit" situation for most things, but I'm happy to talk about some of the things that didn't make the cut. Whipping out the notes page...

Lacey was actually meant to be the spotlighted E4 member that gets close to Juliana, not Drayton (hence the focus on her in Chapter 1 & 2). She was actually my favorite at first, and I envisioned her as being a positive, grounding guide for Juliana, and also somewhat of a middle ground influence for Kieran. But then I wrote my spin on the cafeteria scene, and I was like "oh my god wait, Drayton's character is so enticing and flexible, and he's especially fun to insert as an influence in the Kieran/Juliana dynamic". SOOOOOO I quickly decided to pivot and make him the spotlighted one, and have him do more of this brotherly figurer role who was very cunning and comedic. Before I even realized I got overtaken by the iconicism, and now he's just part of my brand in general. Whoops. The "Drayton Being Iconic" tag existed on this blog before this happened so I honestly should've seen it coming LMAO. I do have very important plans for the rest of the E4 and what role they're playing, though :

Don't laugh at this one - it was also early development LOL. I was going to have a party scene where Drayton convinces Juliana to pretend she got drunk (I know) as part of a roundabout and wild way to find evidence that Kieran had a soft spot for her (I KNOW). Kieran was essentially gonna waltz in (to a social event he otherwise never would make an appearance in) and he'd get all flustered as Juliana latches onto him. He would've decided to sweep her away from the party and take him back to his dorm. I ended up scrapping this entirely because while teens do party and all that...yeah, and also we pretty much got the dynamic moments I wanted to portray much better through the chapters where Juliana got sick.

Kieran/Juliana dynamic was also gonna have a moment where Kieran gets it in his head to start flirting with Juliana because he thinks that she’s flirting to get him to put his guard down. And that's where they both kinda were gonna secretly realize their feelings LOL. In hindsight lowkey fire still, but yeah, kinda just didn't have the space for it. We do have flirty Kieran era though, and that's still based.

This one is kinda known already, but originally the Applins were the only stars of the show (hence the name of the fic). I added Ribombee in early on after enough people wanted it and gave it lore/a connection to Kieran and his mother. Before Ribombee was conceptualized, I had different plans for what happened to Kieran's parents (he would still be an orphan regardless).

Briar was originally going to make a "deal" with Clavell regarding getting Juliana to come to Blueberry early, although it wouldn't be revealed until Juliana discovers this later. I scrapped this in favor of something much better because I didn't like the implications it had on Clavell's character, and honestly, only Blueberry is supposed to have the sketchy admin/systematic stuff going on anyways lol.

Kieran was meant to show more obvious signs of sleep deprivation (e.g. falling suspect to illness more frequently, slowed reactions). This idea is still good and realistic, but yeah, ended up leaning more into other symptomology that went well with the toxic chain curse (e.g. irritability, obsessive fixations, self-criticism, overworking himself, fatigue, etc.)

Ribombee was going to sleep powder both Kieran & Juliana in the cave scene of Ch 5. I decided to make it a bit more organic by having Kieran up and reflecting on everything + having Ribombee appearance in a more mystical way. Plus, I thought it would mean more if Kieran & Juliana opted to cuddle up themselves rather than being knocked out. There was a part of me that was worried the dynamic was progressing too fast this way with this change, but it seemed to have landed well! :)

This doesn't really count as a scrapped idea, but related: I 1000% retconned something with the Drayton POV chapters (if ykyk, LOL). But YEP. It's CANON. And frankly it's a decision I personally love that has implications, but also won't screw up the storytelling for where we're at now, either.

There's actually a lot more, too, but like I said: most of my ideas tend to upgrade. And lolololol OMG this is especially true for some major lore stuff. I just don't want to reveal it because I don't want to give y'all hints on where we're going!! LOL.

