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dalekofchaos · 4 years ago

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How Disney/Lucasfilm failed Finn and John Boyega

A rant about my continued frustration on how Lucasfilm/Disney failed Finn and John Boyega

John Boyega’s Finn was setup as the male lead and co-protagonist of the sequel trilogy. That’s not an opinion, that’s not a headcanon, that’s a literally fact. He was set up to be equal with Rey & Kylo’s foil and we all know why that changed.

John Boyega was cast as the male and co-protagonist of the sequel trilogy by JJ Abrams, who had to fight for John Boyega to be cast against the preferred (White) casting choices.

Originally Finn(Sam in the original treatment) was white

Majority from Okiro’s twitter thread exposing Lucasfilm’s hypocrisy when it comes to representation and black history

JJ Abrams told Finn he was the new star of Star Wars

In The Force Awakens. Finn was a Stormtrooper who defected. After witnessing the death of his friend Slip and seeing the innocents being killed, Finn made the decision to save Poe Dameron and leave The First Order. Finn only wanted to leave The FIrst Order and run away. But after meeting Poe and later Rey, Finn began to care for more than himself. Finn was mentored by Han Solo. For once, he had a father figure and a positive role model as opposed to people like Hux and Phasma. He learned to care for Rey and even love her. After Starkiller Base destroyed the Hosnian System, Finn realized running was pointless and knew he had to fight. Then Kylo Ren took Rey. Finn went to The Resistance using his time on Starkiller Base to shut down the shield generator and plant the explosives on the thermal oscillator. Finn’s main focus was rescuing Rey. After Kylo force pushes Rey into a tree, Finn faces Kylo Ren. Finn learns to overcome his fears of The First Order and faces the symbolic evil that was Kylo Ren. Although Finn does not win, he puts up a good fight and was put in a coma for daring to defy Kylo. Then they bait and switched us with Rey. I’ll let you read my rant on that.

Finn was the co-protagonist of The Force Awakens, this is evident of Finn’s actions saving everyone. Finn is the very reason why the Resistance is even alive. Finn breaks his life-long brainwashing, informs Rey and Han about the importance of BB-8 and helps out in getting BB-8 to the resistance and provides vital information that lead to the destruction of STB and gets nearly killed while helping to achieve this. If it were not for Finn saving Poe, BB-8 would’ve been scrapped for parts and Rey never would’ve left Jakku. The map would either be destroyed or be in the hands of The First Order. Starkiller Base would’ve destroyed D’Qar and Ach-To. He is the reason why Poe is still alive. He is the reason why BB-8 isn’t parts and Rey left Jakku. Because of leaving Jakku, this is the sole reason why Han and Chewie were able to find the Falcon. And he is the reason why The Resistance was able to find out about Starkiller Base’s weakness. he Helps out in sabotaging STB so that Poe, the very pilot he saved in the beginning can deliver the finishing blow to Starkiller Base and destroy it completely.

There are some missed opportunity in TFA, believe me I know as I feel JJ squandered the theme of Stormtroopers rising up against their oppressors and that crack about Finn being a janitor was so tone deaf and unnecessary.

Don’t believe me that Finn was meant to be the co-protagonist of the Sequels? Look at the marketing?

Also. Just look at the hopeful optimism and representation FInn brought to black people.

Then the racist boycotting happened. The boycott was groups of bigots who wanted the ST to be boycotted. What was the response from Lucasfilm? Zero defense of John Boyega, but their actions were transparent when they shrunk Finn on the TFA poster for fucking China’s sake, kept him off the TLJ teaser poster, and small on the official poster

I’ll let what Rian Johnson chose to do with Finn speak for itself. John Boyega has every right to hate what Rian did with his character.

By giving into the boycott and doing their best to erase and sideline John Boyega, Lucasfilm proved they would always cater to mob law if the mob was big enough. Do I have proof of this boycott against John Boyega? Yes, I do.

Also, popular Reylo blogger Jenny Nicholson’s racism against John Boyega

Reminder that Jenny Nicholson blocked a whole fuckton of Black people who even gently criticized her about how she went after John Boyega

Did Lucasfilm after The Force Awakens try to support their Black lead in any way? No. In fact, they began to erase him harder than ever to the point Fans started a hashtag #WhereIsFinn because it was getting so bad. But Bryan Young, a Lucasfilm writer, sure loved to hate on Finn

Lucasfilm was so racist, the very concept of a Black man and a white woman getting together sent them into such a frenzy Lucasfilm had to have it removed from any EU material just to make sure they kept it nice and bigot friendly. Also it’s worth noting that Alan Dean Foster was ordered by Lucasfilm/Disney to scrap any hints of Finnrey romance from the TFA novel as he believed that was the direction of the Sequels’ romance and coincidentally they did next to nothing with and we know it was racially motivated. "I expected to see that developed further in Episode VIII [The Last Jedi]," Foster said. "And zero happened with it. And we all know why zero happened with it — and there's no need to go into it in-depth — but that's, sadly, just the way things are."

It wasn’t JJ Abrams, Lawrence Kasdan or Chris Terrio who were against Finnrey. It was Disney and Lucasfilm and RIan Johnson was more than happy to separate Rey and Finn 99% of the movie(he said and did enough things to prove that he didn’t want the two characters even near each other)

Then John spoke about his frustration with how he was treated

People have tried to twist the narrative or put words in Boyega's mouths, but his GQ interview paints the picture rather clearly. He was sidelined due to his race after The Force Awakens when The Last Jedi came around with a "reordered character hierarchy" Lucasfilm's order btw

It resulted in Rey and Kylo Ren being featured prominently in both TLJ and TROS. It also resulted in Reylo being canon. Lucasfilm killed the Sequel trilogy, cause they couldn’t bare the thought of a black man in the leading role and a interracial relationship.

If you look at TFA, you’ll realize that Finn was built up to becoming a Jedi, Kylo’s foil and Rey’s equal. Because TLJ happened, Finn’s role was reduced to a side character and JJ could not make him as prominent as he originally wanted to. EIther studio interference or TLJ screwed everything up so bad that he had to work on it slowly and just hope that Disney + would have something for Finn.

At the start of the trilogy, we all thought people of color would have a prominent role in the new trilogy, there was a potential for the first interracial relationship in Star Wars and there was a potential for the first LGBT relationship in Star Wars. But no, it’s clear that both TLJ and TROS gave us the impression that only white people can be Jedi and only white people can have epic romances and save the galaxy, people of color can only have secondary roles. And the blink and you miss it kiss? Only white women, not two men of color who clearly love each other.

Finn’s best scenes were deleted.

Finn and the villager. it really shows why Finn chose to leave. Finn’s reasoning for leaving the First Order had nothing to do with being against violence, but a moral confliction of not wanting to hurt defenseless people. This villager wasn’t a soldier, wasn’t trying to hurt him. She was just a woman with her baby. This wasn’t war, this was murder, and Finn refused to be a murderer.

TLJ alternate opening. Opens with Finn waking up. Small change, but it would show that Finn is still a prominent character.

BB-8 shows Finn Rey’s last moment with him. BB-8 tries to cheer Finn up, but to no avail until he shows him a recording of Rey from the end of The Force Awakens - the scene she says goodbye to an unconscious Finn and kisses him on the forehead before leaving to find Luke Skywalker.

Poe gives back his sewn up jacket to Finn. In this deleted scene, Poe fills in the gaps and tries to assuage Finn about his concerns, including Finn's mixed feelings about his relationship with the Resistance. Poe then gives back the jacket that was once his and became Finn's in The Force Awakens, showing Finn that he sewed it up. This scene doesn't necessarily push forward any plot development, but should've remained as great a moment between Finn and Poe. The two characters established a wonderful chemistry and bond in The Force Awakens, and with Finn off on Canto Bight for much of The Last Jedi, fans didn't get to see as much of their relationship as expected. It's nice to see that chemistry and bond again. Finn's question about winning is also interesting in highlighting the constant uphill battle of the Resistance. Even destroying the Starkiller Base, Rey defeating Kylo Ren, and blowing up a Dreadnought can still put the Resistance in the position of fleeing.

The elevator scene between Finn and an old Stormtrooper friend. A Stormtrooper voiced by Tom Hardy recognizes Finn and starts talking to him. Finn starts to draw his gun, thinking the Stormtrooper has recognized him as a traitor, but it turns out the Stormtrooper is just surprised to see that FN-2187 has become an officer. The scene may go on for a bit too long, but ultimately it should've stayed in. The scene in the elevator does a great job playing with the audience's emotions, as they're unsure whether the tension will rise to the breaking point of a fight or evolve into a humorous moment. It also shows Finn using restraint by not killing a fellow Stormtrooper, unlike the other two movies.

Phasma’s alternate and BETTER death scene. WHY WAS THIS CUT????? No seriously, WHY WAS THIS FUCKING CUT????? I will never understand why this was deleted. Finn calls her out about her betrayal of lowering the shields and when this information is revealed, the Stormtroopers near her look suspicious and it looks as if they are going to turn on her. Phasma like the ultimate survivalist she is kills them with no hesitation. Finn cuts her hand off and blasts her into the abyss, giving Phasma a more deserving and better send off. Seriously, this is way better than their actual confrontation. What I really like about this scene is its direct connection to The Force Awakens plot point and that it acknowledges Phasma's survivalist attitude which was introduced into her novel. The Phasma novel and comic portrayed her not as a First Order loyalist, but as a ruthless warrior who did whatever it took to survive. She even went so far as hunting down and doing away with those within the First Order who had knowledge of what she did at the Starkiller Base lest the truth get out. Phasma was always about self-preservation, she wasn't about preserving the First Order, but that never comes across in The Force Awakens or The Last Jedi. It only comes across in this deleted scene where Phasma chooses to end her own Stormtroopers to save herself.

Something else that bothers me. Finn’s treatment in the expanded universe. Have you ever noticed that Poe and Kylo got all the big expanded universe material and Finn is always shoved into the background or not there at all? Even worse, every form of media portrays Finn as Poe's bumbling sidekick, which is even more apparent in TROS. They were more interested in having Poe and Finn being the Abbott and Costello of the ST instead of letting Finn going from Stormtrooper to Jedi and lead a Stormtrooper Rebellion.

In the journey to TROS, Finn is not featured in ANY of the novels or graphic novels for the Journey to TROS. When he was, he was used as Poe’s sidekick and not featured anywhere with Rey. Before the release of the movie, he is not featured whatsoever in any shape or form in marketing. We get to see him in two teasers but he says nothing. His new outfit looks awesome. Finn could’ve been used to rise as a Jedi with Rey and essentially be the Skywalkers that Rise and face Kylo and Palpatine together. If not that, Finn could’ve caused a Stormtrooper Rebellion that burns The First Order from the inside out. Instead of any of that, it Finn was given nothing for this movie. He doesn’t even get to face Kylo Ren, their rivalry as foils was completely dropped. That is sad and heartbreaking.

Seriously, there is no novelizations or comics that expand on Finn’s time in The First Order. Sure, there is Before The Awakening. But consider this. Finn was their best Stormtrooper, so good that Hux considered him Captain material.

There is so much potential with Finn in the Expanded Universe. Apply all the posts I’ve linked and more.

The Poe Dameron comics were not about Poe’s life, they were about his personality, skills, character, and the Resistance. So I ask, why can’t/couldn’t the same have been done with Finn pre TFA? A comic series exploring his character while world building the First Order.

There is so much to tell. You could start with Finn vividly remembering his family and how he was abducted and recruited for the FN Corps.

You could even show the ruthlessness of The First Order by showing initiation for the FN Corps is only granted by forcing the children to kill each other in a Hunger Games/Battle Royale to see who the strongest and who deserves to be welcomed to the First Order. This would be in separate groups of the children who are abducted to determine who gets to be put in the FN Corps. We could see Phasma returning to the room, only to see a young Finn covered in blood and dried up tears. Phasma will only say “Welcome to The First Order, FN-2187.”

Wouldn’t it be interesting to see how Finn, a brainwashed soldier broke free of his mental conditioning, learned the truth of the FO yet still tried to be a good soldier. It could flesh out his relationship with the squad he led, as well as Phasma and Hux.

It could’ve also showcased the brotherhood and friendship Finn had with FN-2199 (“Nines”), FN-2000 (“Zeroes”), and FN-2003 (“Slip”).

The biggest thing it could do is finally show Finn’s skills as a soldier, his brains, while giving so much needed world building First Order. We could also finally show what it’s like as a FO stormtrooper from a sympathetic POV.

Through the avenue of a Finn comic series you could also flesh out Hux, Phasma, Nines, Zeroes, Slip, and even characters like Kylo and Snoke. It doesn’t have to cover spoilers, just make the one note more dimensional while giving Finn so overdue respectful content

It could end with everyone asking Finn “what was the moment you decided to leave” which then we would see the TFA deleted scene of Finn in the village

It could end on Finn saying "I was raised to do one thing, I used to think I’ve got nothing to fight for, but now I have something worth fighting for.“

And afterwards. You could show Finn and Jannah working together to liberating the other Stormtroopers. The first person they rescue? Zeroes, FInn’s last surviving Squad Member and together they awaken and liberate their brothers and sisters and all the while Finn rises up and becomes a Jedi!

For those wondering what about Finn in TROS? I’ll let this video do all the talking

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I’d also like to point out. Finnrey WAS going to happen in TROS. Here’s confirmation by Jedipaxis, the main reddit leaker, who was right about everything before the films release, confirmed that Finn’s “i never told you” line was supposed to have some payoff and it was going to end with finn and rey holding hands. could this pic have been of the alternate ending? then reshoots happened and we got the Reylo kiss

I’m convinced that John Boyega was told by the higher ups to say Finn was meant to say he was “Force Sensitive” no one who is about to die would “always want to tell you” they were force sensitive.

