#me when ship composed of characters who are foils

[andro-dino]

thinking about plasma and white on this day

[swallowtailed]

palisade 51 / finalisade pt. 6

this episode was so fun?? good vibes, good jokes, i had a great time

everyone chiming in with what they’re doing during clem’s attack felt like a bit of blue channel crew vibes again. cori wrote fic about leap…… also every time janine makes something spookier it is so good. petition for janine to hold spookier forever

clem and gur: the mirroring of their first death scene worked really well here. highlights their shared history as abandoned followers of perennial—they’re still caught in a time loop, but they’re alone inside it.

you know whose body probably also fell into the sea? figure

extremely funny future visions in this episode. clem seeing herself get unceremoniously murked by everyone in mbreak, brnine imagining running away with gucci cause she’s being mean to them… it’s truly the perfect kind of mechanic to put on divine cycle characters. and it’s messyyyyyyyyyyy

i was a little disappointed that future got taken down because i was so enjoying having it around causing problems. so imagine my excitement when JESSET STOLE IT. a revolutionary who sees that they’re compromising and wants to do better… and decided to put the imperial war machine inside his heart to achieve that… and now he has the divine future, which can show him his dreams and spur him on, or torment him with visions of failure… and gur is there… god i can’t wait. this is so exciting

ooh is this jesset’s entrance as black centurion. or for the initialism, what are other relevant adjectives that start with j… hmm. joyless centurion

also jesset is such an interesting foil to levi. veteran vs new recruit, mbreak vs mirage, both up-and-coming leaders, both driven to take action because they know they can be doing more & better

thisbe scene…. i love her. she’s under the chimera’s wing…

pleased that nideo has been driven back from the moon. that was a “take something that isn’t yours” from like the stellar combustor era

really interesting to have the chimeric cadent come in. there’s something there about thisbe asking the tomb & guardian of divines to help her communicate with wakeful. (falling asleep/waking up, respectively.) palisade as a season has been insistent on the necessity of living with & in & alongside death. the divines in the garden of fidelity were tortured in the dark for centuries and still lived on… the chimeric cadent understands intimately what death means to both divines and mortals (being composed of both, and very long-lived, and a tomb)… i mean, the chimeric cadent sort of gets it, right? maybe the most out of anyone? and anyway they get [gestures at the aforementioned themes of palisade]. 

god i am so hoping that partial palisade comes back onscreen before the end of the season. maybe he and wakeful can figure something out. wakeful planet palisade... i am thinking about it

anyway speaking of wakeful that levi scene was so fun. delightful to meet so many faces, especially limitless welkin. love that all it takes is someone going “hey people can just help, look, i’ll go first” and levi convinces wakeful to help rebuild palisade. reminds me of cori telling perennial that she’s gonna win this time.

really exploding the social roles of divines in this finale and i am so glad that we got here

parti mentioned!!!!! the best radio host on palisade!!!!!!!!!!!! unfortunately loose lips do sink ships but hey what can you do

[ceriseisland]

Preciousmetalshipping for the ship ask? :3

Oh boy I got multiple asks for preciousmetal and uh. This is probably going to be a bit harsh

Rating: 1

Do I ship it: No

Why don't I ship it: I think preciousmetal is the source of a lot of the fanon characterizations of Gold and Silver. People like to push it into the sunshine hero/grumpy rival trope, when it doesn't fit at all, and I'll explain here

Silver is a lot less of a dick than Gold is and has a much stronger moral compass. While he seems unapproachable especially in GSC, it's because of his main flaw, how he only makes room in his life for the mission he's assigned himself and ignores everything else, including his friends and personal wellbeing, something he's started to work on in HGSS. Silver isn't grumpy or a dick, he's just too focused for his own good.

We also see Silver save civilians every time out of a sense of duty, while half the time Gold saves people explicitly because he wants the recognition and throws a fit when Silver gets there first. Silver is not the grumpy rival; he is composed of waters that run much deeper than that.

As for Gold, I feel like people try to explain his actions by giving him an inferiority complex or a sad backstory, but I don't think think that's how he's best read. Gold's life is perfect and he gets by by being luckier than god in every situation. The universe bends to make sure Gold doesn't experience the consequences of his actions. He's the opposite of Silver in that regard, who has had to struggle all his life. Silver wanted to beat Pryce and get revenge, but Gold was the one who followed him into the rift and beat him. Silver canonically dreamed of going home to a perfect sunlit house just like Gold's, and instead he got a mafia king dad and a new endless mission to destroy his father's organization. They're opposites, but not in the way people like to make them out to be.

I think Gold and Silver would get on each other's nerves if they spent time together, and that's great! I love fics that make them roommates, and they have probably the most interesting platonic relationship in the series with how they push each other's buttons in just the right way. But for it to work romantically, Gold especially would have to mature a lot to make it a healthy relationship, when that's not going tp happen. There's no tragic backstory for Gold, and that's the point: he's just like that, which is what makes him such a good foil to Silver. And I doubt Silver would put in the effort when in all likelihood he finds Gold annoying. But when Gold, Silver, and Crystal are together, they balance each other out. That's why queerplatonic gsc is king

tl;dr Shipping Gold and Silver romantically ignores one of the most interesting platonic relationships in the series and fanonizes the fan perception of the characters

What would get me to ship it (romantically): If they were entirely different characters, or maybe if their platonic relationship was less interesting

How I would want them to get together: I'm a huge fan of the idea that Gold gets a bachelor pad and Silver moves in with him at Green's urging, since she thinks staying in one place and being around people would be good for his mission complex, and Silver gets bugged by Gold at first who is delighted at having someone to bug, but from now having people in his life constantly Silver eventually gains the worldview that destroying team rocket isn't all that matters and chooses to be with his friends

Song that reminds me of it: Nice to Meet Ya by Niall Horan, Cooler than Me by Mike Posner, The Last of the Real Ones by Fall Out Boy, The Black and White by The Band Camino, Love Don't Die by The Fray, and Lethal Combination by The Wombats