And also...there are cuter moments I haven't used in S&S and probably won't be able to because I account for what makes sense with the given dynamic. BUT what I do end up doing is taking those unused ideas and putting them into What-Ifs or other stories. There's one I'm particularly thinking of that I was dying to put in S&S D, but I don't think it would trip up the current Kieran as much as it would've in earlier chapters, lol. SO. It's going in The Dichotomy in Our Hearts instead! xD

This was super fun to write, hope it was enough substance for the question! <3

[ao3-oner]

do you play league? if you do, what's your main position/champion?

Hi there, thanks for the ask!

I am pleased to announce that I am an LoL-sober individual. I did play back in 2020-21, but I haven't touched it for the past few years. I first learned the game because one of my friends was really into it and she assembled a team of five of us who all played together on a regular basis, but that kind of fell apart. I played solo queue for a while after that, but I think the summer Star Guardian event in 2022 was the last time I really played. I still have it installed, but I haven't updated it since before Vanguard got implemented - not for any Vanguard-related reason, just because I haven't opened the app since then lmao

As for my main role/champion, back when I was on the team of 5, I was support. If I had to pick a single main, it'd be Blitzcrank, though I think I have more mastery points on Morgana (I have mastery level 7 on both of them, plus a few others - Thresh, Pyke, Lux, Sona, Zilean, Zyra... Yuumi, though I guess they updated the mastery system now? Idk). I was also very fond of Renata Glasc when she first came out and I played her a good deal. My secret pocket pick was always TF support (point-and-click cc is never bad!), or sometimes a BeryL-inspired Heimerdinger.

After my team broke up, I quickly discovered that playing support in solo queue is Not The Move since you completely live or die by your matchmade teammates, so I decided to pivot over to jungle from there. My jungle mains are Ekko and Evelynn, and they gave me *far* more agency in how my games went, for better or worse. My jungler prowess is not nearly as strong as irl Oner's, ofc, but I like to think that I'm not *too* bad at it! I'm certainly much better at TFT and LoR than I am at League, though.

Thanks again for the ask! If you play League, I hope your future games go well! If you don't, I'm proud of you for maintaining your sanity/mental health!

[taldigi]

What made you decide to include Kagami into the Fashion Club AU? And do you have plans to include other canon characters into your AU, or is it just Kagami?

Just Kagami. She was the one with the most potential and is able to fulfill a unique role. also, it was kind of a mutual brainrot agreement amongst friends that if anyone deserved to be saved from canon, it was her.

Zoe, Adrien, Chloe, and GDVs plot points would have all functioned better layered on Kagami. Even Juleka and White Dreads Hippie Girl had some aspects that would have worked better on her too. She had a great opportunity to fulfill that "sixth ranger" energy but instead she got a lot of racist stereotypes and was whittled down to "Adriens unreasonable shitty ex"

If you scrub off all that, give her some proper depth, and stop pivoting her around her relationship to the male lead, and she could have been truly great.

So she gets to be salvaged lmao

Also I've been increasingly fond of Floragami

[trashquisitor-shirozora]

Hey! I saw your reply to that anon ask about mandalorian, and i gotta say i agree with your view. There is something different in season 3 that i couldnt really explain, but you managed to put it into words. The past seasons feel character driven, while this season is more plot driven.

Honestly, i didnt have high expectations, because the ending of season 2 feels conclusive, so i dont know what theyre going to do after that. And when they said that din wont be the main focus of season 3, i felt a bit sad about it haha. I was thinking that maybe we're gonna explore more of din's identity crisis or something like that. But uhhhh idk. I have thoughts and emotions that i cant put into words. I hope you understand what im saying here lmao

Y'know, in hindsight - and can I really say so when we still have an episode left of Season 3, a whole ass Season 4, and however many seasons left until the Disneyfied Thrawn Trilogy Movie? - I feel comfortable saying that Din's story should've ended in Season 2 and he never should've gotten the Darksaber. I also want to argue that he got the Darksaber because Favloni did have plans for him, specifically, until something (Ahsoka and the Thrawn Trilogy and a movie) happened that made them decide to pivot hard into propping up Bo-Katan, whitewashing and sanitizing her backstory, and giving her all of Din's possible storylines. I mean, what did she really do over a season that made her better than Din, who lost everything saving Grogu from Gideon and finding a Jedi who could take him in?