Hell, even in the original Episode IX by Colin Trevorrow. Duel Of Fates. Finn was given the shaft again. For some unknown reason, Rey is paired with Poe, a character who barely interacts with Rey at all. Finn was given another sidequest to do. The only brightside for Finn is he participates in retaking Corruscant and a Stormtrooper Rebellion near the end.

Finn, who was once held in prominence as the co-protagonist alongside Rey. Was erased from how prominent he once was and reduced to a sidecharacter due to China and fanbacklash that there was going to be a black lead in Star Wars. Disney caved in to the racist backlash and caved into China’s racist demands.

Finn deserved to be a main character alongside Rey, while Kylo Ren is their villain. He deserved a good character development, a great arc, an interesting backstory. he had the potential to become one of the most epic star wars characters. TLJ and TROS was an insult for him and he deserved better. nobody will EVER change my mind.

Finn should’ve been a Stormtrooper turned Jedi who embraced the light, while Kylo Ren who was the Skywalker who rejected the light and embraced the dark. Rey should’ve been Luke’s daughter, while Finn is the Jedi who builds himself up from being a Stormtrooper from nowhere to Jedi and together Rey and Finn stop Kylo Ren and bring down The First Order and rebuild The Jedi!

Finn should have been a Stormtrooper turned Jedi. It doesn’t matter that you think it tells a better story for him to not be a Jedi. “Finn being a hero who is not a Jedi is important.” Poe and Rose are great examples of ordinary heroes coming from nowhere. Rey was supposed to be a jedi related to Skywalker or Kenobi legacy while Finn was the perfect “nobody from nowhere” that becomes a Jedi. And honestly, Black kids deserved to see themselves in the Black Jedi and black kids deserved to see themselves as one of the three protagonists of the trilogy.

Finn got no last name No theme Was sidelined in the trilogy Had his scenes cut Mocked by Lucasfilm employees Racially harassed by bigots and media outlets Disney used while staying silent and then Disney has the nerve to say they “stand” with John Boyega during the BLM movement and celebrated Finn during black history month despite squandering him....

Finn deserved better, period!

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#Star Wars #Finn #Finnrey #John Boyega #Anti Lucasfilm #Anti Rian Johnson #Anti Sequel Trilogy

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twentiethcenturymoviesandtv · 4 years ago

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The Princess Bride: The Characters, Part 2: The Sicilian Crowd, the Villains, and Conclusion

When we are first introduced to Inigo, he’s not exactly a glowing example of heroism. A former alcoholic, Inigo is a Master Swordsman, working as a mercenary, he is one of the trio who first kidnaps Buttercup (under Humperdinck’s orders). He’s fine with the abduction itself, but shows a few of his true colors when he objects to murdering her, already proving himself a little more decent than Vizzini, the leader of the band.

A little later, during the duel with Westley, much is revealed about Inigo, more in fact than you ever learn about the backstories of either Westley or Buttercup: the story of his father’s murder and his own desire for revenge, so strong that it has encouraged him to dedicate his life to mastering the art of fencing. The duel, exciting enough from an action and comedy standpoint, also clues the audience in on a few other key details: Inigo isn’t really all that bad of a guy, just a man on a Roaring Rampage of Revenge, again demonstrating the same duality (just reversed) that Westley does.

Despite not having as much screen time and focus as Buttercup and Westley, Inigo is the Breakout Character of The Princess Bride, a Determinator, the Lancer of the film. As I mentioned, he’s also the character we receive the most information about, learning that he is a man of honor, good hearted, and loyal through his interactions with other characters, notably Westley and Fezzik. Thanks to his sympathetic backstory and one-track mind, he’s understandable to the audience: we know everything about him and why he is doing everything. He’s totally transparent in the best way, he makes sense, and the audience roots for him. They care about him, even when he’s initially introduced as a more villainous character (albeit one with truly hilarious lines). The audience arguably has a stronger attachment to him than they do to Westley and Buttercup, which is very unusual, especially when Inigo disappears for a while after Westley defeats him in battle.

In a way, Inigo would seem to have the qualities very necessary to carry a film: tragic backstory, sympathetic motivation, understandable actions rooted in very clear character traits, and indeed, a lot of elements that put him in the Hero camp. And yet, like Buttercup and Westley, while some things fit him into this mold, others don’t.

Although he doesn’t have a connection to Humperdinck (aside from him being a distant employer), he does have a very strong tie to the main villains of the story in Count Rugen.

Rugen is, of course, the six-fingered man who murdered Inigo’s father so many years ago, and scarred Inigo himself. It is he that Inigo is out to get throughout the entire film (and his entire life), a much stronger tie to an individual character in a personal way than Westley’s nemesis: Humperdinck. Rugen is much more of an arch-nemesis, representing a very personal loss to Inigo, something that cuts much deeper, even, than true love. While Westley never seems particularly worried about himself or Buttercup because he just knows that True Love will keep them together, Inigo reacts very strongly to Rugen and his own emotional journey, traits more typically associated with a protagonist than a cool confidence in how everything will turn out.

As a direct result to this personal stake in the story, Inigo, being at full strength and in full health, is the one who is given the final climactic battle at the end of the movie.

Where Westley has a rather anticlimactic confrontation with Humperdinck, Inigo gets a huge duel with Rugen, the climax centerpiece, the scene most memorable and most quoted in the entire film, ending in Inigo actually achieving his goal: getting revenge. Afterwards, he even muses that after having gotten his revenge, now he no longer knows what to do with his life, with the film implying that he will become the next Dread Pirate Roberts in Westley’s place.

Unlike Westley, and even unlike Buttercup, Inigo has an arc, pursuing what he wants actively, achieving it, and moving on. He makes choices that have huge consequences in the plot: pursuing revenge, leaving Vizzini, finding Westley and bringing him to Miracle Max. In a way, a huge part of the story is Inigo’s, just as much as it is Buttercup and Westley’s.

Westley has the Heroic qualities, Buttercup has most of the focus (and her title in the movie’s name), and Inigo has the dramatic arc and climactic battle. On their own, no one character manages to pull off the full requirements for being a fantasy protagonist, or even a protagonist at all, but together, they manage to make one complete protagonist between them. While the story of The Princess Bride, in plot beats and story elements, seems very much like your very traditional fairy-tale story, in terms of protagonist, the execution is actually very complex. By taking the traits of a protagonist and dividing them equally between three characters with varying levels of screen-time and activism within a story (not always at the same time), the story manages to get the audience’s interest invested in not one, but three characters equally, weaving the major threads for each of their stories in amongst each other to keep it all tied together. And in the end, both the characters and the audience (even the Grandson!) feel closure and satisfaction.

But Inigo, Westley and Buttercup aren’t the only characters in the film. Every story needs their supporting cast, and none are quite as supportive as Fezzik.

Fezzik is a Gentle Giant. He’s big and strong, for sure, but he’s also very kind, the Big Guy with a heart of gold who, while not exactly being a pushover, isn’t out to hurt anybody who doesn’t deserve it. He’s the Brute of Vizzini’s Beauty, Brains, and Brawn trio, and manages to subvert the Dumb Muscle stereotype. He’s not terribly clever, but he does have a wit and intelligence to him that isn’t typical of most fairy-tale giants.

He and Inigo are borderline inseparable, and much like Inigo, Fezzik is somewhat okay with kidnapping Buttercup for money, but he’s considerably less approving of killing her. Like Inigo, he is a man of honor, preferring to fight Westley in a ‘sportsmanlike’ way instead of clubbing him over the head with a rock like Vizzini first suggests. He’s a good, loyal friend, rescuing Inigo from the palace guards, sobering him up, and then accompanying him throughout the rest of the story in finding and reviving Westley and then storming the castle.

Unlike Inigo, Westley and Buttercup, Fezzik has no stake in this story. He has no goal to achieve here, no personal mission. After Vizzini, his ‘boss’, is killed, there’s nothing keeping Fezzik in the story except his own will, like the Chewbacca to Inigo’s Han Solo. He’s here because of his loyalty and concern for his friends. He just wants to help, and help he does, turning his back on his mercenary ways pretty easily and without any real convincing. He’s along for the ride, a supporting character that manages to be more than just ‘the comic relief’. (In a way, one of the smartest things The Princess Bride did in terms of its characters was to make everyone funny, so no one is relegated to ‘just’ the comic relief.)

With that said, Fezzik still remains an active character in the story, helping with the storming of the castle and providing the Muscle (and the heart!) for the mission, and providing the escape by finding Humperdinck’s four white horses in his stable.

Starting out as a Minion with an F in Evil, Fezzik ends The Princess Bride as one of its most memorable and loved heroes, a kindly figure of support who’s anything but minor.

Which is more than we can say for the deceased leader of the trio of kidnappers: Vizzini.

Vizzini is the smartest of the trio sent to abduct Buttercup, but despite his bragging, he demonstrates hints that he’s not half as smart as he thinks he is. The brains to Inigo’s beauty and Fezzik’s brawn, Vizzini is merely a Big Bad Wannabe, the final obstacle for Westley’s initial reunion with Buttercup, a Disk One Final Boss before the plot kicks off with portraying Humperdinck as the real villain. However, while the film points out that Fezzik and Inigo fight Westley with honor, and he leaves them respectful of their talents (defeating them in the process), Westley shows no such respect for Vizzini’s ‘talents’, and simply Out-Gambits him, despite Vizzini’s Poisoned Chalice Switcheroo. In the end, Vizzini is Too Clever by Half, and is the only one of the Sicilian Crowd to be killed, most likely due to his arrogance.

Despite his death being one of the most memorable scenes in the entire film, Vizzini doesn’t receive much screen time, or even narrative weight, in comparison to the true villains of the movie. After all, Vizzini is only a hired stooge, a pawn in Humperdinck’s evil plan.

Humperdinck, as far as fairy-tale villains go, isn’t terribly impressive. He’s no great dragon or emperor, or evil wizard. He’s just a prince, a man with a lot of power who’s used to getting his own way. He does plenty of rotten things along the way (torture Westley and kill him, order Buttercup’s kidnapping, attempt to kill her) but in the end, his goal isn’t world-domination, or wealth, or anything like that: he’s just after an excuse to go to war with the neighboring country. He’s not after Buttercup for her beauty, like many other fairy-tale villains before him, he’s just after her to use as a political figure, aiming to kill her after their wedding night and pin it on Guilder.

Arguably, this makes him worse.

There’s no great, over-the-top explanation for his villany. He’s not cartoonish or after traditional fairy-tale things, he’s actually after something that we’d see in the real world. He is the true Big Bad, the Chessmaster, The Evil Prince obsessed with war, who, ironically, happens to be a Dirty Coward.

Oddly enough, throughout the film, although Humperdinck is presented as the Archenemy of Westley, there’s no real personal connection between them. This isn’t like Beauty and the Beast, where both men are vying (in their own way) for Buttercup’s affection. Humperdinck honestly couldn’t care less about Buttercup, viewing her as a tool to get what he really wants. In the end, he rushes through a marriage ceremony in order to murder Buttercup after the wedding, again, nothing personal, just business. His only connection to Westley is happening to choose the wrong girl to murder.

As such, as opposed to Count Rugen’s thematically resonant demise, Humperdinck is actually allowed to live, and go free at the end of the story, which seems to be a big-time rule-breaker in terms of fairy-tale storytelling. The Grandson himself expresses irritation and disbelief at this fact, after all, villains should be punished, not sternly talked-down by a paralyzed hero.

Yet, that’s what happens. Considering that the most Humperdinck managed to do was temporarily kill Westley, he gets very little ‘revenge’ in return. Like I said in the Story article:

Westley couldn’t care less about Humperdinck other than the fact that he’s getting in the way of his and Buttercup’s storybook love. Humperdinck is an obstacle to his true goal and drive, and he’s not worth the killing. Once he’s out of the way and Westley and Buttercup are reunited, Humperdinck ceases to matter to Westley. If the story had been from Miracle Max’s point of view, Humperdinck would have died or at least, have something more horrible happen to him, but since Humperdinck never really succeeded in doing much of anything throughout the story, he’s actually so pathetic that he’s not worth Westley’s time.

So, yeah, Humperdinck is left to live with his cowardice because his death wouldn’t have provided the characters anything except maybe catharsis, and honestly, that’s not really a good enough reason to off your villain

He’s such a coward, he doesn’t even have a chance to take part in a climatic duel. He’s so unimpressive as a fantasy villain that he even strips the audience of their chance to see another sword fight, without diminishing his hatefulness and narrative weight as a villain.

Thankfully, the audience does get their climactic battle: thanks to Count Rugen.

Rugen is Inigo’s archenemy, rather than Westley’s, and unlike the rivalry between the main protagonist and antagonist, Rugen’s relationship with Inigo is very personal indeed. Rugen, the six-fingered man that Inigo wants to hunt down and kill so badly, is the man who killed Inigo’s father, and left him scarred as a little boy. Rugen is the Dragon, a Soft-Spoken Sadist who serves as Humperdinck’s Right Hand Man and Torture Technician. He is the inventor of the torture machine that ends up taking Westley’s life, and throughout the film, serves as co-conspirator to Humperdinck.

He’s pretty rotten, and just like Humperdinck, proves himself to be a Dirty Coward too.

However, while Westley let Humperdinck live with that knowledge, Inigo offers Rugen no such mercy.

The final duel between Inigo and Rugen is one of the show-stopping setpieces of the film, paying off a considerable amount of buildup foreshadowed with much of Inigo’s dialogue and character. Like I said in the ‘Story’ article:

On the other hand, Inigo’s villain, Count Rugen, is killed, for a very simple reason: that’s the logical end to fulfill Inigo’s story.