Any other unpopular opinions: I also want to point out the stark difference between original and preciousmetal. With Red and Blue, we watch their relationship evolve from dislike to healthy respect to friends to best friends to whatever Blue implies in XY. But Gold and Silver's relationship never moves past utility, so they only interact when they need something from each other, like to save the world. And considering who they are as people (Gold especially,) it would take a lot for it to evolve past that into genuine closeness when there's an antagonistic element to their relationship with how their personalities mash. Idk, I just don't get why people like it

[thegreaterlink]

Reviewing Star Trek TNG - S1E12 “Datalore”

THE PREMISE

While en route to a Starbase for maintenance, the Enterprise arrives at the planet Omicron Theta, once the site of a colony where the Starship Tripoli originally discovered Data. While exploring the lab of Data's creator, Dr. Noonien Soong, the crew discovers a disassembled android nearly identical to Data and reassemble him back at the ship. He introduces himself as Lore.

However, while Lore feigns naiveté to Picard and the crew, it becomes clear that he's more intelligent than he seems...

MY REVIEW

Despite Data and Lore looking almost identical, Brent Spiner does an excellent job at making them feel like two distinct characters through more than just their clothes. A clever use of camerawork, body doubles and split-screen effects even allows both characters to seamlessly occupy the same scene and hold a conversation.

As for Lore as a character, he's a superior model to Data built before him, to the point where Dr Soong deliberately dialled back some of his qualities when designing Data. His firmer grasp on humanity and emotions (even using contractions in his speech) make him a perfect foil for Data, and he proves his effectiveness as an antagonist by deactivating Data (making use of an off switch which they both have) and stealing his uniform to take his place.

And who is it to notice the difference and figure out what's happened? None other than... Wesley Crusher. Okay, to give credit where it's due, Wesley immediately noticing Lore using contractions in his speech is impressive... but when Captain Picard ignores him, Wesley points out that he'd be taken seriously if he was an adult.

This leads to Picard's famous line, "Shut up Wesley!" A phrase which Wil Wheaton is understandably so sick of hearing that sending it to him on Twitter (I know he shut down his account in 2018) was once enough to get you instantly blocked. Even his own mother says it (by which I mean Dr Crusher, not Wil Wheaton's actual mother), which admittedly feels a bit out of character for her.

And look, I’ll never turn down the chance for some good-natured Wesley bashing, but this particular instance strikes me as just unfair. Picard assigns Wesley as an Acting Ensign on the bridge because he values his judgement and knowledge, but when Wesley expresses his concerns, Picard immediately shuts him down and even orders him off the bridge. Can you imagine Picard treating Worf or Riker like that? No, you can’t. Don’t even try.

Anyway, Lore shares the common disliking of Wesley, dismissing him as a child and giving us my favourite line in the episode and one which I will quote whenever possible: "Are you prepared for the kind of death you've earned, little man?"

At the episode's climax, we find out Lore's true intentions: it turns out that he was responsible for drawing in the crystalline space entity (that's what they call it in the episode - it never gets a proper name) which wiped out the colony, and he plans to let it devour the entire Enterprise crew. For such an interesting character, such a motivation is a bit disappointing, to be honest.

After a fun brawl between Data and Lore where the two get to display their superior strength by throwing some clearly-empty barrels at each other, Lore is beamed out into space and the entity leaves. Yep. It just leaves. We're told it gave up because Lore was its only way of accessing the ship's crew, but for it to just leave without any further issue is very anticlimactic. It feels like the writers were just looking for an easy way to wrap up the episode.

Speaking of writers, this episode served as the final Star Trek script credit for franchise creator Gene Roddenberry, who co-wrote it with Robert Lewin. I'm glad he was able to go out on a high note.

Also, I must give credit to this episode's excellent music, courtesy of Ron Jones, who would compose music for the first four seasons of TNG. I look forward to hearing more of his work going forward. You can find his music for this episode in volume 2 of his album release "The Ron Jones Project."

7/10 - Could’ve been an 8 if some of the writing had been a bit stronger, but still a solid episode regardless.

Previous Episode | TNG Masterpost | Next Episode

[eirist]

Little Bits and Pieces of Heaven

TRICK OR TREAT?

One-shot #: 22

Disclaimer: One Piece (and its characters) belongs to Eiichiro Oda-sensei.

Reminder: I have no beta-reader. Any grammatical and spelling errors are solely mine.

Warning: OOC possible. One shot.

Rating: T (Playful, sexy, suggestive)

Note: Happy Halloween! What is this day if we don’t have a ZoNa one-shot centered on this theme right? This is Prompt #9 – Trick or Treat from the Autumn/Fall (and Halloween!) Prompt List.

Summary: Because when are treats just sweets?

“AHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!”

Laughter filled the air, its tone howling and mocking—obviously at the expense of one poor soul unluckily enough to be the cause of it.

“Shut. Up.”

That comment prompted another round of laughter. Louder, more jeering.

“What in the—hahaha!—world… ha-happened to y-you?” Usopp stammered the question, gasping for air as he tried to get some words out while still laughing.

“I said. Shut. Up!” Zoro snarled towards his direction.

Sanji’s grin was pure evil as he peered down from the galley deck, laughing as well. “Say what now?” He teased. “Kindly… uh… growl that again for us?”

“HAHAHAHAHAHAH!” Usopp did not hold back this time. He had actually fallen down to his knees on the grassy deck, laughing still and clutching his middle at the same time.

“Guys…” Nami was trying hard—very hard—to hold back her own laughter at the sight before her. Her lower lip trembled at the effort and she bit at it, hoping to gain some control.

“But Nami-san…!” Sanji wasn’t able to continue what he was saying. He exploded into laughter again while pointing at the three figures standing in the middle of the Sunny’s deck.

Their three crewmates had just returned to the ship after frolicking in the island where they are docked. It would’ve been a normal occurrence… if not for the fact that the three are wearing costumes.

Animal costumes.

Animal jumpsuit costumes.