Din was left alone on the bridge of Gideon's cruiser with Bo-Katan and Koska. He is truly alone. Does he follow them back to Bo-Katan's fleet, a CotW among others who don't trust him and his covert? Does he start his search for the Armorer and survivors of Nevarro? Din showed his face to another living being. What does his crisis of faith look like? We saw a glimpse of that in TBOBF; he wasn't doing too hot and then he was banished from his covert and told hwo to atone for his sins. We could've had a multi-episode arc following his journey to Mandalore and visiting the history of Mandalore and its desecration by the Empire. We could have seen him waver in his faith, struggling between what he believed and what he experienced and all the ways they intersect and conflict. Din won the Darksaber in combat. He now holds an ancient Mandalorian Jedi weapon that the Mandalorian diaspora now say marks him as Mand'alor (or the best candidate for Mand'alor). Does he grow into this role using his experience and skills earned as a bounty hunter and his covert's provider, or does he choose to surrender it to somebody else because he never wanted and still does not want the power and authority that comes with the title? Does he ever see Grogu again? Is Grogu doing well? How will they reunite? Well, TBOBF answered all those questions and we just have to accept they're back together at the start of Season 3.

Thse are just some of so many potential character-driven and character-centric stories that I'm never seeing in canon now. He's been wallflowered, pushed into the background, Bo-Katan's newest and biggest supporter in her so-called redemption arc even though you wouldn't fucking know that her redemption arc maybe should've included some mention of what she fucking did in the Clone Wars and the fucking Season 3 logo features Din and Grogu front and center.

(A lot of newer merch I see at the Disney Store, Heroes & Villains, Her Universe, etc. now feature multiple Mandalorians and Mandalorian helmets, so maybe that was a giveaway that we are following more Mandalorians now... and I am still forever struggling to find decent Din Djarin merch that puts him front and center. Fuck me, I guess)

I truly wonder what kind of Season 3 we could've gotten if Favloni, Kennedy, and Disney decided not to MCU-fy Filoni's precious darlings, if we were allowed to follow Din the way we did in the first two seasons. You could bring him back to the covert without losing him to the crowd. You could have him cross paths with Bo-Katan again and have her play a more significant role in his journey(s) without taking all of the spotlight.

I did have high expectations after Season 2, Anon, but once TBOBF came out, i realized I was fucked. And, well. Here we are.

[lilbittymonster]

WIP Wednesday Whenever

Tagged by @crystallineconflict tysm 💜

Tagging @crackinglamb and whoever else has a WIP they want to gush about.

Not so much of a WIP but more of a deleted scene from the Ishgard role quest fic, just to keep the POV the same. Content warning judicious use of cutscene dialogue lmao

Aymeric was hunched over the stone railing, looking pensively out over the rest of the city below him. Kitali dragged her tail purposefully against one of the shrubs so as to not startle him, and he turned slightly to look over at her as she approached.

“Artoirel sent me to fetch you,” she said quietly, coming to lean up against him.

“Is it time already?” he asked with a small sigh. “My apologies for making you come and fetch me.”

“Everything alright?”

Wordlessly he entwined their fingers, squeezing tightly.

“I have been thinking,” he said after a pause. “On the path that I have chosen to walk, and on those who have been left behind as a consequence of my actions. Those who died fighting, those burdened with boundless grief, those deprived of position and purpose. Like any nation, Ishgard is made up of disparate souls with disparate beliefs. Without an enemy to unite us, we recall the differences once set aside out of necessity, and find amongst our old friends new ideological foes. The future I had envisioned…..’Tis far more difficult to secure than I ever imagined. What must I do for our people to live in harmony? For our nation to move forward as one?”