In order for Inigo to feel fulfilled and gain satisfaction, to lay his father’s spirit to rest, Rugen has to die, knowing why he’s dying, and who it is who killed him. In a sense, the antagonists fit the ‘antagonist’ bill much the same way the protagonists do: by splitting the roles, from Humperdinck having the main plot being responsible for most of the obstacles, where Rugen fills in for the emotional punch instead.

There are other characters too, of course: Miracle Max and his wife Valerie, offering a comedic look at a few other residents of Florin, The Albino, Rugen’s assistant, The Impressive Clergyman, and even Yellin, the captain of the guard, but for the most part, these characters (aside from Miracle Max and Valerie being responsible for resurrecting Westley) serve as comedic filler, without much actual narrative weight.

As fairy-tale archetypes with surprising amounts of dimension, the characters of The Princess Bride all do their jobs with ease, falling into natural roles in an organic fashion, despite the unconventional structuring of the characters’ parts to play.

The beauty of all of these characters is that none of them are in the slightest bit realistic. These are very clearly ‘fairy-tale’ characters, who don’t think about things in the way that we do, and yet, the audience still relates to them, is entertained by them, is concerned for them. Even though characters don’t act in terribly realistic ways, they are motivated by things that we understand: love, revenge, etc. The audience feels and understands their emotions, and therefore understands where characters are coming from, even if the actions taken by the characters are primarily ‘fantasy based’, superhuman, incredibly skilled and heroic or villainous in the context of the story that the Grandfather is reading to the Grandson.

The Princess Bride’s characters are not portrayed as ‘people’, instead being played as simple characters typical of traditional ‘fairy-tale’ stories. Each character, whether hero or villain, behaves almost as though they know what part they inhabit, playing the ‘fairy-tale’ aspect straight, with a comedic edge to the archetypes found in a book, a familiar-feeling, simple, but emotional story that people have loved and laughed with for decades.

The characters of The Princess Bride serve their purpose incredibly well: making the audience care about what happens to them. Every role is memorable, unique, distinct, with plenty of quotes and character tics to be referenced and replicated decades later. They perfectly match the film they belong to: a fantasy classic that has finally been Vindicated by History, gaining it’s rightful place among fantasy greats.

Thank you guys so much for reading! If you have something you’d like to add or say, don’t forget that the ask box is always open! I hope to see you all in the next article.

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greatqueenanna · 4 years ago

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Why Kristoff is a great partner and character.

There are many great male characters in the Disney canon. The Valiant, Pungent, Reindeer King Kristoff Bjogrman, stands among them as one of the best. Kristoff has something special about him that I feel goes unnoticed by many people, simply because Kristoff is a tri-tagonist in the Frozen Franchise. However, I’m here to tell you that there are things about Kristoff that truly make him shine regardless of his smaller role in the overall story. The franchise was never focused on romantic love, but within Kristoff we see a character that exemplifies what a good romantic partner should be like.

Another long one guys, so under the read more we go!

I’ve seen a few posts try and say that Kristoff’s relationship with Anna is unhealthy. However, I want to offer some viewpoints on why I feel this in not the case. According to the Hall Health Center, A healthy relationship is when two people develop a connection based on:

Mutual Respect/Honesty

Playfulness/Fondness

Trust/Support

Separate Identities

Good Communication

Kristoff is able to show all of this to Anna; while not all at once and at the very moment they meet, he does develop these skills and qualities as his and Anna’s relationship flourishes. It is also stated that all of these things take work, and is not something that just happens immediately, and that is ok. Most of these qualities Kristoff is able to show when we first meet him as adult, while others he develops over time with trial and error. As with Anna and Elsa, Kristoff is not perfect, and needed to learn certain lessons to become a better version of himself.

Mutual Respect/Honesty

It is no secret that Kristoff respects Anna’s boundaries and decisions. While he may not agree with some of them, and is vocal about it, he still doesn’t try to force his views or needs. It is always good to be honest with someone, but to not force their hand or treat them like a child. For example -

During Frozen, Kristoff is very vocal about Anna’s decision to marry Hans. He tells her that, honestly, it is a reckless decision. However, he never tries to force her to break up with or change her mind. He just very clearly states his opinion, but never steps over that boundary to try and make decisions for her. This behavior is shown throughout the film, as Kristoff is able to be honest with her on her decisions, but never tries to stop her or force her hand. The only time he directly tries to stop her, is when Anna is getting ready to throw a snowball at Marshmallow, because it directly affects her safety.

Also during Frozen, Kristoff respects Anna’s boundaries by asking Anna for her consent before kissing. He doesn’t force her into a surprise kiss, he asks her first if they could. This shows how Kristoff respects her bodily autonomy, and recognizes her possible trauma from Hans.

In Frozen 2, Kristoff again shows how he respects her decisions.

“You had to go, and of course its always fine.”

In Lost in the Woods, while Kristoff is having a harder time in this film being honest about his feelings (at first) Kristoff reiterates that he always respects Anna’s choices, never trying to force her to think one way or guilt her.

Playfulness/Fondness

Kristoff adores Anna. That, is obvious. He’s playful with her all throughout Frozen, teasing her without out right insulting her. We also know exactly how he feels about Anna as he expresses his love for her in Frozen 2. He finds Anna -

“Incredible”

“Feisty”

“Brave”

He also mentions how she’s his ‘ginger sweetheart’, suggesting that he likes her hair color (in other words, he finds her beautiful).

Also in Frozen 2, we can clearly see that Kristoff and Anna have a loving, physical relationship. This is a bit of a wacky point to mention considering that this is a children’s film, but the implications are there so I will talk about it. Anna and Kristoff kiss multiple times with both parties being comfortable, and Anna is ready to have a make out session when Elsa and Olaf fall asleep in the sled. This shows how the two of them have enough fondness of one another to be able to be physical.

Trust/Support

This is a big one, and one of Kristoff’s best qualities. Not only does he support her, as mentioned in the respect section, he shows how he is able to trust her decisions, openly asking her what she needs to do when he rescues her from the rock giants.

“I’m here, what do you need?”

“To get the the dam.”

“You got it!”

Kristoff doesn’t ask her why, he just trusts her judgment. This is clear development from the first film, when he didn’t trust her judgment based on her choice to marry Hans. Then, he gladly helps her up the cliff without a fuss or undermining her strength.

“Help me up.”

“We’ll meet you on the other side.”

His trust for her also grows when he is finally able to come to terms with how he feels. In fact, the scene above demonstrates how when Kristoff finally reflects on his emotions, he is able to be more confident with their relationship and have more trust that Anna knows what she’s doing.

Kristoff also spends both films and short films giving Anna support. In Frozen, while he at first only cares about Anna’s promise to give him a new sled, he starts to show genuine concern for her. He offers to help her down when she (barely) climbs the mountain, runs to her side when she collapses from Elsa’s blast, and tries to keep her warm when carrying her down to Arendelle. Even in Frozen 2, when he’s unsure about the status of their relationship, he still comes to her aide and helps her during the fire attack, and of course comes rushing to help her with the rock giants. In Olaf’s Frozen Adventure, he sees Anna down and wants to cheer her up, and helps Elsa in Frozen Fever throw a party for her, using every inch of his strength to make sure it doesn't get ruined.

Separate Identities

Kristoff is not dependent on Anna. While he loves her and wants to be there for her, he has a separate identity and is able to support himself. He has a life outside of Anna, including his friendship with Sven, his troll family, and his ice business. He is able to leave Anna’s side, for example in Frozen Fever to drop off the Snowgies, and in Forest of Shadows he leaves to talk to the Trolls.

His self esteem is also not dependent on Anna. He openly wears what he wants, proclaiming that he only dress nice for Anna for as long as he’s comfortable, does strange things like talking to Sven, licking a strange sculpture in Olaf’s Frozen Adventure, compliments his stew in the same film even though Elsa and Anna are visibly disgusted, and never takes Anna’s insults in Frozen to heart.

“Nobody wants to be alone. Except maybe you.”

“(Laughs) I’m not alone.”

He states the last comment without any indication that he is being defensive or is offended by the statement. In fact, it doesn't faze him at all. His worries in Frozen 2 about Anna’s feelings are not about his self-esteem, but rather losing her as a partner. Let me better explain this. Kristoff mentality is not this -

“Anna is the only one who will consider me and if I lose her, I will have no one else. I am nothing without her. ”

It is this -

“Anna has become an important part of my life because of how amazing she is, and I don’t want to lose her.”

Yes, he does claim in Lost in the Woods how -

“Who am I, if I’m not your guy?

Where am I, if we’re not together forever?”

But I firmly believe that this has to do with him letting his fear take over, not so much how he actually feels, which I’ll explain more in a bit. Thus, Kristoff is not scared of losing his relationship with Anna because she makes him feel good about himself, he’s afraid of losing her because he genuinely loves having her around in his life. He loves her as a separate person, not as a crutch.

Good Communication

This is the tricky one, because Kristoff has to develop this skill from trial and error. He doesn't have it already set, however it mostly affects his romantic life. He can pretty much say whatever he wants and what is on his mind to everyone else, and even to Anna before he realizes he loves her.

However, we clearly see that in Frozen 2, Kristoff is having a hard time expressing his desires to Anna. He wants to marry her, he wants to start a family. But what if Anna doesn’t want that? What if they are actually growing apart?

I care about her, but does she care about me?

Because of this fear, he is over explaining and fumbling over his words. Even so much as letting it affect his self-esteem, which he didn’t have a problem with before. As I mentioned many times in other posts, fear is a reoccurring villain in the Frozen Franchise, and it has reared its ugly face in Kristoff’s development as well.

His fear is making him hesitant, clumsy and question his self worth. Even though this really has nothing to do with any sort of dependence on Anna, he is letting his fear make him believe that he needs her to a desperate degree. In fact, he showed in the beginning of the film that he was much more calm about their relationship and had no doubts. It wasn’t until Anna started to focus more on Elsa that he started to grow this irrational fear. It didn’t happen in full blast until he thought Anna left him permanently.

However, after expressing these negative feelings out loud, and not letting them bottle up inside, he was able to see the flaw in his thinking as evident later on. After assisting Anna, he explains that he understands how she felt, and that it didn’t have anything to do with him. As Anna was strong enough to push forward even after losing everything, Kristoff was strong enough to able to put his feelings of self-doubt aside and find the confidence he lost.

“I know, I know, it’s ok. My love is not fragile.”

In just a few words, Kristoff expresses how his love was stronger than his fear, realizing what he already knew: that he is good enough, that him and Anna were fine, and that he was over reacting based on a fragile fear. Then, of course, he is able to tell Anna how he feels without doubt, finally asking her to marry him.

Thus, we know that Kristoff follows the traits of what makes a healthy relationship to a tee. Even though he didn’t have every quality at first, he developed them over time. As every character is flawed in Frozen, and need to make the bad choices first in order to learn, Kristoff needed to experience the same thing to be the best version of himself that he was always capable of.

#greatqueenanna/analysis #Kristoff #Kristanna #Frozen #Frozen 2

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f4iseg69d · 3 years ago

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fka twigs: lyra solaris

song: "garden song by pheobe bridgers"

Lyra Solaris is a Solaris citizen and orphan. She gave herself her name, after her home planet and the constellation. She is a force-sensitive individual however she did not become a Jedi as the "Immersion" happened during her youth. She and her childhood sweetheart were recruited for training for the squad however Lyra escaped the training facility for freedom, hiding out in the woods and cities until she found a smuggler willing to take her on.

She is prone to act out, think impulsively and criticise others when she thinks they are doing a good job. However, she is also heavily motivated and offers any important information as she truly wants Solaris to be her's again. She acts out because beneath it all, she's terrified and stressed.

She is very mad that Lady Amedelia has successfully made a killing machine out of the children from her planet. Upon hearing Poe Dameron and Rina Zhang have to infiltrate a training base in Solaris in a bar she immediately asks them about it and tells them she knows her home-planet and the training facility almost too well.

She joins them on their journey, fuelled by anger and revenge. However when she arrives to the base and tries to fight her way through the guards, she realises that alone cannot properly motivate someone through a fight.

She gets into a tries to blast a clothed Deathris figure and they try to blast at each other until he figure out the women is Lyra. He shows her mercy and shows that he is Cassian. At first Lyra is abrasive, rude, mad until she hears Cassian's side, and how scary it had been. She tells him if he makes the choice to join the Resistance he wouldn't be alone. They make peace and he helps her release the others as well as find the plans of invasion, and quickly dispel them. At the end of Episode 7, she realises before there can be peace, their must be forgiveness.

'I grew up here Cassian. You did too, until it all went up in flames. Do you remember the summers we had? Do you remember how it felt? Freedom?"

"I am mad and stressed everyday I wake up. Every time I'm happy, it always creeps onto me that I will feel that way again."

amy adams: jaina organa

song: "chinese satellite by pheobe bridgers"

Jaina Organa is the daughter and the only child of Han Solo and Leia Organa to survive the Immersion. The Battle of Coruscant took her Mother, Father and siblings' lives. She was rescued by Kaenen, an old ally of her father's and supporter of the Rebellion. In her youth, she lived with Kaenen and his wife Lyanna in D'Quar.

She is ultra-sensitive of the implications of being a Jedi and purposely chose not to become one, knowing her grandfather's heritage and how prone to anger she is. Instead, she is the best "techie" in the resistance due to her childhood shadowing the grown-ups.

Jaina experiences anxiety from her separation at such a young age. Kaenen's wife Lyanna is one of her best friends and experiences emotional attachment to her, Kaenen and eventually Lyra and Lenden.

She is extremely insecure due her parents and uncle's legacy, as well as her grandfather's and often lashes out and criticises others as a result.

She isn't very confident in herself and her abilities, which can lead to dangerous situations. She is also shy towards people she is not comfortable around. She often feels like is overcompensating. As much as she is insecure she is also loyal as her fears heighten knowing the "true" extent of war.