Nami covered her mouth with her hand to prevent the snort of  laughter that threatened to come out of her as she stared at Luffy, Chopper and…

… dear Kami, Zoro.

Her eyes met his and her shoulders shook from hindering her laugh. His glare was scathing, venomous even.

And she wisely kept her mouth shut lest she incur his wrath.

She actually doesn’t want to get into his bad side tonight.

Not when he is in that tiger costume looking like he was gonna maul everyone to death any minute now.

Nami managed to take a deep breath and compose herself. Yet, she cannot prevent a grin from appearing on her face as she asked. “Are you gonna tell us what’s up? And what’s with the outfits?”

Usopp and Sanji were laughing again, slapping their hands against the lawn deck and the banister respectively.

Franky walked past them on his way to the dock system. And he did a double take. A minute passed before he said, "Aw! Nice costume Zoro!" He gave him a thumbs up before disappearing down the hatch.

If looks could only kill, the cyborg will be dead on the spot… right after that comment.

Zoro’s lone eye narrowed at the two. “You two done now?” He looked unamused; arms folded over his chest as he waited for his idiot crew mates to calm down.

Which honestly looks like it’s gonna take some time.

“No, not yet!” Usopp was still cackling. “This is gold.” He was now sitting down the lawn deck, trying to catch his breath. “Haaah! I’m laughing so hard I think my stomach muscles are cramping.”

“What in the world made you wear that marimo?” Sanji was now heading down the stairs, shaking his head, the snide grin never leaving his face.

Zoro didn’t answer, instead he pinned the blond with the deadliest glare he could muster.

Which is definitely not working since what he was currently wearing undermines the intensity of the look he was giving the chef.

“I asked him to…” Chopper suddenly said in shy, little voice that had most of the Mugiwaras halting. Usopp choked in the middle of his laughter, ending in a coughing fit as he tried to get some air into his lungs.

The others exchanged glances. Everyone has a weak spot for the reindeer after all.

“Actually, me and Luffy kinda forced him.” Chopper admitted, looking up at Zoro who was still glaring at the cook.

Ah. Everyone had the same thought instantly. The reindeer and the captain, huh? The two persons on the ship that the swordsman can hardly ever say no to.

“Well,” Sanji squared his shoulder. “Good job choosing the costume then.”

An expletive escaped Zoro’s mouth.

The cook’s face lit up at that as he reached the deck, standing beside the still crouching Usopp. “Louder will ya?” He smirked. “Aren’t tigers supposed to be capable of growling loudly?”

“I will bite you in half shitty cook!”

“Whoa! I see we are really getting into character now. Whatever happened to using your katanas?”

“Temee…”

“Sanji-kun!” Nami suddenly stepped in front of Zoro with one hand pushing at the taller man’s face. “Stop riling the tiger up!”

“Grrr… you’re next witch!” Zoro scowled underneath her palm, before slapping it away with his own hand… or paw to be exact.

“I think we look awesome!” Luffy shouted excitedly. “Chopper and I really got lots of candies and goodies!” He showed them the pumpkin pails he was holding, overflowing with different treats.

“Yes!” Chopper’s eyes are brimming with delight. “And Zoro gave us his share as well!!!” He also showed them his goodies.

“Don’t need ‘em,” Zoro muttered curtly, still trying to swat Nami’s hand away.

“Oh?” Sanji leaned down to inspect their pails. “Looks like the tiger’s kind of a softie.”

Now that had Zoro roaring and lunging at the blond. “Come here shit cook!”

Nami thwarted his effort with a hand on his chest and the other scratching one fluffy ear of the costume’s hoodie.

“There, there tiger,” she cooed. “Calm down.”

“Stop it witch!” He glowered at her. But it turned to a smirk when Sanji whined a ‘Nami-san, pet me too!’.

“Aho…” he drawled and it was Sanji’s turn to get riled up.

“GET AWAY FROM NAMI-SAN YOU DUMBASS!!!”

Robin came out of the aquarium bar and approached the group. She had heard the commotion but refrained from leaving her location. She was engrossed with the book that she was reading and had used her hana hana no mi to find out what’s going on.

“Ara…” she said gaining everyone’s attention. “Did you three have fun?”

“Robin-chwaan!” Sanji was immediately distracted by his other female crewmate. “I hope we didn’t disturb you my lady.” He was instantly suave and gentlemanly and was kneeling down on knee, holding the older woman’s hand in his.

“Not at all,” she smiled. “How was your trip in the town?” She directed the question to the three costumed Mugiwaras. Not once did her calm, composed demeanor break… even at the sight of their intimidating swordsman donning on an animal jumpsuit.

“It was so much fun!” Chopper gushed showing her the pumpkin pails. “Look at all the candy I got Robin!”

“Me too! Me too!” Luffy flaunted his as well.

“Looks like it was an amazing trip then,” Robin smiled.

Luffy nodded. “Yep it was awesome! They have something going on there where. You knock on doors and say trick or treat!”

“Then they will give you candies! Lots and lots of candies!” Chopper explained giddily.

“But you have to be in a costume first! And Zoro said we can’t go knocking on houses dressed in the usual!” The rubberman added.

Behind them Zoro was rolling his eyes in exasperation.

“Pretty good call,” Brook suddenly appeared and sauntered towards them with a tea cup in hand, nodding at Zoro. “We are in a civilian territory and some might recognize your faces from the posters Luffy-san.”

“I’m surprised you don’t find this funny.” Usopp pointed at the three, raising an eyebrow at the skeleton.

“Ah I did… I already laughed my eyes out before I went here, yohohohoh! Even if I—”

“—don’t have eyes to see.” Usopp deadpanned with a dismissive wave of his hand. “Yeah, yeah.”

“That is not very nice Usopp-san!” Brook retorted when his skull joke was foiled.

“Hmmm…” Nami suddenly hummed. “I see… since Zoro is the delegated baby-sitter of you two for the night…hence the costume.” She smiled cheekily at him before scratching his tiger ear again and he gave her a sharp look.