“Well, the first step is to stop saying ‘I’ and start saying ‘we’,” Kitali said. “You aren’t the only person who’s trying to make it work.”

“…I know,” he said sheepishly. “I still cannot help but feel responsible for the chain of events which led us down this path to begin with.”

“You aren’t the one who started it. And if it wasn’t you, then it would’ve been someone else down the line, and we’d be in the same position.”

He squeezed her hand again, straightening from the railing.

“We should be making our way to the council. Shall we continue as we walk?”

Kitali pivoted to remain on his right, hands still clasped.

“You knew this wasn’t going to be easy,” she reminded him gently. “You knew there would be sacrifices.”

“That doesn’t make them any easier.”

He slowed as they mounted the final step and the Fortemps Manor came into view. Kitali found her grip resisted as she marched onwards, not looking at the guard stationed outside. Aymeric caught up to her, running his thumb across hers.

“I know it’s a touchy subject for you, but it feels like another age when the three of you first arrived,” he said. “And it may well be, in fact. I’m sure historians will look back on the arrival of the Warrior of Light as a pivotal moment in Ishgard’s history.”

“There, see, you said it yourself, it’s actually my fault all this happened,” Kitali teased. “You’re absolved of any blame.”

He huffed a small laugh. “Would that the rest of the city agreed.”

[macbethz]

ok final thots. thank you to those who supported me liveblogging both those episodes i love doctor who so much. i also unfortunately love being a critic

all three dw episodes seem to be engaging heavily in this new folklore-ish lean that was established in wild blue yonder - the goblin stealing children, the bogeyman, the fiddle battle with the devil. im interested to see where it goes bc i think its a compelling throughline and one thing rtd lovessss is creating episodic stories that resolve into an overarching narrative. I do think DW seems to be pivoting towards its more family-centric roots, which is fine i guess. I am aware im not the target audience of doctor who but i do love her for her darker moments so ill always be a little sad

i think its kind of funny that the bbc lied in their marketing a little? like space babies was not about the first 5 second butterfly thing and the beatles were barely in the devils chord. actually really funny i literally cant be mad

ncuti is literally electrifying every time hes on camera. i believe he's the doctor 10000% and he really brings that combination of whimsy and sadness to the role that makes me want to see more of 15. ruby i find....less compelling. at least as of rn. I think the main point of interest for her is the mystery of her origin but as a character she's kind of a non-entity in the same way i found many of 13s companions. she almost reminds me of early season Clara in that she's just kinda Mystery Twee Girl but Clara ended up as one of my favorites because she became the most sick and twisted woman on planet earth over the course of 3 beautiful seasons so I have not lost hope yet.

However I do think the companion-doctor relationship is the thing the entire show runs on and I'm not, AS OF YET, super compelled by what 15 and ruby have going on. Hitting a lot of the same notes as rose/9 without the emotional follow-through and DISAGREEMENTS that really made that relationship interesting to watch. I think that's the main thing is I need to see some kind of conflict. 15 is a lot more open than any previous doctor by a LONG shot, presumably because of 14s off-screen therapy LMAO. There's a lot on the table up front in terms of backstory and personality (which i get helps set up new fans) but that also means a lot of the narrative tension created by that kind of inside information is lost. We need something else to replace it and make that dynamic interesting! For me doctor who maintains its narrative momentum through character relationships, i'm not particularly interested in just seeing Space Adventures without that kind of meat behind it idk. it makes them feel a little hollow to me

what else um. jinkx monsoon ate obviously. music is the meaning of life thank you for acknowledging this doctor who.