She wishes to be better than she is, and feels unexplainably out of place and as if she doesn't belong in D'Quar. She wonders if she'll ever be as good as her parents, and through her character arc through Episodes 7-9, she realises realises her importance to the Resistance and those around her. She is able to stand up for herself against Lady Amedelia and helps Lyra avenge her planet and parents. She is able to forgo and let go of the violence inside her, realising that hatred breeds hatred.

rebecca ferguson: lady amedelia palpatine / empress saken (sith lord)

Lady Amedelia was born force-sensitive and was able to become a Sith Lord as her father, Sheev, had passed down the Force. She was raised with the ideals of the Galactic Empire, indoctrinated from a young age. She might've felt that she could've been good at one stage, but she was able to rationalise it in order to impress her father.

Young and impressionable, as the New Republic Era starts she infiltrates the Royal Family of Solaris and becomes Lady Amedelia through marriage. Using this method she becomes a member of the New Republic.

Former Senate Lady Amedelia successfully infiltrated the New Republic Era and through forming a network with other corrupt Senates, planets and royals such as Aragon, Deair'th, Moraband, her own and others. Through a planned two years she was able to pass law and rules which restricted the New Republic, freedoms of mentioned planets and others in the galaxy. She successfully rose to the top as a Head of Republic (a law passed).

The First Order was successfully built off the fascist ideals of the Galactic Empire. Lady Amedelia now goes by her "true" identity as Empress Saken, a Sith Lord, with her father dead. The First Order started invading other, smaller planets to gain territory, and ruled her home-planet Solaris, with an iron-fist as a breeding ground for Deathris squads. Using her warriors named "Deathris squad" which was supplied using children from Solaris. They are deathly but also scared of Empress Saken and her generals, Lady Aragon and General Sakelaris.

Han Solo, Leia Organa, Kaenen and his wife Lyanna created the Resistance, a organisation seperate from the once peaceful now corrupt New Republic with old alliances and connections.

During the First Orders' invasion of Coruscant, Leia and Han set out to defend it, however the Empress brutally defeats them and the few members of the Resistance present.

This process was called the Immersion.

She now rules over majority of Galaxy and the First Order.

timothèe chalamet: cassian volateris

song: "i know the end by pheobe bridgers"

Cassian Volateris was Lyra's childhood sweetheart however their paths diverged when they reached the age for the Deathris squad.

He was sweet but unlike Lyra he had the fear conditioned into him. As Lyra ran away, he stayed. They did not meet again until the end of Episode 7 where the Resistance was successfully able to infiltrate the training facility in order to successfully free indoctrinated Deathris squads and stop the invasion of D'Qar.

Lyra and Cassian meet again and at first Lyra is abrasive, rude, mad until she hears Cassian's side, and how scary it had been. She tells him if he makes the choice to join the Resistance he wouldn't be alone. He and several other trainees join the Resistance.

"Instead of a chance, there was just death."

"We can't all be as brave as you. As selfish."

characters tba: poe and rina!!

Star Wars trilogy sequels REWRITTEN: CHARACTERS!

#star wars #rewritten #sequel trilogy #poe dameron #fka twigs #dune 2021 #carrie fisher #han solo #the empire strikes back #crouching tiger hidden dragon #rebecca ferguson #timothèe chalamet #Oscar isaac #Amy adams #arrival

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siriusbunbryist · 4 years ago

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In defence of Abed x Annie.

Thanks to the magic of Netflix, I’ve rewatched Community at age 24, and still found Abed and Annie to have hit the heartstrings as much as I did when I was in high school watching the show for the first time.

But watching the series in its entirety just reinforces my thought that Abed and Annie had so much potential that was wasted, and it’s a shame that the writers planted all these seeds to only decide that perhaps this direction was not worth it / too risky / unfavoured by the audience. But I mean, Alison Brie herself (and I’m assuming Danny Pudi as well) endorsed them! Find here and here.

This was a pairing that with all the crumbs scattered throughout the show (I think we are all aware of these crumbs I speak of), could’ve easily played the “oh we’ve been secretly dating this whole time” trope during the last episode and it would’ve still made sense.

Naturally I did some scoping, and of course unsurprisingly the J.eff x Annie pairing takes the cake, while not a lot of love for Abed x Annie. So here are common points of contentions I see surrounding Abed and Annie, and my rationale on them.

Before I start, a note - I fully respect the J.eff x Annie ship and I don’t intend on starting a ship w.ar/debate. I understand where their support comes from! I just needed to vent because no one else in my social circle watches this show. No hate please.

1. Abed doesn’t see Annie romantically

I think on the contrary it’s been set up rather long ago that Abed at the very least is attracted to Annie.

Exhibit A: “What are you making” in Beginner Pottery

Exhibit B: “Flat B.utt and the one Abed wants to nail” in The Art of Discourse

This video basically explains it! The summary: Annie is Pierce’s favourite, Pierce constantly insults Britta, therefore Britta is flat b.utt.

Exhibit C: Not even trying to hide it in Accounting for Lawyers

But, a romantic interest has to be further built upon finding someone attractive right? There has to be intrigue to their character, such as

Exhibit D: “I can only connect to people through... movies” in English as a Second Language

youtube

It is pretty obvious here that Annie is a rare someone who has successfully broken the impartial screen that Abed filters everything through. Jeff saw it too which is why he said Annie was the ark of the covenant before Abed fell for her disney face. I can only imagine Abed to be quite struck with Annie’s infiltration.

A romantic interest should also share common interests, such as

Exhibit E: “Which makes Annie is my third favourite show” in Paranormal Parentage

I’ve said before that for Abed, a guy who lives life and communicates through comparing it with television and movies, it’s not unthinkable for him to be attracted to someone who genuinely watches his favourite shows and commits to roles during cosplay. And who, besides Troy, would fit this profile? Annie.

And finally, the biggest indicator of it all, we also see how Abed views the Jeff and Annie pairing in everyone’s favourite episode Remedial Chaos Theory. Keeping in mind that the timelines are rendered by Abed, out of all the timelines, J.eff and Annie only kis.sed when Abed left the room for pizza. As well, as conjured in Abed’s head, Evil Jeff and Evil Annie only existed as a couple in the Darkest Timeline. To me at least, it’s arguable that this alludes to Abed’s omniscient “director” standpoint that he may be the obstacle in the Jeff and Annie relationship - pointing towards him perhaps harbouring feelings for Annie.

2. Annie doesn’t see Abed romantically The general consensus on this point is that Annie is only attracted to Abed when he’s playing a character. I rather think that being attracted to someone, and being attracted to someone during role play, aren’t mutually exclusive. Let’s take a look at the different characters that Abed played.

Don Draper: serious, sophisticated, and smooth.

Han Solo: immature, flirty and a smarta.ss.

Batman: mysterious, complex, and brave.

Three different personas, yet Annie responded to all of them. Since the common denominator to all three is that they are played by Abed, I would like to offer a counterpoint that perhaps the attraction to Abed has always been there, it’s just emphasized when Abed plays a character. Who knows, role playing might even be Annie’s ki.nk. After all, during For a Few Paintballs More, it is shown that Annie is disappointed when Abed dropped the Han Solo persona after the battle ended.

Annie also loves big romantic gestures. Who’s better than doing that than Abed? Since the beginning, Abed has already been doing big romantic gestures of varying degrees for Annie. With this, it’s not ridiculous for Annie to see Abed as a romantic potential.

Exhibit F: Staying in a room for 26 hours in Social Psychology

Annie: You sat in a room for twenty-six straight hours. Didn’t that bother you? Abed: Yeah I was livid. Annie: Then why didn’t you leave? Abed: Because you asked me to stay and you said we were friends.

Exhibit G: Rescuing her from “captivity” and inviting her to move in in Remedial Chaos Theory and Studies in Modern Movement (even Troy was surprised at Abed’s invitation)

Exhibit H: Tearing down the Dreamatorium in Studies in Modern Movement

Annie: What about the Dreamatorium? Abed: Oh it's staying. The Dreamatorium is more important than any of us. But you're more important than our bedroom so we put the bunk bed in the blanket fort.

Bonus: Confirmed by Alison Brie

3. The show was about Jeff and Annie

Dan Harmon said that Community’s approach is that anything and any pairing is possible. We see this is as the series started with the classic “player vs smart snarky girl” trope with setting up Jeff and Britta as the main pairing. We also see Troy and Annie as the potential B couple in the show. The writers also threw Pierce and Shirley, Annie and Britta, Dean and Jeff, and even Chang and Britta in for a laugh.

And then the show subverted this all by introducing Jeff and Annie, and made Troy and Britta a couple, showing us that Community is a show that intends on breaking these classic sitcom stereotypes by experimenting with different pairings. Abed and Annie was no exception to this, as the writers often pair them up in different shenanigans and hint at possible grounds to explore*.

A few examples: Han and Leia in For a Few Paintballs More, Hector the Well Endowed and the Elf Maiden in Advanced Dungeons and Dragons, spy partners in Modern Espionage.

No doubt that the show dabbled in and out of Jeff and Annie throughout the series. However, to say that Jeff and Annie was the primary pairing in the series would mean overlooking Jeff and Britta. Especially when Jeff and Britta have the whole love-hate dynamic, three(?) marriage close-calls, and emotional snippets such as helping Jeff reunite with his father in Cooperative Escapism in Familial Relations.

Anyway, not to discredit Jeff and Annie, but knowing that the show explores the possibility of different pairings**, why write off Abed and Annie?

* Not to mention that the cop pairing in The Science of Illusion was originally written with Abed and Annie in mind! ** We also see a stray Abed and Britta during Horror Fiction in Seven Spooky Steps.

4. Annie is in love with Jeff To keep this short and shipper-goggle free, Annie has said on numerous occasions that she’s in love with the idea of Jeff, not Jeff himself. Specifically this scene in Virtual Systems Analysis:

Abed as Annie: "…We love Jeff…" Annie: "No we don’t, we’re just in love with the idea of being loved. And if we can teach a guy like Jeff to do it, we’ll never be unloved, so we keep running the same scenario over and over hoping for a different result."

And this scene in Conventions of Space and Time:

Annie: All right, I may have been play-acting that we were married, and then the staff thought you were cheating, and I had to save face. Jeff: Do I have to worry about this? Annie: No, I was just daydreaming. I mean, I've married you at least a half a dozen times. And Troy. And Zac Efron.

Not to mention that their conversation in the finale says it all.

Jeff: I don't wanna be fine. I wanna be 25 and heading out into the world. I wanna fall asleep on a beach and be able to walk the next day, or stay up all night on accident. I wanna wear a white t-shirt without looking like I forgot to get dressed.* I want to be terrified of AIDS, I want to have an opinion about those, boring a.ss Marvel movies. And I want those opinions to be of any concern to the people making them. Annie: Well I want to live in the same home for more than a year, order wine without feeling nervous, have a resume full of crazy mistakes instead of crazy lies. I want stories and wisdom, perspective. I wanna have so much behind me I'm not a sl.ave to what's in front of me, especially those flavourless unremarkable Marvel movies.

*Shipper-goggle on: Part of me thinks this is a reference to Abed, whose iconic style almost exclusively comprises T-shirts. What Jeff is saying is that he wishes he is 25 again with his future open before him, someone who compatible with Annie, but here he acknowledges that he isn’t, and lets her go in the end.

5. Abed and Annie wouldn’t work as a couple Another point I see is that Abed and Annie are strictly platonic and are more like brother and sister. On the basis that they have made out a couple times and are attracted to each other, I would disagree with the sibling statement.

Troy, in contrast to Abed, I think actually resembles a more sibling-like relationship with Annie. Although Troy and Annie have the strong friendship of Abed and Annie, when disregarding the high school crush stage of season 1, their storylines never dwelled further down an attraction path, nor was there any specific episode that was dedicated to a deep dive of vulnerabilities and confrontation between them. As a comparison, Troy and Britta had opportunities to explore these setups (Troy admitted to lying about his b.utt stuff story and Troy helped Britta face Blade) - an indication that Troy and Britta were heading into non-platonic territory. Jeff and Britta too, had several opportunities to confront their feelings (up till the very last season), a clear indication of a non-platonic relationship.

For Abed and Annie, what I think pulls their friendship towards actual love interest potential is best pinpointed to Virtual Systems Analysis. Annie’s participation in the Dreamatorium prompted her to not only fully submerge into the way Abed thinks and comprehends his surroundings, but she also got to understand and address Abed’s stubbornness and flaws in a vulnerable way, confronting some of her own flaws as well.

Abed as Shirley: Your hospital school, young lady, is a simulation being run through a filter of other people's needs. Abed's been filtered out because nobody needs him. Annie: I need him!

And to point out this little tidbit in VCR Maintenance and Educational Publishing,

Annie: That's why Abed is like a brother to me. You guys are so alike. Abed: I can't accept that based on one time machine story.

This whole episode, instead of establishing Abed is like Annie’s brother, I would argue is rather doing the opposite. Abed and Annie’s hyper antics in the episode were basically matched by Anthony and Rachel’s blatant indifference and confusion. For lots of Abed and Annie supporters, this episode was a major setback. But I think it instead highlights how in-sync they are with each other, which is a good thing.

Another point, despite Annie trying to prove otherwise, Abed and Anthony had different vibes, and each shared different dynamics with Annie. And as Anthony pointed out in the end, who were Abed and Annie trying to replace in the apartment? Troy. The person who they are trying to fill is Troy - their roommate, their brother, their best friend. Troy was the brother role that neither Abed and Annie can fill for each other.

In Basic Sandwich, we get this exchange:

Abed: The point is, this show, Annie, it isn't just their show. This is our show, and it's not over. And the sooner we find that treasure, the faster the Jeff-Britta pilot falls apart. Annie: Got it. Thank you, Abed. Abed: You're welcome. I have a girlfriend. Annie: What? Abed: You were about to start a kiss lean. Annie: I was not.