Luffy nodded. “You said he should come with us! And I’m not gonna go back here empty-handed. Everyone is giving away treats and candies in town!” Then he frowned. “But there’s no meat though…”

Robin laughed softly. “Well, the island’s tradition is to give out sweets to those who are trick or treating. That’s why there are no meats or other foods.”

“Or beer.” Zoro complained as Nami flicked Zoro’s nose playfully.

He glared angrily at her.

“So who picked the animal costumes?” The navigator asked, curious why Zoro ended up looking like this.

“Us!!!” Luffy and Chopper raised their hands.

“I wanted to be the monkey!��� Luffy pumped his hands into the air. “Because…”

“Monkey D. Luffy?” Sanji cut in, blowing a stream of smoke nonchalantly.

“Right!”

“Figures.”

“And Chopper-san’s supposed to be a…?” Brook queried.

“Tanuki,” Zoro answered, his lone grey eye still looking daggers on Nami.

“Isn’t that a bit redundant?” Usopp raised an eyebrow at Chopper.

“It’s not a raccoon-dog! It’s a raccoon Zoro!” The doctor corrected him.

“Right. Sorry.”

“So you’re a….” the sniper prompted. He still cannot make up his mind between raccoon, raccoon-dog or a reindeer in a reindeer costume.

“Raccoon! This costume is a raccoon!”

“Honestly, I’m confused,” the sharpshooter admitted, blinking at the others doubtfully.

“Usopp you asshole!” Chopper screamed in indignation.

“Hahaha! Just kidding,” Usopp backtracked. “Of course the great god Usopp knows what you are already!”

“Which is?” Nami queried, looking at him unconvincingly.

Usopp coughed and ignored her. “And how did Zoro ended up as a tiger?”

“It was the only available one,” the swordsman grunted.

“Why didn’t you just covered him with anything green and let him come as his marimo self?” Sanji inquired, that shit-eating grin he has on his face never waning.

“I will kill you aho cook.”

“Oh!” Sanji trembled mockingly. “Whatcha gonna do hit me with your paw?”

They were about to lunge at each other when Nami raised both of her hands to stop them.

“That is enough!” Nami then stood on tiptoes and reached out to pinched ears of the tiger costume. “Let’s all just agree that as much as it is funny, they look absolutely cute.

Sanji looked shocked and whimpered, “Nami-san!”

“I am not cute woman! Get off!” Zoro groused as he tried to pull Nami’s hands away. It required some effort to be honest as the jumpsuit he was wearing ended up with paws for the hands.

Robin let out a soft giggle. “For what it’s worth… I honestly think it is cute Zoro.” She offered her two cent’s worth, her smile ever polite. “And sweet,” she added as well as her gaze hovered over Chopper and Luffy affectionately, knowing that the swordsman did it for the two.

“It is,” Nami agreed, breaking into a grin. “Especially that drawn nose and whiskers.” She tapped Zoro’s nose and it had him growling at her. This time she laughed… out loud. He’s kinda getting into that tiger persona quite effortlessly.

Though she maybe laughing at green-haired man’s expense yet that doesn’t mean she didn’t find his current look… enticing. And yes, cute.

Absolutely cute.

She could just eat him right here. Right now.

Zoro snorted even as his face turned red at their comments. Chopper then explained that the store owner where they got the costumes from had offered to draw on Luffy and Zoro’s faces.

“It is cute, ne Robin?” Luffy aimed the question at the older woman, smiling brightly.

Robin’s eyes crinkled as she smiled. “It is senchou.”  

“Hey! Why don’t we all go and trick or treat some more?” Luffy suggested. “I’m pretty sure there are houses we still haven’t visited…”

“Yes!” Chopper pumped his hooves up in the air. “More candies!”

“Sanji you should go with us as well! We’ll find you a costume like what we have!” Luffy grabbed the cook’s hands much to his chagrin.

“What? NO!”

“Good maybe there’s an ero-kappa costume where we got this. That’ll suit him.” Zoro suggested, smirking at the thought that the stupid chef will end up in a stupid costume just like him.

If it wasn’t for Luffy and Chopper… this would not have taken place. Damn it!

“You asshole!” Sanji shouted as the same notion dawned into him.

“I’m done.” Zoro then announced with a huff. “It’s your turn to babysit them now. I’m gonna go nap. Chopper, you can drag Usopp as well this time for another round of trick or treating.”

“Alright.” The reindeer beamed at him. “Zoro thank you for tonight!”

That pulled the corner of the grumpy tiger’s lips up before he headed towards the sleeping quarters.

“Not another word witch.” He muttered as he passed by a still grinning Nami.

“I didn’t say anything,” Nami retorted as she watched him head towards the men’s room.

“So,” Robin caught everyone’s attention at that. “Shall we head back to town, get some costumes and enjoy some trick or treating ourselves?”

A chorus of yes answered her.

-------------------------

A soft knock on the door woke Zoro up.

He opened his eye at the sound. The men’s quarter was dark and the ship silent. 

The others are still probably trick or treating in the island.

Sitting up he realized that must’ve fallen asleep on the sofa in the middle of the room instead of his bunk bed.

Another knock sounded. And he sleepily stood up, groaning when he realized he still hadn’t gotten out of the stupid tiger costume he was wearing.

Running a paw over his head (in an attempt to run his fingers through his hair) he approached the door and opened it.

He was met with a Cheshire cat-like smile on a cat burglar’s face—who was wearing a sexy, black cat costume.

A far cry from the conservative jumpsuit he and the others had on.

She was clad in a one piece black suit so tight it was hugging her curves. The front was zip only halfway up, displaying her ample cleavage. Black stockings and heels made up the lower part of her attire and cute cat ears headband completed her feline ensemble.

Trust Nami to find some way to don a costume that’ll flaunt all her generous assets.

"Trick or treat?"

She inquired as she smirked at him.

"Tch!"

And she chortled as his reaction, plus at the fact that he still hadn’t taken his tiger costume off. She took a step inside, her black high heels made a clicking sound against the wooden floor, the tail of her one piece suit swaying at her movement in time with her orange curls.