[homenecromancer]

anyway here’s how D2ne in IMAX went / some thoughts

- i gotta see/read something at least twice for things to really start coming together for me, because i am a slow learner lmao

- it’s gonna be different for each viewer, but there’s definitely a point in this movie where things kind of click and you go “oh, this is a Villain versus Other Villain movie, there’s no hero here” and from that point forward it absolutely whips

- for twenty years i have enjoyed watching/reading bad things happen to Paul Atreides, and Timothee Chalamet manages to hit an excellent balance between making you feel bad for a guy swept up by forces beyond his control at the same time as he makes you aware that Paul is not as helpless as he feels like he is. equal parts “oh no this poor guy” and the dread of watching something like a natural disaster wearing human skin.

- the final fight scene with Feyd-Rautha is pretty much impeccable, which i say as a person who has almost-universal trouble processing wtf is happening in fight scenes, blow-by-blow. but in this scene i thought it was well-communicated that Paul has almost met his match, but Feyd-Rautha is ultimately just not good enough. i tentatively propose that Paul’s ability to get stabbed twice and not just keep fighting, but win, and then dominate the Emperor into kissing his ring, is due to Bene Gesserit training in mastery of the body. he’s the Kwisatz Haderach because he can access both male and female Other Memory; he becomes Emperor partly because of his Bene Gesserit training, forbidden to men. symmetry

- because i was a preteen when i read Dune for the first time, a lot of things went right the fuck by me and a lot of characters just didn’t really make an impression on me. but these two movies bring life even to those characters who aren’t on screen for all that long

- like, despite her pivotal role in Dune and Dune Messiah (and supporting role in Children of Dune), Irulan made very little impression on my child brain. Florence Pugh is so absolutely perfect on-screen that — okay, i won’t say all without checking (and i’m not doing that at work), but many chapters of Dune begin with quotations from Irulan’s written work. an insane way to adapt this for the screen, to emphasize her presence, would be to have her do a voiceover before every scene. this would be a terrible decision. i would watch every god damn second of Florence Pugh as Irulan doing that.

- Chani is unfortunately a bit of a non-entity in the book — as the focus on Paul gets tighter, and he adjusts to life with the Fremen, she fades into the background a little bit, and we lose insight into her inner life. which is a huge shame, because you could write a whole book just about what happens to Chani in the timespan covered by Dune. i have never seen anything else she’s in, but Zendaya does a fabulous job as Chani, and makes her character absolutely come to life. like i’m in delighted suspense hoping the Dune Messiah adaptation comes through just because Chani and Irulan both have so much going on in that book, and i want to see these actors play those roles so bad

- Rebecca Ferguson continues to be great as Lady Jessica — she has a very similar “fuck it, i’ll be evil” kind of arc as Paul (though Jessica is notably much less willing to commit to Full Evil than her son), and Ferguson sells the hell out of it. when i first read the book, i certainly did not appreciate the horror of being pregnant with a fetus that’s a full Reverend Mother — i mean, i don’t even think Frank Herbert shows it as effectively as Ferguson does. her delivery of the line “She talks to me” is bone-chilling.

- she’s only in the movie for maybe ten or fifteen minutes, but Léa Seydoux is very good as Lady Margot Fenring — her husband Count Hasimir Fenring does not exist in the movie, and Margot partially takes his role. let me explain a bit: Count Fenring is the Emperor’s bestie and hatchetman in the book, and appears in the final fight scene (where we learn he is a defective output of the Kwisatz Haderach breeding program). in the movie, though she doesn’t have any lines in that scene, Margot appears in his place. also different in the movie: Margot’s seduction of Feyd-Rautha is on camera, and rather than her husband, she is mostly seen with other Bene Gesserit while she’s on Giedi Prime. anyway. the Fenrings are two of the more astute characters in the book, and i thought compressing them into just the one character worked quite well

- is this movie exactly what i imagined when i first read the book? fuck no it’s not. and i cannot assess how well it conveys the themes of the book for those who haven’t read it. but as someone who has been waaaaay too into Dune at various points, i thought it was a very satisfying execution. much like Peter Jackson’s LOTR adaptations, i think Villeneuve’s Dune adaptations are technically impressive, beautifully executed love letters to their source material