Not only did Abed saw right through Annie’s anxiety and comforted her in his own uniquely Abed way, but he also felt the need to remind her of his girlfriend. The fact that he broke the fourth wall here is likely the writers’ way to be meta, but simply acknowledging the tension and bond there says a lot in between the lines. If tension does not exist, there would be no need for this line.

Besides, instead of thinking that they’re strictly platonic (which of course is also okay), they would rather work great as a couple. In terms of opposites attract, Annie grounds Abed with just the right amount, while Abed clearly encourages Annie to be her true self and be immature. Such as this scene in Foosball and Nocturnal Vigilantism,

Annie: I’m following him. Troy: You moving in here was supposed to tone us down!

Annie also doesn’t just tolerate Abed’s idiosyncrasies, she actually likes them and fully participates as multiple paintball games and cosplays would tell us. Special shoutout to the missing lovers footage in Wedding Videography, which through Britta, actually shows us that Annie is the only one who would go along with Abed’s projects - while Britta found the project extremely weird and unhealthy, Annie thought it was fun and commits well to her role.

And while others may tiptoe around Abed, Annie isn’t afraid to call Abed out when he’s out of line and makes a point to teach him about empathy in Virtual Systems Analysis. Remember that Britta tried teaching him this but it didn’t work as well.

I am Abed Nadir... And I don't know a lot of things everyone else knows. I wander the universe with my friend, Troy, doing whatever I want. Sometimes accidentally hurting innocent unremarkables. This week, however, Troy went to lunch and I adapted. I now have the ability to enter the minds of others using an elusive new technique known as "empathy".

As well as in the entire episode of Cooperative Polygraphy.

They also know each other best. Abed knew her cushion preferences, was the one who spelled out her true pas.sion for forensics, and after living together, Annie knew how to navigate Abed’s peculiarities and to soothe him whenever he had a nervous breakdown.

Annie also knows him so well that she can predict his reaction.

They are also each other’s exception. Annie was always the one who manages to pull Abed out of a trance and back to reality, usually with touch.

Abed is also very forgiving with her. An example is when Annie seemingly lost all common sense because she broke Abed’s special edition dvd in Foosball and Nocturnal Vigilantism.

Annie: Well, Batman, on behalf of all of us that aren't perfect, can I just say I'm sorry I broke your DVD? Abed: Apology accepted. But I wouldn't mention it to Abed. That guy's pretty ruthless. And that's coming from Batman.

And in Abed’s Uncontrollable Christmas, Annie was the only claymation doll that didn’t have a weird form (except Troy as toy soldier of course). Annie was a ballerina because Abed sees her as a creature of grace. Abed was also the first one who got her “brighter tomorrow” diorama and responded with enthusiasm.

They are also in the same stage in life. As Dan Harmon explains the choice of Abed and Annie being the ones who leave the group, with Troy gone, Abed and Annie symbolize the many possibilities of the future - a possibility that makes them viable. I like to think Annie transfers to the LA FBI office after her internship and they reunite.

And as the Spice Girls said, “if you wanna be my love.r, you gotta get with my friends”. In Paleyfest, Dan Harmon says this about whoever Troy and Abed ends up dating, “I mean a woman that comes into either of their lives is either going to drive them apart or she's going to have to be really accepting of a very special relationship”.

Britta tolerated their friendship but to a point of asking Annie to distract Abed for alone time with Troy, Troy dumped the librarian as she called Abed weird, Robin disappeared, Rachel we never got to see much of, but was pretty quiet and separated from the group. From this, logically speaking, Annie would actually be the perfect match for Abed, as we all know they’re the ultimate trio within the study group and a transition from friends to more will be natural.

Oh, and, Abed is wrong. They’re not Chandler and Phoebe with little storylines together, they’re Chandler and Monica.

Anyway, that’s it for my super long rant/analysis. Community the series is done and over, so there isn’t a need for any ship war. All I want to say is, if #andamovie happens, hopefully, the writers will actually take a leap.

#abed x annie #community #annie x abed #abed nadir #annie edison #sorry if you've seen this already i'm trying to figure out why my tags won't work #mine #thoughts

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danitoslitty · 4 years ago

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took this off of @riding-ricciardo bc i am bored :3

Preferred Name: Freya, or Frey.

Birthday: 28th February.

Where do you live: Australia! 🇦🇺 I adore it here, wouldn’t change where I live for the entire world.

How has the pandemic treated you: Okay, kind of. I’m naturally extremely introverted so being in lockdown hardly phased me at all. And I was already on a break from working because of personal stuff. So it fucked with me a lot less than other people :’(

A song you can’t stop listening to: Secrets, Faouzia. She’s incredibly emotionally vulnerable in her music- I discovered her at the beginning of the year when I was going through some shit and haven’t stopped listening since.

Recommend a movie: Going the childhood route and saying Spirit: Stallion of a Cimarron. My all time favourite movie, full of soul and bitter sweetness with an amazing soundtrack by Hans Zimmer. Also I’m a horse girl, kinda self explanatory.

Age: 21

School, uni, occupation, other: I am studying Captive animal studies at a local Zoo in my area. Animals have been my passion since I popped out of the womb. Considering going into equine or canine training as well in the future.

Do you prefer heat or cold: The cold. I’m always fucking hot here, so anytime I feel cold is a blessing 🥴

Name a fact others might not know about you: :0 I adore sharks and fish in general. I’m completely and utterly fascinated with them, watch documentaries and read articles and keep up to date with all the fish gossip, but am Petrified of the ocean. So god really went fuck you with that one.

Are you shy: Yeah.

Preferred pronouns: She/Her.

Pet Peeves: Loud chewing or loud talking or loud anything. I have misophonia unfortunately.

Life right now: I am sitting in the boot of my car watching my horse eating and being an overall menace. Really quite content and happy even though I have a major work due in 2 weeks I just started yesterday.

Main blog: @patch-and-stringer , have had her since 2011 🥴

Side Blog/s: This one for F1, @incorrectliverpoolfc for football and also @t-alexanderarnold for Trent aha.

What you need to know before becoming my friend: I talk A Lot about football, f1, horses, sharks, my dog, my friends, football again- like, be prepared for a Lot of gushing. I fall in love as quickly as I fall out of it. I need my time alone, and do not have the emotional capacity anymore for being a support person but will listen to any of your venting or sadness with open arms. One day I want to open an animal rescue for livestock and horses.

Anyway there’s little old boring me. I don’t really have any f1 friends yet so I’ll just leave it here. If you want to do it feel free to tag me!!

#personal #I’m starved #dm me let’s be buddies #f1

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fictionalcharactermbti · 5 years ago

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2018 Follower Favorite ENTJ Winner:

1. Dominant Extraverted Thinking [Te]

Despite being royal and a senator, Leia Organa is not a diplomat. Leia is often blunt and headstrong, especially when she sees the more efficient way to get things done. Whether it is how to convince the New Republic of corruption, leading her own rescue, or leading the resistance when all hope seems lost, Leia is not afraid to present her solutions. She isn’t there to explain them to you, it is your job to keep up. Leia has no time for the nonsense of others.

Leia has never been one who needed someone to crown her, she is a woman who sees the leadership position and takes it. She can get so lost in how she sees the next logical step to be that she can sometimes forget the emotions of others. She has taken over not always intentionally disregarding those factors. They just aren’t a priority in her decision making. It isn’t that she doesn’t care for others, she does so deeply. But when she communicates with others she doesn’t operate trying to step around feelings in order to do the right thing for people.

While Leia can like being on the ground and getting her hands dirty, her default position is one who puts plans into place and delegating those tasks to others. We see this immediately in her taking over her own rescue in A New Hope.This isn’t just because she finds herself in the position of a leader, but something she is clearly naturally taken to. She isn’t one to often make rash decisions, that is only when that Se function creeps in (more below). Leia is much more comfortable with a plan, especially her own.

2. Secondary Introverted iNtuition [Ni]

Leia isn’t about just enforcing a system, but is always trying to perfect it. She doesn’t have time for old ways of doing things if they are inefficient. This also contributes to her high expectations of others. Her Te already sets it, but her Ni is always looking towards improvement and efficiency. Although this can make her seem action oriented at times which can lead to mistypings like ISTJ, her motivation comes from her Te-Ni. Leia has goals and she is going to reach them and if that means taking over, she will. She isn’t a follower.

This means that she will not enforce a rule just because it is a rule. She doesn’t have a stark loyalty to tradition. Te can often make a person look like an Si user because of their loyalty to order and systems, but Leia’s loyalty lies on the ideal of these systems. While an xSTJ implements systems, an xNTJ improves on these systems.

Being a Te dominant this makes Leia focused on systems and order. It may seem odd then that she is always at the helm of rebels and resistance factions against the Empire and First Order (literally has order in the name). The explanation for this seeming contradiction is best explored in the novel, Bloodline. The book explores Leia’s role in the New Republic between the Empire and First Order. Ni despite being the more abstract introverted perception, it is still based on experiences.

Leia experiences the tyranny of the Empire and this greatly effected her and her view of how the galaxy should be run. She ran in the opposite Populist direction out of this experience and fear of that tyranny. This experience leads her to believe that a lack of central power is better. However, we see her see the flaws in this to the extreme that the New Republic had and does start to see a need for some centralism in order to get things done. She is constantly synthesizing ideals from her different experiences in the many shift political orders in her lifetime and previous ones taught to her by her father, Bail Organa.

3. Tertiary Extraverted Sensation [Se]

Leia as much as she doesn’t let herself, loves the adrenaline of risks and on the ground missions. In Bloodline we see her excited to be doing missions again like she did for the rebellion. Tertiary Se often is an outlet for ENxJ types to de-stress and let their hair down. At least, this is the positive part of Se.

As a Te dominant, this means her primary mode is an extraverted judging function. Ni serves to help her see behind the judgments, to see motivations and intent. But when she skips this and wants to support her quick judgments she will spring to Se action. This is why Leia is often very quick to judge others right away. She doesn’t often care what other motivations are behind their actions and surface appearances. This is part of what makes Leia lovable with her quick sass towards others, but also can make her quite stubborn. Without Ni to reflect inwardly, she can use Se to keep her focus outward and see others as the problem. She can forget to reflect on her own role and reasoning behind her actions. It is all about moving forward at times.

Luckily, we see her grow throughout the films and extended universe. In the sequels, we see Leia trust in her Te-Ni order. Her advice to Poe and Rey are all lessons that she has learned from her past and her gun-ho attitude. She has lost so many people and is more reflective about the lives at stake. This is most evident in her relationship with Poe in The Last Jedi. Leia was always rebellious and willing to jump to action to defeat the enemy, but time and Ni reflection has led her to regard the lives effected and lost by such rash heroic actions. This is something she tries to teach Poe.

4. Inferior Introverted Feeling [Fi]

Leia Organa has always put her Te goals ahead of her sense of self and individuality, otherwise seen as Fi. She often forsakes her personal life for the greater system (the New Republic, the Rebellion, and the Resistance). She often isn’t in touch with her own feelings and being an individual. The films allude to this often using Han Solo to point out that Leia doesn’t let loose. But this is further explored in the novel Leia: Princess of Alderaan. She is so focused on becoming a leader and dedicating herself to those responsibilities that she forgets herself and doesn’t even know what to say about herself that is personal and doesn’t have a connection with her political role.

Leia is not one to open up to others as it isn’t something she finds relevant to the goals at hand. We see this in A New Hope when her brother, Luke, who has dominant Fi, leads with his feelings and individual relationships. He confides in Leia about the loss of his new mentor and that Han doesn’t stick around. Meanwhile, Leia has lost her parents, her home, and her planet and consoles him to move him forward to the mission at hand. She stuffs the individual feelings and relationships in her own life down in order to accomplish the goal at hand. It isn’t that she doesn’t feel it, she does (again this is expressed in the novels quite in-depth), but she pushes with her Te first to get the mission complete.

Although this is helpful back in her rebellion days when she didn’t create a personal life for herself, we see the extreme ramifications of this in her family life. She loses connections with her husband, Han Solo, leading to a separation and she loses touch with her son, Ben. She doesn’t prioritize her personal relationships enough to help sustain these. This is not saying this is all on her, each person played an individual role in the outcome of the family dysfunction. This is purely focusing in her role within the situation. She actively chose time and time again to put the galaxy’s future ahead of her own and her family’s. He Te priorities came first, which did make her an excellent leader within the Senate.

#leia organa #skywalker #leia skywalker #princess leia #princess of alderaan #bloodline #star wars #ENTJ #Te #Ni #Se #Fi #mbti #follower favorite #2018 #ENTJ follower favorite #winner #portrait #character portrait

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nicnacsnonsense · 5 years ago

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Frozen 2. I have notes. (Spoilers)

In general I did enjoy seeing Frozen 2. If a friend wanted to see it, I would go see it again. But there is definitely room for improvement. There are three major areas that stood out to me that could use some reworking.

The first is Kristoff’s whole subplot. Him proposing to Anna is good and tripping over his words while doing so is in character, but other than that. Why would he be trying to propose to Anna while they’re busy trying to solve a crisis? Why would he run off to spend all night gathering reindeer and butterflies for an elaborate proposal when he knows they have an important mission the next morning in potentially dangerous territory. And Anna’s consistent misunderstanding of his bumbling in the worst way possible leading to snappish and angry responses from her is out of character for Anna and makes their relationship look unhealthy.