"So trick or treat?" She repeated when Zoro didn’t make another sound and instead was scrutinizing her up and down.

Zoro snorted as he followed her. Her hand reached out and grabbed the front of his jumpsuit, pulling him closer to her. Licking her thumb, she reached out to try to erase the drawn tiger’s nose on his own, as well as the whiskers on his face.

“None,” he finally answered as she rubbed her finger on his face.

Nami laughed. What a grouch. She stood on tiptoes and kissed his cheek. His arms automatically encircled her waist.

“Wrong answer,” she whispered cattily.

“I don’t have any treats here. Luffy and Chopper has them.”

“Wrong again,” she kissed him on the jaw, tugging back the hood of his costume so she can ran her fingers through his hair.

His lips quirked up as she placed light, nipping kisses on his lips… her teasing smile never leaving her face.

She tugged at the front zipper of his costume down and watched fascinated as the toned muscles underneath it were slowly exposed. 

"See Zoro…” she said, savoring the sight before as her eyes and hands trailed down his body. She pushed the garment off his shoulders. “Here’s my treat." She declared licking her lips naughtily.

[transxfiles]

I originally followed you for Lumberjanes and because you felt like a friend, but after seeing so much about Star Trek...I’m curious. What’s the premise and where can I watch it? (Explain it to me like you’d explain it to a child, I don’t watch live action TV)

I want to start out by saying that this ask is so sweet and it made my day, so thank you so much :D 

Star Trek is a bit hard to explain in a sense simply because there’s so much of it. I’m gonna stick to what I know (and what I post about) which is The Original Series (other people will abbreviate it to TOS, I abbreviate it to STOS bc I think of it as ‘Star Trek Original Series’) which came out in the 1960s, and I'll briefly explain Star Trek: The Next Generation (ST: TNG or just TNG), Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (DS9), and Star Trek: Discovery (often simply referred to as Discovery, ST Disco, Disco, etc.) bc I post a bit abt them too, though not as much.

The Original Series is what I mainly watch. It’s about a crew of people from all over Earth (and some other planets, but mostly from Earth) who are traveling in a spaceship called the Enterprise. They’re supposed to be finding new worlds and species, but really they just fuck around and find out. Most of the time they don’t even follow basic lab safety, which gets them into many shenanigans that will have you yelling at the television abt how stupid they are. 

This is Captain Kirk. He’s a Human from Riverside, Iowa and his job on the ship is basically to be dumb and pretty. In a good way. He comes up with some good plans and some bad plans, but no matter what he’ll pretty much always divert an entire mission to save his First Officer, Spock. He’s a romantic who likes flowers and antique books, and doesn’t know what black holes are. 

This is Spock! He’s in charge of Science with a capital S (we don’t really know specifics, but he’s really smart...) and he’s Captain Kirk’s first officer. He’s the only main character who’s an alien - he’s half-Human, half-Vulcan, and was raised on Vulcan by his Vulcan father and Human mother. Vulcans are a species who, unlike Humans, follow a strict philosophy of logic, which means that Spock often appears emotionless and unfeeling to his Human coworkers. Every seven years after hitting puberty, he goes into a mating frenzy when this logic leaves him and he has to have sex or he’ll die. He really likes playing chess, hanging out with Captain Kirk, and the word ‘fascinating’. He does not like McCoy, which is reasonable, because McCoy is basically space racist.

This is McCoy, sometimes referred to by the nickname Bones. He’s the Chief Medical Officer of the ship, an old country doctor from Georgia, and it’s implied that he’s working in space because of his divorce back on Earth. He spends a lot of time with the main crew which will make you question who’s actually on ship taking care of the Medbay. He likes hyposprays (super fast space shots that work like a charm) and drinking hard liquor on the job. He’s an old friend of the Captain. He’s incredibly xenophobic; he does not get along with Spock, and often refers to Spock using words that in-universe are essentially slurs against Vulcans. 

These two guys are Sulu (on the left) and Chekov (on the right). They navigate the spaceship. Sulu likes fencing, botany, and messing with Chekov. He’s friends with everyone on the ship. At one point Space Madness causes Sulu to run through the ship with a fencing foil shirtless and cackling. Chekov’s Russian and won’t shut up about it. He claims that everything was invented in Russia, including but not limited to the book Alice In Wonderland and the invention of the Warp Drive. One of his best lines is “Oh yes, I’ll live, but I won’t enjoy it.” 

In this photo, we see Uhura (on the left) and Scotty (on the right). Uhura’s in charge the ship’s Communications Officer and is a xenolinguist, which means she’s a master of pretty much all known alien languages. She likes big earrings and has a beautiful singing voice. Scotty (on the right) is the ship’s Chief Engineer, who fixes all the problems when Kirk or aliens break the ship. He’s Scottish and you won’t ever forget it. He and Bones are probably drinking buddies.

This is Nurse Chapel. She runs the Medbay when Bones is dancing around on the Bridge or various alien planets. She’s pretty chill and has a little crush on Spock that sometimes causes problems. She and Uhura hang out sometimes.

And finally, this is Yeoman Rand. She and Sulu hang out sometimes. She also vibes with Uhura. I’m not really sure what her exact job is - she delivers food to people sometimes, but she also eats it when no one’s looking. She has the wackiest hairdo on the show. I love her so much.

As far as plot goes, in The Original Series, there isn’t any. They run around on alien planets and sometimes little paper mâché rocks are thrown at them from offscreen. Sometimes they fight Klingons, which are their main enemy (though that doesn’t happen a lot). Sometimes they end up on a planet that’s entirely composed of gangsters from the 1930s and 1940s, sometimes they end up on a planet that’s actually run by the Greek god Apollo, sometimes they end up on a planet but all the people on it are being eaten by space ravioli, sometimes they end up on a planet and a space ghost is killing people to eat their fear, etc. 