- there are a lot of visually striking images and sequences in this movie, but the one that stuck with me this time is near the very end — as the Fremen charge out of the sandstorm at the assembled Sardaukar troops, there’s a moment where some Sardaukar are confronted by a towering wall of windblown sand. the sand at their feet begins to undergo liquefaction under their boots. then an enormous sandworm appears, looming over them like the face of God, mouth open and ready to swallow them whole. it’s so fucking dope

[ughgoaway]

today is seemingly the day of naming things for my au's lol

I'm writing a teacher au blurb about seeing Annie performing in a musical, and her brother comes along to the show. but so far, baby boy is still nameless!!! do you guys have any suggestions/ideas?

I was thinking Antoine because that's the name of the author of "the little prince" and obviously, that book played a pivotal role in your relationship. BUT it's quite pretentious, and ik matty is very pretentious, but is that too far??? it could be Anthony as the English translation, but idk if I love that...

I think it needs to toe the line between unusual but not too stuck up lmao <3

[spacelizzbian]

S1 ep1

Not to immedeately well actually, but Ahsoka never officially practised as a jedi knight, she was offered the role but declined

(Not that this matters to anyone but nerds like me who have way too much investement in this)

Idk what people think of the dark side girl's design but I love that she just looks like an emo girl. Like yes, that is exactly every darksider's thing lmao

Ok Ahsoka's theme over the opening credits did make my heart swell a bit ngl

Ahsoka, former jedi, but mostly tomb raider

Pivoting star wars back to having more of a samourai feel is a good idea actually

Hah, that hole thing the jedi do never gets old

OMG HAHA, SHE USED THAT IN COMBAT SHE WOULD DO THAT

Ok if the combat keeps it fun like this I might warm up to this being live action ...maybe

Love that Huyang's neutral expression makes him look like's always annoyed and exhausted

Ahsoka demonstrating that she was absoultely Anakin's apprentice by implying she used some non kocher ways to make someone talk

Please tell me the music is what she's listening to the whole time in universe

Why does she need to be there, let her brood on the anniversary of her friend dying? 😒

Uh oh, that's strike one of lore that didnt feel like it needed to be there (at least it doesn't feel like that, yet)

If they dont explore Ahsoka's feelings towards the jedi order in this, idk what the point is. Everyone sees her as a Jedi and calls her as such but she made such a point of it in rebels that she's not one? But in tcw s7 she was considering rejoining after the war?? And now she doesnt seem to correct anyone on it anymore and even taught an apprentice???

I don't wanna know for semantic reasons, but Ahsoka seems like a prime figure to explore the jedi of new and old since she is one of the only characters to have lived through both Yoda's and Luke's Jedi Orders. And she has so much juicy bagage to boot, it would feel like a waste if they didnt explore this

Lmao, Ahsoka knowing exactly what to say to get Sabine on board instantly

Girl, admitting that there hasn't been a place you'd consider home since the jedi order is deeply depressing and not the normal answer you think it is 😭

Sabine giving Ahsoka the same attitude Ahsoka gave Anakin, mmm delicious

Deadbeat mom Ahsoka and good mom Hera is not a thing I was expecting but I'm here for it

I give it a 40% chance that Sabine follows that order, she is after all officially part of the disaster lineage now lmao

"Formidable adversaries" bitch please

She has survived and beaten some of the best fighters in her lifetime so I'll never feel any tension with any foe she faces

Ok aight, setting something thematic up about Ahsoka and loneliness, good good good

"She's just as stubborn and bullish as ever"

Gurl, glass houses 💀

How tf are you holding that pencil?!?

Ok I do like that the nightsisters also had holocrons, makes them feel more like an actual faction of the force

Why do the lightsabers look so bad? They barely glow anymore💀

Not the emo dark side girl using her cape in combat 😂😭

Now that ending did make me gasp, before I immedeately remembered lightsaber wounds don't mean shit anymore if you're a main character