The second two are both related to Elsa. The first is that her character arc is narratively redundant. The first Frozen movie Elsa’s arc was one of self-discovery and self-acceptance related to her powers. In Frozen 2 her arc is one of self-discovery and self-acceptance related to her powers. Obviously self-acceptance is not a one a done proposition, but this doesn’t really feel like a continuation of her issues from the last movie; it’s a brand new issue that happens to be thematically identical to the ones from the last movie, making it redundant rather than a continuation. And my other issue with her arc is the way it ended. In Frozen Elsa is born different from everyone else and spends most of her life hiding that for fear of hatred and rejection from those around her if they knew. Over the course of the movie she learns to accept herself and the people around her come to accept and love her regardless and even because of her differences. In Frozen 2 Elsa is born different than everyone else, and her arc involves her accepting herself and moving to somewhere new where the people are all like her. Which if Elsa were a real person I would totally support if that was what made her happy, but as story being told by a company run by a bunch of old rich white guys starts to give vibes of “well of course all of us normal people here in Arendelle like magic users; we just think they’d be happier if they stuck to their own kind. We don’t have a problem with them. We just wouldn’t want any living in our neighborhood.” Which is a bit... not good.

So how do we fix this? We make it Anna’s story.

To be clear I’m not talking a full overhaul of the plot here. Actually very little is going to change in that regard. The plot of the movie will still be driven by Elsa’s journey, but the emotional core of the movie will be Anna’s character arc. Which, hey, actually makes a nice parallel to Frozen, where the plot was driven by Anna running around, but the emotional core was Elsa’s arc. The upside of this is obviously there’s a lot less work to do to fix things up. Downside is we still keep that same ending for Elsa; however I hope by shifting the emotional narrative around that ending we can minimize the impact of the unfortunate implications.

The movie opens with the prologue and after that we get the song “Some Things Never Change” that, with perhaps a few minor tweaks to Elsa’s somber part, can stay. (In fact most of the songs get to stay. Yay! Except “Lost in the Woods.” Sorry Kristoff; we’ll add a cute duet for you and Anna instead.) This song is going to set up Anna’s core emotional conflict for the movie as well as Elsa’s complementary conflict. Anna tells Oalf she’s not afraid of change because she’s not alone anymore. But that’s the catch; she’s terrified of change that might result in her losing her loved ones in any capacity. She spent most of her formative years feeling isolated and it’s made her clingy and needy as an adult (see her accepting Hans’ proposal after knowing him for a few hours). She can function fine on a day-to-day basis, it’s just when she feels her relationships with her loved ones are threatened that she begins to fall apart. She was alone for so long and she is convinced she cannot - not refuses to, physical and emotionally can not - do it again. Meanwhile we see Elsa who is restless and yearning for something unknown, but holding herself back for Anna’s sake, because she promised Anna she’d be there for her from now on.

Family game night happens, but Kristoff successfully proposes to Anna and everyone is happy. This is our high point for both the movie and Anna’s character from which everything is going to come slowly crashing down (until it picks up again at the end, obviously). The celebration is interrupted by Elsa hearing the voice calling her. She excuses herself, saying she’s tired, and encourages everyone else to keep having fun. Anna tries to, but Kristoff can tell she’s worried about Elsa and tells her to go check on her; he’s not going anywhere.

The next scene, “Into the Unknown,” and the evacuation occur mostly as canon, with again perhaps a few small changes in the lyrics to the song to emphasize Elsa is not holding back out of her own fear, but for Anna’s sake. Our next big change is the conversation after the evacuation about going to the Enchanted Forest. Rather than Anna having to push to come, Elsa invites everyone to come with her, but warns them it could be dangerous and they need to follow her lead. Everyone agrees and they set off.

Plot wise most of what happens next will be more or less the same as canon, but with a different tenor to the conversations between Anna and Kristoff and Anna and Elsa. Anna and Kristoff are actually engaged so their conversations are either positive and excited about that (we can replace the disastrous second proposal attempt with that cute duet I mentioned earlier) or Kristoff being comforting and supportive of Anna as she worries about her sister. For Elsa and Anna the feeling of a lot of their conversations in canon is that Elsa is falling back on old habits and being closed off and reckless while Anna is the sensible one. Instead here Elsa is confident and in her element while Anna is reckless and even clingy.

They make it to the village and are planning on spending the night when the rock giants show up. Because Anna and Kristoff are already engaged, he hasn’t run off to put together a dumb proposal, and is there when they have to leave. We get another action sequence here and at one point all of them are running along a cliff. The edge of the cliff sheers off, and Kristoff and Sven go tumbling down. Anna screams and for a second it looks like she’s going to throw herself off the cliff after him. Elsa drags her away to safety at which point Anna has a mini breakdown. Elsa tries to reassure her that the other two are probably fine — though we can tell that not even she totally believes it — and reminds Anna that she still has her and Olaf. They continue on.

They reach the ship and find out what happened to their parents. Elsa freaks out but not because she thinks it’s her fault their parents died. She freaks out because she sees now that what comes next is too dangerous for Anna to come. She swore to Anna that she’d always be there for her, but now Elsa needs to go and Anna needs to stay. This moment is the culmination of Elsa’s arc, where she’s realizing that she can’t actually always be there for Anna. Sometimes life is going to pull them in different directions and that’s okay. She has to let it happen rather than always fighting and holding herself back.

Anna wants no part of this. She protests strongly and Elsa has to trick her to send her and Olaf away. Anna and Olaf are both upset, but Olaf recognizes that Elsa might have had a point, and reassures Anna that at least they still have each other.

From this point everything goes pretty much as canon, so I just want to reflect on how this earlier changes impact the meaning of the things that happen.

Anna and Olaf are in the cave, Elsa’s message comes through, and Olaf dissolves away. Cue “The Next Right Thing.” This song is perfect and is now the thesis statement of the movie, as it rightly deserves to be. Anna started off terrified of losing her loved ones, and now one-by-one that’s what’s happened. She’s all alone and it hurts; it hurts worse than she ever imagined. But. But. But she can keep going. She can take one more step, just one more. And after she takes that step she can maybe take just one more. And one more. It’s not okay, it may never be okay again. But she can take one more step.

Having learned this lesson things begin to turn around. She’s disturbed the rock giants and as they’re gaining on her Kristoff (and Sven) ride in to the rescue. Kristoff is back, and he’s back from the supposed dead this time, which is far more triumphant than being back from wandering off to catch butterflies. They destroy the dam, and then Anna and Kristoff get a moment to reunite. Then just as Anna is breaking the news about Elsa, they spot her riding up on her water horse. Anna and Elsa also get a chance to reunite. Then Elsa brings Olaf back to life and their whole family is together again. We get a moment to bask in this before Elsa breaks the news to Anna that she’s going away. Not forever, but she has other things she needs to do with her life. And Anna is sad to see her sister go, but she’s going to be okay.

We redefined this ending so now instead of Elsa leaving being the result of her journey of self-discovery and realizing she really belongs off in the woods somewhere, it’s a result of the lessons both Elsa and Anna have learned. Elsa knows now that while it’s important to be there for your loved ones, you can’t do it at the expense of yourself. And Anna has learned how to rely on her loved ones without being dependent on them. Frozen was about them coming together and Frozen 2 is about them growing apart without letting it break their relationship. Our stories now reflect and complete each other.

#i have notes #frozen 2 #anna #elsa #kristoff #(i can't believe I spelled his name wrong the first time)

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serceleste · 5 years ago

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My random TRoS thoughts part 7, having recently viewed it a third time!

61. I noticed that on Kijimi C-3PO essentially parrots back what Poe had said earlier about how important their mission was, when he’s resolving himself to let them wipe his memory. It was kind of sweet.

62. The rumor is JJ didn’t want to work with the story group, which is why we have things like “Poe was a spice runner and then he joined the Resistance” that Pablo Hidalgo had to fix, so I understand why, and I also understand that the movies were probably never going to match up 100% with the EU (Ben’s backstory is a clusterfuck), but having finished Resistance Reborn some things were really jarring. Like Poe’s convo with Zorii, where he’s so downspirited about their chances, after the plot of Resistance Reborn was “look at all these people who want to help”, and also introduced the idea that part of the reason no one came to their aid on Crait was because the FO was rounding up and/or killing Resistance sympathizers. There’s a way to establish that Zorii cares more than she lets on and to have her offer Poe emotional support without putting him in a different place than I think he would have been, given all that’s happened since TLJ.

63. I love so much that Finn and Poe team up to play Chewie in holochess, and that they always lose, and the whole cheating/we won’t turn it off thing, it’s so funny and cute.

64. Even after the lightspeed skipping debacle, Chewie still let Poe fly the Falcon after they rescued him. LOL.

65. Ben’s last words are literally “ow”. Amazing. (We laughed so hard at that part, and I observed to my friend it was a combination of both Luke and Han.)

66. I love Rey’s emo hood. She only puts it up when she’s angsting on Ahch-To. <3

67. I just really love the full circle of Luke raising the X-wing when he couldn’t do it on Dagobah.

68. The Han-Ben scene really does things to me, and I love that it plays out like the version of the scene Ben wishes had happened the first time. I also was really struck by how he tells Rey something like “you can’t go back, like I can’t” because it’s just so fucking sad, and is such an encapsulation of KyloBen himself. He kept pushing himself farther and farther in the wrong direction, making the wrong choices, making it harder for himself to leave, while all the time wanting to do the opposite. I always joke about how when faced with two choices he inevitably picks the worse one, but he really, really does. He wanted to accept Han on the bridge but did what Snoke wanted and killed him instead, cementing his darkness, and then tortured himself with guilt over it, using it as fuel for his “I can’t go back” stance. It’s beautiful storytelling that that memory is what he uses to finally make the right choice, and I say that knowing that I’m sure in a world where Carrie Fisher is still with us, it would have been the scene with Leia I’ve wanted since TFA. But it works so beautifully.

69. The Finn and Jannah scene really makes it seem like Jannah is meant to be Force-sensitive too, and that’s why she broke the conditioning like Finn did, but then that means the reason any of the stormtroopers defected is because they’re Force-sensitive, and so her entire company is Force-sensitive? I know it’s Star Wars but I find that really hard to believe. And I’ll admit I dislike the idea of making it about the Force rather than conscious choices Finn and Jannah and everyone else had to make. The stormtroopers were really a missed opportunity in the ST, imo.

70. Speaking of ignoring the story group, I love Leia with a lightsaber as much as the next person but I do think that part felt like “everyone always wanted to see Leia with a lightsaber so here it is” while ignoring the established characterization that Leia chose not to be a Jedi because she was afraid she was too much like Vader and that she wanted to focus on the political realm. So I’m torn, because I love the idea of Luke and Leia training together, but I needed there to be some acknowledgment of what had already been established regarding her choices and motivations, rather than totally disregarding it and then having the only reason she didn’t become a Jedi be that she had a vision about Ben falling because of it. I feel like there was a happy middle ground to be reached that wasn’t.

#the rise of skywalker #star wars #ben solo #kylo ren #princess leia #poe dameron #rey #chewbacca #han solo #luke skywalker #zorii bliss #finn #jannah #c3po #tros spoilers

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klaineharmony · 5 years ago

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The Rise of Skywalker reaction post

Okay, I know that I’m late with this, but I finally saw SW: TROS tonight! On the whole, I thought it was excellent. Here are some initial thoughts, in no particular order:

The three biggest gut punches in the entire movie were 1) the few minutes where we all thought Chewie had died, 2) when we saw Han again, and 3) when Maz gave Chewie Leia’s medal. I cried, especially for Han. I wasn’t expecting to see him at all.

I love my Polyamorous Space Trio. <3

Poe Dameron is a disaster bi. Finn is the brain cell of the trio and its emotional center. And Poe and Rey match each other in recklessness and daring.

The parallel at the end, when Rey goes back to Tatooine, was beautiful. Clearly she is going to restore Owen and Beru’s home, which I heartily approve of. Burying Luke and Leia’s lightsabers there was lovely. And that last shot, when Rey is standing with BB8 and looking at the suns, just as Luke stood with R2 and looked at the suns - gorgeous.

I loved the moment where Luke caught his own lightsaber. Always the drama queen. :)

I’m still not certain how I feel about the whole “Rey is Palpatine’s granddaughter” thing. I think I liked both of my initial theories better - that she was either Leia and Han’s daughter and Ben’s twin, or that she was Luke and Mara’s daughter (not that they would have had to mention Mara at all, really) and Ben’s cousin. She was amazing, and I loved that we got to see her at her full power, but it didn’t quite have the emotional payoff that I wanted it to have.

I was sorry we didn’t see more of Rose. She wasn’t in the movie enough. I really like her character, and I missed it this time around.

I was thrilled to see Lando again. Billy Dee Williams is a legend.

There were so many nicely done parallels between Luke’s story and Rey’s, especially when Rey was climbing around the old Death Star, and in the confrontation with Palpatine. And the music parallels were also stunning. John Williams is, as ever, a musical genius.

It was wonderful to hear all of the voices of the Jedi who were supporting Rey, but I also wanted to see them, in the reunion scene at the end - I wanted that parallel to Return of the Jedi, and I was sad we didn’t get it.

Zorii was fantastic, and I would love to see more of her. Perhaps they will do a Disney+ series? It would be great to get her backstory with Poe.

The rescue of Chewie by Poe and Finn had great parallels to the rescue of Leia by Luke and Han.

I am sure I will think of more things, but these are just the things currently sticking in my head. As I said, on the whole I thought it was excellent and a fitting finish.

@rthstewart

#Star Wars #The Rise of Skywalker #SPOILERS

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onwardintolight · 5 years ago

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Han x Leia, ESB, Trip to Bespin, angst, hurt/comfort, fluff

Summary: ESB from Leia's POV. A journey from despair to hope, a blossoming, an opening to vulnerability and love.

Warnings: Deals with some heavy themes, incl. working through trauma, depression, self-harm, attempted sexual assault. Each chapter will be individually warned.

Note: I’m currently in the process of reposting the first nine chapters here in full, since when I first wrote this fic, I only shared links to the chapters on AO3 and FFN. I will try to post at least weekly. In the meantime, if you’d prefer to binge-read it, the entire fic is posted in full on AO3 and FFN.