You can watch The Original Series on Netflix, and you can generally find copies of it in various Google Drive folders or on video sharing sites like YouTube and Vimeo. There are also six movies: The Motion Picture, The Wrath Of Khan, The Search For Spock, The Voyage Home, The Final Frontier, and The Undiscovered Country. But really you can stop watching after The Voyage Home if you want.

Star Trek: The Next Generation is basically the first series but with more plot, and we have some more aliens plus an android in the mix. Also the characters aren’t nearly as stupid as they are in The Original Series, which makes for less yelling at the screen. (You can watch this on Netflix)

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine focuses on a group of people who work on a space station instead of a spaceship. There are some humans in the mix, but this crew also has a bunch of aliens. There is a bunch of plot, and religion, and the aftermath of war and colonialism. (You can watch this on Netflix)

Star Trek: Discovery has the most plot, and follows Spock’s adopted sister, Michael Burnham, after she accidentally starts the war between the Klingon Empire and the Federation. She ends up serving on a spaceship called the Discovery, where she starts working to discover the secrets of the ship and those who work on it. (You can watch this on CBS’s streaming service but it’s not worth it to get a streaming service just so you can watch one show so I recommend just buying the DVDs on sale at like, Target, if you really wanna see it).

Sorry this ended up being kinda long, I hope this is helpful! The main takeaway is that The Original Series is mostly just a bunch of science fiction short stories in TV episode format. 

[dalekofchaos]

Ways they could’ve handled General Hux in the Last Jedi  and what they did instead

My other Sequel trilogy wasted potential posts

Rey

Finn

Poe

Rose

Luke

Han

Leia

Kylo Ren

Captain Phasma

Snoke

List of ways they could’ve handled Hux in TLJ  

Have it featured in the crawl that Hux has been responsible for masterminding the invasions of New Republic worlds after the destruction of the Hoznian Prime. The First Order Reigns Supreme because of Hux

Keep Hux as he was in TFA. a competent military leader that came up with plans and made necessary risks in order to destroy The Resistance, talked back to Kylo Ren and didn’t fear him or his power and Hux has the populations of 5 planets to his body count.

Keep the foil dynamic between Hux and Kylo Ren. Kylo being intimidating and Hux having none of it with no sign of fear. Give it a clear sign that both Kylo Ren and Hux want to become the Supreme Leader and both are willing to kill Snoke and the other to do so.

Keep Hux composed and in control not falling for Poe’s attempts at humor and ordering the fighters to be scrambled to annihilate Poe and his squadron  and cuts them off from the main fleet, establishing that Poe is clearly outnumbered. Just as the evacuation is complete, the dreadnought cannons are working again and aiming at the Raddus. Just as it’s about to fire, Paige launches the bombers. The Dreadnought is destroyed but Hux is presented as a cold, ruthless and calculating general. Hux gets punished and nearly killed by Snoke for that but can insure that they can follow the resistance cruiser.

The Supremacy boards the Raddus.

Before this happens, a confrontation between Hux and Kylo happens. Hux just wants to swarm The Raddus with Tie Fighters fire it enough to destroy their shields and finally destroy The Resistance once and for all. but Ren stops him. He has to face his mother and kill his mother. Hux says his training is ridiculous and stands in the way of a quick victory. But Ren states that when they blow up the Raddus now, every one of them will die a martyr spreading the resistance lies further but if they can puplicly execute them, there won’t be another resistance. When Leia is captured, Hux is overjoyed that General Organa will be granted a quick and public execution and execute hope itself. 

Instead of slapping Finn it would have been way better if Hux had wanted to turn Finn back into a Stormtrooper since you know the Stormtrooper program was designed by Hux and his father and he took it as a personal insult that Finn deserted. But Finn would inspire the Stormtroopers who captured him to rebel. And then the fight between Finn and Phasma happens.

Show that Hux absolutely has no chill or fear in the face of Kylo Ren. He gets force choked but Hux is able to fire his blaster at Ren in order to free himself. The general refuses to submit. Hux threatens Kylo that if he were to die, then Kylo will never make it off of the ship alive. They will either work together or both die. Kylo releases the general and says from here on out the First Order will focus on their true mission. Kylo declares Hux as the Grand Marshal of the First Order.

What they chose to do with Hux instead

Hux is made into a joke. General Hux, the man who caused the destruction of the Hosnian system and is shown to be a younger angrier version of Tarkin in TFA, is shown to be an incompetent bumbling fool and Captain Canady is the only intelligent officer in The First Order. He does not deploy the Tie Fighters, order the fleet to move in when The Resistance are evacuating D'Qar and vulnerable, instead orders the Dreadnought to move in, and instead of ordering the Dreadnought with it’s devastating canon to fire on the cruiser thus giving the transports nowhere to go, he orders an orbital bombardment to an almost empty planet. But does not fire because he sees Poe’s X-Wing When Poe arrives in his X-Wing, the only X-Wing in view. Hux does not order deploying the Tie Fighters or even ordering the Dreadnought to fire on Poe. They do absolutely NOTHING. How is Hux a general again? Did he just want to hear himself talk? The turrets are being destroyed by Poe and Hux tells Captain Canady to fire the Dreadnought, Canady responds it’s too small and too close of range to fire their turbolasers and orders the Tie Fighters to be scrambled which should have been done 5 minutes ago. Canady knows Poe is not aiming to penetrate their armor, he knows Poe is clearing out their surface cannons. Here we have it. The only intelligent officer in The First Order, everyone else including Hux are incompetent. How exactly is Hux a general again?

The Evacuation of D’Qar. Hux is goaded into allowing a Starfighter into point blank range with one of their fleet’s more valuable assets, he doesn’t launch a fighter screen to keep that fighter at bay, and when a real danger is detected, still does nothing. Captain Canady is left to launch his own fighters from Fulminatrix, and gets no support from Hux or the rest of the First Order fleet. Hux doesn’t launch support fighters, direct their batteries to put up defensive fire covering the dreadnought, nothing, no he’s too busy massaging his bruised ego because some flyboy put him on tilt with what amounts to a practical joke, and an 8km long warship pays the price for their incompetence. Now onto said Dreadnought. They have this weapon that is capable of dealing planetary bombardment and chooses to fire on a nearly abandoned planet instead of targeting the Resistance ship that is used to carry The Resistance fleet. Destroy The Raddus and you can easily pick a part The Resistance easily. Instead of doing the most intelligent thing, they chose to do the stupid thing.  

The lowsped chase. Now onto the chase, or as I like to call it “the dumbest bit of military nonsense since the Emu war.” You have the First Order Fleet chasing the Resistance flotilla, supposedly the Resistance fleet is “faster” but they aren’t opening the gap between them and the First Order because… it would burn more fuel (because inertia isn’t a thing in Star Wars Space)? So they stay just at the extreme range of the First Order’s guns, and the Raddus has to be on the receiving end of a potshot every once in a while. Meanwhile said Resistance ships are flying in a straight line, direct away from the First Order fleet, so why not just set course past them and Hyperspace in front of them and catch them in the middle? Are interdictors at play here? Are they content to just think the fleet will run out of fuel and they can just catch them? It bothers me to understand that the heroes are only alive because of the gross incompetence of the First Order, because it doesn’t speak well to the capabilities of the heroes.

Hux is a ragdoll for dark side users apparently. Hux is slapped around with the force by Snoke, okay understandable, it’s for failure. Vader did the same. But god it is done in almost every scene by Snoke and Kylo. 

Hux stupidly tells Kylo Ren to pull back. When the Silencer pretty much destroyed all the X-Wing fighters, and The Resistance command is jettisoned in space, Hux just orders Kylo back. They have the opportunity to end The Resistance, just calls him back, a scene later Hux complains he let them go. Sure they can still track them, but the fact that they let them goes shows that Hux is a fool. 

The only time Hux is allowed to be villainous in the movie is when he is prepared to take out his blaster and kill Kylo Ren. Everything else he is either an idiot or someone’s toy to be slapped around. And you expect me and the general audience to believe Hux is going to be the villain in Episode IX?      

Rian Johnson wanted to make him a non-threatening character. Hux has the body count of the populations of an entire solar system. Hux is pretty much responsible for destroying The New Republic. How does this spell comic relief and bumbling fool to you?

So now the Resistance is stuck on Crait, the First Order knows they are there, we know implicitly that the First Order has more than one dreadnought in their fleet, we also know the Resistance is fresh out of bombers. Maybe instead of calling for a costly ground invasion just call in another dreadnought and finish the job once and for all. This isn’t next level thinking, this isn’t superior tactics. This is using a rock to smash a bug levels of thinking. But they don’t, they land a ground invasion bigger than Hoth and bring a mini Death Star with them. Note again, that while Hoth was defended by more men with better equipment, Crait is defended by a quarter as many with rusting, dilapidated equipment… but it was enough to keep the Order stalled for Luke Skywalker to video-conference in.

[trinuviel]

Why is it so significant the parallel between Queen Alysanne and Sansa?

The parallels between Queen Alysanne and Sansa Stark are significant because they may foreshadow Sansa eventually becoming Queen - and if that is so, it also hints what kind of Queen Sansa would be since Alysanne was called Good Queen Alysanne. The possibility of Sansa becoming a good queen is also highlighted in her narrative journey as she learns from her experiences at court.

Queen ship has been a continual theme in Sansa’s narrative arc, evolving in step with how her character develops - and this theme is there for a reason, especially AFTER her betrothal to Joffrey was broken.

In the first book, Sansa’s notion of queenship was a very naive one - the Disney princess dream, so to speak, of pretty dresses, having babies and living happily ever after in a world where everyone is courteous and nice.

That night Sansa dreamt of Joffrey on the throne, with herself seated beside him in a gown of woven gold. She had a crown on her head, and everyone she had ever known came before her, to bend the knee and say their courtesies. (AGoT, Sansa IV)

Later she sees it as a way to save those she loves and to protect herself:

Joffrey was the king now, she thought. Her gallant prince would never hurt her father, no matter what he might have done. If she went to him and pleaded for mercy, she was certain he’d listen. He had to listen, he loved her, even the queen said so. Joff would need to punish Father, the lords would expect it, but perhaps he could send him back to Winterfell, or exile him to one of the Free Cities across the narrow sea. It would only have to be for a few years. By then she and Joffrey would be married. Once she was queen, she could persuade Joff to bring Father back and grant him a pardon. (AGoT, Sansa IV)

He did not hate her, Sansa realized; neither did he love her. He felt nothing for her at all. She was only a … a thing to him. “No,” she said, rising. She wanted to rage, to hurt him as he’d hurt her, to warn him that when she was queen she would have him exiled if he ever dared strike her again …(AGoT, Sansa IV)

In the second book, she is subjected to Cersei’s toxic “wisdom” about how a Queen should act:

“The night’s first traitors,” the queen said, “but not the last, I fear. Have Ser Ilyn see to them, and put their heads on pikes outside the stables as a warning.” As they left, she turned to Sansa. “Another lesson you should learn, if you hope to sit beside my son. Be gentle on a night like this and you’ll have treasons popping up all about you like mushrooms after a hard rain. The only way to keep your people loyal is to make certain they fear you more than they do the enemy.”

“I will remember, Your Grace,” said Sansa, though she had always heard that love was a surer route to the people’s loyalty than fear. If I am ever a queen, I’ll make them love me. (ACoK, Sansa VI)

Here we see Sansa learn how NOT to be a Queen as she inwardly rejects Cersei’s toxic worldview. Not only does Sansa reject Cersei’s attitude, she also steps up and does Cersei’s job of calming the women when Cersei herself abdicates her queenly responsibilities as she leaves Maegor’s Holdfast during the Battle of the Blackwater.