Part: Masterlist | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | Epilogue

~~~

Author’s note from 1/2020:

Wow. Where to begin? I can hardly believe that after almost three and a half years, The Opening is finally coming to end. A HUGE thank you to all of you who have supported me, whether in those early days of writing or recently as I've been posting. Your encouragement and responses have kept me going when I felt like giving up and have given me more joy than I can possibly express.

This fic has meant so very much to me, more than words can say. It is Leia's story, but it is also my story. I've poured out my entire heart and soul into it, and in turn it's helped me heal. I hope that even a tiny bit of that encouragement spills over to you, even if it's just the knowledge that it's okay to not be okay. Struggling doesn't make you weak—just the opposite. Healing is a long journey, but it is possible. Hope always wins.

If you finish this and would like more, my one-shot Found is a companion piece of sorts—a happy, final epilogue after what's lost has been found again.

You can also check out the soundtrack I made to go with this fic here!

Again, thank you so much for going on this journey with me. May we all open ourselves more and more.

~~~

Epilogue

She talked to Luke before they reached the Alliance; she waited until he was awake again and starting to ask questions. The look of shock, horror, and grief on his face when she told him about Han nearly made her weep all over again. Soon, though, he was all determination, somehow her sun once more despite the pain that still haunted the hollows of his face. “We’ll get him back, Leia,” he said, grasping her hand in his remaining one. His eyes flickered to the side, staring unseeing at a spot on the wall. “We’ve got to trust the Force,” he murmured.

The Force. She closed her eyes, prepared to swallow down a wave of bitterness that never came. Instead, she was left with a vague sense of emptiness, sadness, and confusion. Perhaps it was their nothing-short-of-miraculous escape from Bespin that had softened her resentment. The Force had certainly seemed to… intervene, somehow, what with that vision she’d had of Luke. She let out a breath.

Was he right? Could the Force be trusted? Was the Force truly, as her parents had told her—as she herself had once believed—at work in the galaxy, ensuring hope and light would never be fully lost? Luke seemed determined to think so, despite whatever he had suffered; despite whatever heaviness he wore on his heart that made her fear he might crumple.

Relating what had happened to Alliance Intelligence and the few present members of High Command after their arrival on the Remembrance was just as difficult as her conversation with Luke and far less rewarding. She was quizzed about every aspect of their escape from Hoth and their subsequent ordeal on Bespin. She found she couldn’t look anyone in the eyes as she told them about the particular torture methods the Empire had used this time, both sanctioned and unsanctioned. And it took every ounce of her resolve to keep from breaking down as she relayed what had happened to Han.

For a moment, her eyes darted across the table to Rieekan. He was looking at her with such sorrow, understanding, and compassion that she somehow wanted to both shrink away from him and fall crying into his arms like she’d once done with her parents as a little girl. He caught up with her in the hallway afterwards as she walked back to the Falcon to grab her things. “Leia,” he said, “If you need anything—if there’s anything I can do—”

“Thank you, Carlist,” she replied, echoing his informality.

He paused. “I know Intelligence wasn’t too happy about Chewbacca and Calrissian’s plans to leave for Tatooine, but I want you to know I’m behind them all the way.” He lowered his voice. “Han Solo was a good man,” he said, his eyes piercing Leia with a meaningful stare. “Don’t give up hope. We’ll do what we can.”

Nodding, she swallowed down the lump in her throat. She doubted the Alliance would ever be able to spare the resources to mount a rescue operation for one person, but she appreciated Rieekan’s support anyway.

“For so long I thought… I thought…” He stopped, shaking his head, and smiled at her wistfully. “I’m just glad you’re back.”

She smiled back at him. It felt foreign—had she smiled at all since Bespin?—but somehow her heart felt a little warmer.

After she had located her packing crates from Hoth and moved into her new quarters, she headed for the conference room she had reserved for her meeting with Luke, Chewie, and Lando. Their plan didn’t take long to formulate—by necessity, it wasn’t much of one; not yet. Chewie and Lando would scout ahead on Tatooine, locate Han, and figure out what they were up against. When the time was right, Luke and Leia would join them for the extraction. If High Command will let me, Leia thought cynically. If I let me. She was already feeling the pull of her duty to the Alliance and, along with it, the familiar impulse to sacrifice all personal desires.

She frowned, remembering where that impulse had gotten her in the past. She’d had no hope, then—for the Alliance, yes, but not for herself. It had not gotten her far. While she would still gladly lay down her life for the Rebellion, she could no longer neglect the things that made life worth living in the first place.

Somehow, she’d have to fight for both. She’d just have to figure out how.

~~~

The next day, after giving Chewie a goodbye hug—«Take good care of yourself, Little Princess,» he had said—she headed to Luke’s room in the medbay.

It was still too soon, she knew, for them to talk much about what had happened. Aside from the knowledge that he had fought Vader on Cloud City, she still didn’t know the details about what haunted him, and she didn’t ask. Likewise, she didn’t yet feel able to tell him about what had blossomed between her and Han on the trip to Bespin. Somehow, though, she felt that he already knew, and that comforted her.

Mostly, they were silent, taking solace in each other’s nearness. Now, in their suffering, they seemed to understand each other more than they ever had before.

The medical droid returned to activate the brand new prosthetic hand Luke had received the night before. Leia watched, mildly intrigued, as it ran a series of tests to ensure the hand had been calibrated correctly.

Artoo and Threepio, now whole, gleaming, and happily reunited, had come to visit, too. They stood uncharacteristically silent in front of the large window, looking out on the newborn solar system nearby. The protostar at the center burst with brilliant light, illuminating the vast clouds of dust and matter that ringed it. It was a spectacular sight.

Once again, Leia wondered at the depth of the droids’ sentience. Emotion and appreciation for beauty were not things one normally expected in a droid… but then again, homesickness and a longing for companionship weren’t, either, and she had learned that lesson well to the contrary.

“Luke,” Lando’s voice broke through the comm, “we’re ready for takeoff.”

“Good luck, Lando,” he replied.

“When we find Jabba the Hutt and that bounty hunter, we’ll contact you.”

“I’ll meet you at the rendezvous point on Tatooine.”

“Princess,” Lando said, his voice growing somber, “we’ll find Han. I promise.”

Another rush of emotion filled her at Han’s name. There’d been so many of those lately, threatening her with sudden tears, and she hated it. Better this than being numb and hopeless, she thought. Better this than never having loved him.

“Chewie, I’ll be waiting for your signal,” Luke was saying. “Take care you two. May the Force be with you.”

«Until our branches entwine again, cubs,» said Chewie. «I won’t be around to rip the arms off your enemies for awhile, so don’t get into too much trouble!”

Leia almost laughed, and Luke grinned back at her.

She missed Han’s laugh.

Her smile fading, she walked over to the window. He was out there, somewhere. The distance between them seemed impossibly far, the search impossibly long. There was a chance he was already gone forever. There was an aching hole in her heart that she wasn’t sure could ever be healed.

Luke came up beside her, and she glanced at him.

He knew. He understood.

He wrapped his arm around her, his new hand gently squeezing her shoulder. She leaned into him, taking a deep breath.

Whatever happened, she would be brave. She would love. She would live.

She would open herself up to a galaxy of hope.

And someday, she told herself, it would all be worth it.

It was worth it already.

The Millennium Falcon rose in front of them, soaring away into the stars.

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kshitij1997 · 5 years ago

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Hello again!

This story goes more complex as I write it :D

Building from the cliff-hanger last time, I have a major responsibility of bringing this story justice. We shall meet a lot of new people this time, some of them we know from the movies, some we don't. I hope it turns out as satisfying and gripping as I intended.

All frozen and Tangled characters belong to Disney, all I own is this head-cannon and the original characters.

With that, let's continue!

Chapter 5- Of parents, their children and the legend of Flynn Rider

Even as the king and queen of Arendelle announced the arrival of princess Elsa, they were more worried about the kidnapping of princess Eva Rapunzel, which was a scandal that was starting to make the crown of Corona look bad. King Reginald deployed a massive force to look for the princess and her abductor across Europe, which was christened 'The Golden Knights'. While The Golden Knights were supported in Corona by the backing of the king, they were seen as invaders in the rest of Europe, as a legitimate threat to the sovereignty of various kingdoms in the continent. Things came to a head as The Golden Knights grew throughout Europe, with some opportunists recognizing the possibility of grabbing power. The kingdoms feared that The Golden Knights would enable the local people to hedge more power, instigate revolution and crumble the hard-earned peace after nearly three decades of war. Such was the state of early 19th century Europe, rapidly industrializing and rife with mistrust and caution even among royal families related by similar blood.

It was left to Iduna and Agnarr, who had already conceived their second child, to come to Corona's rescue; who promptly called a conference between all the European nations in the only non-aligned country on the continent, Switzerland. Nearly every country's monarch came, except for the Tsar of Russia and the Emperors of France and Great Britain, as their respective health had started to fail. They had sent their chief advisers. As for the Ottomans, they refused to attend as a gesture of defiance. With queen Iduna presiding over the meeting, king Agnarr began to speak. "Your most royal majesties, lend me your ears." Said Agnarr, as he addressed the conference "The pope has been kind enough to grant us this neutral ground in order to decide how the business of looking for princess Eva must be conducted in the continent, or beyond. Now, king Reginald saw it fit to summon a huge force to look for his daughter. It is our moral duty to help our fellow monarch in this time of distress." The Arendellian king proceeded to continue his speech when he was rudely interrupted.

"This is such a crock of shit." Spat the duke of Weselton "I personally cannot believe the energy put into searching for a lost girl of a godforsaken kingdom."

"What are you trying to say, honourable duke?" snarled king Reginald, even as Agnarr tried to calm him down.

Ignoring the implied death threat in the question, the duke continued " Every time a problem arises in Europe, it always comes from fucking Corona. Be it Napoleon deposing the former king or queen of Corona, or the king threatening war in the middle east either for restitution in Serbia from my biggest partners there; the Ottomans, or for exotic medicine for his cursed fucking wife, or now, when he sends an invading force into my fucking fief to look for his damn litter. It has been two months already, give up, let us live in some fucking piece already, and conceive again. It's not as if the princess was to be the heir anyway. Moreover, you and your wife obviously know how to-" the duke's rant was cut short as king Reginald lunged towards him, kicked him once in the gut and once under the belt, and then proceeded to throttle the life out of him.

"I'll POUND YOU TO FUCKING PIECES, YOU FUCKING WEASEL!" roared king Reginald, the six-foot three king more than a match for the five footer duke. He would have made good on his threat, had he not been held back by the kings of Arendelle, the Southern Isles and Austria-Hungary. Agnarr finally managed to pull Reginald away and slapped him in the face "What the fuck is wrong with you, Reginald?!" Agnarr screamed to Reginald in the face, and Reginald was ready in sock him in the face, when-

"SILENCE!" thundered queen Iduna and banged the dais with her hands, which stunned everyone into being quiet. "WE WILL NOT REACH AN ACCORD IF WE CONTINUE TRYING TO ANTAGONIZE THE KING OF CORONA WHEN HE FACES THIS TOUGH TIME! MOREOVER, SUCH UNPARLIAMENTARY LANGUAGE AND VIOLENCE WILL NOT BE TOLERATED IN THIS SOLEMN GATHERING!" Iduna finished her tirade, then began again "I shall at once direct king Agnarr and king Reginald towards a period of recess, during which time they shall settle their differences peacefully and reach common ground again. As for the duke of Weselton, his disgusting behaviour and efforts towards instigating discord in this meeting, are grounds enough for me to expel him from the conference with prejudice." Iduna finished as she settled down.

The duke was beside himself with anger "I get kicked out of the meeting for calling a spade a spade?! All right….in front of all the kings of Europe I say this, your kingdom will regret this decision, Iduna."

"Leave of your own volition before you are defenestrated." Iduna said with a voice ice-cold, as the marshals prepared to throw out the troublemaker. Anticipating a painful recovery if he were thrown out from the windows, the duke beat a hasty retreat.

"Swine" muttered king Christian of the Southern Isles under his breath.

The gathering continued more or less smoothly after the duke's departure as Agnarr and Reginald were able to calm down and join the conference again. To remove any troubling feudal implications from the Golden Knights, it was agreed to change it from an armed force to a humanitarian one; a landmark decision as no prior organization like that had ever existed. While its primary objection was to still locate the lost princess and hopefully bring her kidnapper to justice, the Golden Knights now became a proto salvation army, setting makeshift camps, soup kitchens and clinics in princess Eva's name all over Europe. Resistance was still met; but it never broke out into open revolt.

Some questioned where queen Sophia was in all this. European society expected her to be the distraught and helpless parent praying for her child's safety, rescue and return. However, queen Sophia was not most people. She had been down this road before, wallowing in her misery and praying for fortune to reverse its unkind ways. But now she knew better. As Iduna and Agnarr went to support her dear Reggie, she stayed back in order to care for baby princess Elsa. It was she who nursed the curiously cold child. When she discovered her secret as Elsa's emotions became more prominent, she embraced her presence even further. The baby ice princess was unusually intelligent for her age, always understanding when Sophia was sad, or happy, and acted accordingly, making snowflakes and loud gurgling noises, which melted the queen's heart. As for the public, queen Sophia turned her attention to public welfare, instituting public laws that protected the wages of the emerging working class in the cities, and creating a vast chain of clinics, hospitals, and orphanages and institutions, all this in princess Eva's name. Soon, it led to Corona having the most public-centred and public-friendly policies in Europe, which brought both the king and queen respect from across the continent. When asked why this sudden change, she simply answered,

"When a mother loses a child, all that love has to go somewhere. And what are the citizens of this great kingdom if not my metaphorical kids." It was a masterstroke of an answer that endeared her to the public, along with adding princess Eva's name in all her ventures. Princess Eva soon acquired a mythical status, a figure who was sacrificed to bring prosperity to the people of Corona.

As good natured and effective Sophia's take care demeanour was, it couldn't keep away the outside world from drastic change. In this din and pandemonium of all these things, the thirteenth child of king Christian was born without incident. It was a young boy, who took after his polish mother in terms of hair and eyes and took after the king in his nose and general face. His mother planned to name the prince Janus, after the great Polish king Jan Sobieski, who had led the charge of the winged hussars, ousting the Ottomans out of Vienna and protecting Europe from Ottoman dominance and suppression back in 1683. However, the king of the Southern Isles didn't care much for the name, believing it was too effeminate and silly for a prince, and had him christened to the more publicly acceptable Hans. His mother seethed at this utter disregard for her culture and identity to such an extent that, even as the baby prince was only beginning to recognize those around him, she decided to make sure prince Hans was raised Polish first. The fact that the Russian Empire, Corona and Austria-Hungary took every opportunity to carve out new territory from her ancestral home of Poland didn't help soothe her rage.

As for Sophia's policies, while they did a lot to bring the ever-increasing middle class out of poverty, it brought new problems along with them. Consider the Rhineland, the new industrial heartland of Corona. Even as the kingdom was modernizing, the climate of Northern Europe had started to change. As a result, the rains in the kingdom had started to dwindle, leaving agriculture not a very viable option for the populace. The cities of the Rhineland had started to burst at the seams with new arrivals from the countryside as a result, and the cities had become saturated with people from all walks and varieties of life as a result, from artisans, scholars and philosophers to the bargemen, dockworkers, other various blue collar jobs and veterans from the Napoleonic wars. There were a lot of orphans from the Napoleonic wars in Rhineland, and the cities had various orphanages built to accommodate them. However, while it was comparatively easy to build new spaces for those orphans to live in, trying to raise them into model members of society was a different beast all together. Soon, there were scores of kids doing odd jobs like selling trinkets, sweets or little items like candles and matchsticks on the street, sometimes sneaking into factories and demanding work from the factory owners, who readily gave them work, quietly ignoring the child labour laws the Monarchy of Corona had set up. Some found their real home on the street, joining a gang to get a piece of the action.

Two such children with these stories were Eugene and Mabel, a couple of nine-year olds who had become friends in one such orphanage. However, the two couldn't be further different from each other. Mabel believed in the good in people and honesty, raising money on her own in order to afford to go to those new-fangled schools being set up in the country. To raise said money, she often sold odd titbits on the road to pedestrians and passers-by. Eugene didn't believe in such lofty ideals, choosing instead to believe in standing up for himself and being on the never-ending hustle. Eugene was part of a gang of 10-year-old robbers led by a brutish eleven-year-old boy named Markus, and they regularly held up carriages and coaches inside and outside the city. Eugene got into the gang through his presence of mind and wit, and his ability to look innocent. It was Eugene who came up with the shivering dodge, the lucifer dodge and the scaldrum dodge. The shivering dodge was bit of play-acting, making oneself shiver by bathing in cold water, when one could get their hands on it, or wearing their thinnest clothes to make sure they shiver. Then one would go around the streets of the city, pleading for money for a warm coat or a hot beverage. As for the lucifer dodge, one carried some trinkets, and pretended to be pushed when a rich toff passed by, throwing one's merchandise on the ground. Looking at their ruined shop, they would pretend to bawl their hearts out and people would throw some coins in sympathy. Lastly, the scaldrum dodge, which Eugene found disgusting, but fell back onto in desperate times. It involved bruising oneself, by rubbing vinegar open soapy arms making them look like nasty blisters. It was uncomfortable and dirty, but at least one could get to spend a few days in the hospitals that were set up recently. Moreover, one could lay low in the hospital to stay away from watchful eyes of the law, which was beginning to crack down on gangs like theirs.

It was a clear contrast to what Markus preferred to do; garrotting. A typical garrotter used to hide in the horse-drawn carriages that carried people around. During the ride, the garrotter choked the passenger by his knuckles, being careful not to crush the windpipe and kill the unfortunate sod but enough to render them unconscious, then robbing the unconscious passenger and paying the carriage driver who was in on it. Another favourite money-maker of his was to nick purses at a public execution, to disappear into a crowd of spectators and ending up with enough wallets and cash for weeks. Last but not the least, there was always the smuggling of tea, China and other such valuables along the shipping routes of the Rhine river into all of Europe, and into Arendelle's canals and the dark sea up north as well. Markus' ways were rewarding but dangerous, as it was clearly a crime punishable by death.

Eugene's scams were far safer and as a result ,they were decent money makers, and soon a lot of kids were doing it for some pocket cash, but they had to pay tribute to Markus and Eugene, who were the clear two leaders of the gang. It was a strange camaraderie between the two of them. For to the world, Eugene went by his own name, but for Markus, he was Flynn.

"The fuck kind of name is Eugene anyway, huh? What are ya, bent?" Markus cackled once during such a talk. "The fuck does that mean, asshole?" Eugene grinned.

"It's not just the name, the whole damn act that you put, you know." Markus said.

"Brings in the dosh now, don't it? And without the noose threatening me neck" Eugene replied.

"True, but that's the street life I chose." said Markus. He loved the streets and saw no future for himself beyond that.

"You make me sad, you bastard. I see myself living in a big house, with the love of me life beside me, and an army of servants to lord over."

"Like the mansion at the outside the city huh? With your little trick?"

"Sure. However, she ain't no trick. Her name is Mabel."

"I know who she is, and I also know she don't like me."

"Well , you ain't no choir boy, punk."

"Yes and thank fuck for that."

"Ha! You twat!" Eugene laughed.

"Right back at ya, fuckin' romantic actor!" Markus laughed back.

Markus may have been an oaf, but he was right about how Mabel felt about him "That guy's a bad influence."

"A 'bad influence'? The fuck does that mean, Mabel?"

"It means he's rubbin' off you the wrong way, Eugene. In addition, if you want to cuss like a sailor, go to the barge and earn your keep."

"Bad influence, in addition, money well spent on books, eh?"

"It's our job innit? To become better and rise up?"

"Aye, that's what I'm doing, Mabel."

"Yeah, for the big house, huh?"

It was well-known throughout the orphanage how Eugene claimed that he would own that mansion one day. He used to get starry eyes when he started talking about it. If there was a child in Eugene, he came up in times like this.

"Hmm" rued Eugene.

"Speaking of that mansion, I got a job there, as a seller from the mansion." Said Mabel with a smile.

"Fuckin' result, that's damn neat!" shouted Eugene excitedly as he hugged Mabel.

"Eugene!"

"Sorry, got excited in the moment."

"That's all right, I think it's swell too. But if I want to study, I got to earn quick and stop working." finished Mabel.

"Don't worry about dosh, I always have some."

"Sure, but no more scams alright? They're cracking down on stuff like that."

"I swear I'll be sharp, Mabel."

"As for Markus, look I don't think he's that bad, but he's certainly an idiot. You gotta take care of him, make sure he doesn't land in any scuffles."

"Okay. I'll do it."

"Promise?"

"Sure"

"Look at you, taking charge." Mabel grinned.

"Look at you, moving up and caring for Markus." Eugene laughed.

"Hey Mabel, call me Flynn from now on."

"No" giggled Mabel as she gave him a small peck on his cheek.

This happy mood was not to last, as it became clearer to Eugene that Mabel was becoming miserable a few months later, towards the end of the year. It was a mansion in all but name as her employer was a hard-hearted taskmaster, resorting to abuse if his targets were not met, and poor Mabel suffered the worst of it, both physical and emotional. As for Markus, his life had become tougher as the law was coming down on his operation, and it was becoming tougher to buy off the bargemen, the carriage drivers and the law as a result.

"Those sons of bitches, they dare PISS IN MY HAT?!" screamed Markus on one such day.

"Zip it Mark" Eugene tried to calm him down.

"If those bargemen don't straighten up, I'll set their fuckin' ships ablaze, you hear me, Flynn?" Markus growled.

"You realize that they can wring your neck in one go, right? Don't be stupid. Talk to them, reach an accord and put this shit to bed." Eugene spoke.

"Reach an accord? Another expression from Mabel, eh Flynn?" Markus snapped

"Don't joke about her right now, she's in terrible shape. I gotta help her too somehow."

"Then go with her, don't worry about me, I'll talk to them." Markus said

"Yeah, burning their fuckin' ships?!" Eugene exclaimed incredulously

"Hey, I was just hurtin' and blowin' off some steam there, alright Flynn? Even I know better than to engage those seven-foot giants in a mosh pit." Markus replied.

"Alright, fine. I'll go with Mabel. Just don't blow your head open, Mark." said Eugene as he went on his way to Mabel.

What he saw Mabel, it wasn't a pretty sight.

There she was, in torn rags, bruised all over, beaten half to death and possibly molested, or worse.

"Eugene!" she cried as she collapsed into his chest, his vest quickly becoming wet from her tears and her blood as she sobbed.

"Who did this?" Eugene growled, even if he had half guessed who it was.

"They abused me and….threw me out in the middle of winter to fend for myself." Mabel wept, as she caught her breath.

"The people at the mansion?"

"Yes"

"I had to do something I never thought I would do, even in the direst of situations." Mabel cried.

"What?" Eugene asked, dreading how she might answer.

"I stole a week's supplies, planning to escape from that torturous place. I thought I could get out of the city, after selling what I could, then go as far away as possible from there. But I was caught. Those bastards, they beat the life out of me, and stripped me naked and-." Mabel couldn't finish her sentence as she crumbled into sobs again.

Eugene tried holding on to her, tears ebbing out of his eyes, but Mabel pushed him away, clearly hiding something she either couldn't tell Eugene out of shame, or at a loss to explain what had been done to her. Eugene considered going to the law, but decided against it, as it wouldn't change anything. He was jolted out of his thoughts when Mabel began again,

"Eugene, you've always been good to me, thank you so much for that. But I'm afraid I must get out of this city, and never come back."

"Wait, don't go! I'll make sure they pay, I promise." Eugene pleaded.

"I can't stay here after what happened, I must leave." Mabel pleaded back.

"Eugene choked back a lump that threatened to become a bawl when he said "Alright, but at least take some cash." He gave her his day's cut of his operation, two Corona Marks, which would have been enough to sustain someone for a month.

Mabel embraced him in gratitude before scurrying out of sight. Eugene sighed "Maybe, someday, she'll come back."

Alas, but there was no joyful end to Mabel's plight, as a rival gang member, jealous of Eugene, followed Mabel and beat her up again, and robbed her at knifepoint. He didn't even spare her shawl, which she used for covering herself, leaving her further bruised, in tatters and only a few matchboxes to keep her company as it started snowing on Christmas eve.

Eugene was ignorant of this misfortune as he scurried back to Markus, who'd been done for.

It had started well for Markus, as he had managed to find common ground with the carriage drivers and most of the law enforcers, but he made the mistake of going alone without muscle to back him up. The bargemen took the opportunity to anger Markus, who lunged at them with his razor. But it was over in an instant for poor Markus, as the bargemen broke his neck with one smack of their hand, and law enforcers shot him in the head for good measure. There Markus lay dead, his face blackened and bloody onto the snowy streets.

Eugene stepped back from the corpse in horror at the realization; he'll have to turn rat to save himself.

And so he did, in the snowy, dark night of Christmas eve 1820.

He went straight to the magistrate's office, cut a deal with law enforcement to let him go, after ratting out everyone from the three rival gangs to the corrupt law enforcers and bargemen. It was mayhem in the city that night, as the rival gangs were dealt with extreme prejudice, and the other bargemen, law enforcers and carriage drivers were arrested and dealt with savagely. Even the smuggling cargo ships were set ablaze or sunk.

It was an emotionally drained and tired Eugene who started to arrange for his departure from the city on Christmas morning when he glanced at something, or someone that would stand as a sheet of flame in his memory forever.

There lay Mabel, cooped up in a street corner, under nearly half a foot of snow, frozen to death.

Evidently, the poor girl had burned up the few matchsticks that she had left to keep warm. She had also tried in vain to knock on the doors and beg to be taken in for the night. Tragically, the Christmas spirit of giving didn't apply to a supposed bottom-feeding orphan like her.

But now, a crowd had started to gather around the frozen corpse, the people now showing sympathy to the lost soul according to their convenience. Eugene moved away from the scene in disgust. He hated it, he hated them all, he hated this fucking city. Fuck them, fuck them all.

As he moved towards the outskirts of the city, his aggrieved rage renewed when he saw the big house again. It all started here, for him, for Mabel, for all of them.

Once, staying in that house was all that he ever wanted.

Now, the mere sight of that monstrosity made him retch.

He sneaked into the house's kitchen, lit some coals alight, and let them loose onto the flammable powdered flour. As for good measure, he barred all the escape routes once he came out, cut loose one of the tethered horses, and rode off into the dawn as the house started burning in earnest, and the screams of people being charred to death could be heard in the distance.

It was pandemonium with all this chaos in the city, with rumours of a certain Flynn Rider exposing the criminal gangs, the corrupt officials and the bargemen. It was further rumoured that it was the same Flynn Rider burnt down the house that rumoured tortured little children for amusement and made them work almost to death, directly in violation to the Monarch's laws.

And thus, on Christmas day 1820, the legend of Flynn Rider came to be.

Whoa, this was a painful chapter to write.

As I can see, this is shaping up to be a neat Tangled-Frozen crossover, I promise I'll get to everyone in time.

Hang in there, people!

As always, constructive feedback is always welcome.

#frozen #frozen tangled #frozen fanfiction #frozen fanfic #frozen angst #tangled #eugene tangled #frozen fandom #tangled fanfiction #tangled fandom

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