Sansa is set aside as Joffrey’s betrothed at the end of book 2 and one would think that the theme of queenship would come to an end in her arc. However, it still pops up in the story, fx when Tyrion observes that Sansa has the abilities to have been a good Queen:

She is good at this, he thought, as he watched her tell Lord Gyles that his cough was sounding better, compliment Elinor Tyrell on her gown, and question Jalabhar Xho about wedding customs in the Summer Isles. His cousin Ser Lancel had been brought down by Ser Kevan, the first time he’d left his sickbed since the battle. He looks ghastly. Lancel’s hair had turned white and brittle, and he was thin as a stick. Without his father beside him holding him up, he would surely have collapsed. Yet when Sansa praised his valor and said how good it was to see him getting strong again, both Lancel and Ser Kevan beamed. She would have made Joffrey a good queen and a better wife if he’d had the sense to love her. (ASoS, Tyrion VIII)

The theme of queenship in relation to Sansa is even raised indirectly in the fourth book when she has been taken to the Vale by Petyr Baelish:

"You would not believe half of what is happening in King’s Landing, sweetling. Cersei stumbles from one idiocy to the next, helped along by her council of the deaf, the dim, and the blind. I always anticipated that she would beggar the realm and destroy herself, but I never expected she would do it quite so fast. It is quite vexing. I had hoped to have four or five quiet years to plant some seeds and allow some fruits to ripen, but now … it is a good thing that I thrive on chaos. What little peace and order the five kings left us will not long survive the three queens, I fear.”

“Three queens?” She did not understand.

Nor did Petyr choose to explain.(AFfC, Alayne II)

Baelish never explains his cryptic remark and fans have theorized a lot about who the three queens that Baelish refers to are. Cersei is certainly one of them but few people consider Sansa as a candidate as one of those queens. However, it is important to consider the context for this remark of his. We learn that Baelish’s plans for Sansa include a marriage between her and Harry the Heir as a means to use the Knights of the Vale to retake the North. That would put both Sansa and him in open rebellion to the Iron Throne - and it very likely that he plans to set up Sansa as Queen in the North as a step for him to realize his ambitions of power, which very likely would be him taking the Iron Throne for himself - as in the show.

The show also subtly hints at Sansa as Queen in various ways. Fx in season 3, a very subtle hint that may be foreshadowing is introduced in the very first episode - after Sansa has been set aside - when Ros tells Shae this:

This is a particularly interesting detail because it invokes an age-old tradition of announcing royal births with both a series of gun salutes as well as specially composed bell peals. It is a tradition that is still in use in the United Kingdom where the birth of Prince George in 2013 was celebrated with a special bell peal that lasted 3 hours! (x).  

Thus, Sansa’s birth was celebrated as if she were a royal princess, which is a curious detail since the Starks have not been Kings in the North for several centuries.

This is a detail that was invented for the show - and I cannot help but wonder if this apparently innocuous detail might be a piece of cleverly hidden foreshadowing of Sansa’s eventual fate. She may end up becoming Queen, which isn’t a far-fetched idea since queenship is a theme the runs through her narrative arc in the books - even after she’s no longer betrothed to Joffrey. Sansa is, in many respects, a foil to Cersei and it is through Cersei that she learns how NOT to be a Queen! Neither should we forget that in the moment of crisis during the Battle of Blackwater, it was Sansa who stepped up and performed Cersei’s role when the latter abandoned her duties. (x)

Furthermore, in season 7, the show subtly compares and contrasts Cersei, Daenerys and Sansa as rulers - even though Sansa is not a queen. This is done both through the similarities in their costuming but also through a direct comparison of their actions. Cersei’s forces seizes the food of the Reach in order to feed her allies and Daenerys burns all of these very important resources even though she cannot feed her armies. In contrast, we see Sansa collecting the foodstuffs of the North at Winterfell in order to feed both her people but also any refuges that might seek shelter there. However, she also expressly states that if there’s any surplus food (or if they don’t need it), then it is to be returned to the people who delivered it. Thus, we see Cersei stealing food to prop up her own rule, we see Daenerys destroy food even though she needs it - and in contrast we see Sansa securing food through voluntary donations and planning for it to be returned if it turns out that they won’t need it.

So even though Sansa is not technically a Queen (and we actually see her refuse the Crown of the North when it is indirectly offered), she acts like one - and she’s the one who is shown as a better leader that the two rival Queens in the South.

Thank you for the ask and sorry about the late answer.

[verycharismaticdragon]

Here's a challenge: ghetsis for the character thingie (if you don't want to I don't blame you)

favorite thing about them

He's a very effective villain.

least favorite thing about them

Too effective in fact, I literally can't even think about shit he said to N without going into pre-panic state. Although I guess (hope) that's not a lot of other people's experience.

Other than that uh everything?

favorite line

Again, in the 'effective villain' way:

"I'm doing this out of kindness. Yes, kindness. I'm making sure the Champion doesn't get hurt for no reason. Granted, the moment when someone loses all hope... I really do love to watch that moment."

Basically this is the first time he shows his real colors not by accident, but because he believes he won and he wants to fucking gloat.

brOTP

I'm 100% sure Ghetsis doesn't think of anyone as his equal, so I don't think there could be such thing as a brotp with him.

OTP

OTP is a strong word but from what I heard/read... Rainbow Rocket Giovanni/Ghetsis makes sense. Like, "belong in the same garbage can" sense.

nOTP

I would like to take this moment to say, from the bottom of my heart, fuck people who ship protag/Ghetsis.

random headcanon

He's not in any way related to Harmonia line. He had tried to awaken the legendary dragon himself but failed, and was sure that not actually being a Harmonia was the reason. And that's why he hates BW protag so much: they didn't just foil his plans, they proved that someone could do what he could not, despite being, in his mind, a nobody from the middle of nowhere.

unpopular opinion

Saw quite a few times people comparing him to Lusamine (specifically in 'abusive parent' way) and saying that next to her he was "cartoonish" in his villainy but like... yes nobody's abusive dad is trying to steal magical creatures from people so he is the only one that can use them, but nobody's abusive mom is trying to open a portal to the dimension full of dangerous creatures either. Take away those fantastical elements and both of them are quite realistic as abusive parents, and just because you experiences line up with one and not the other, doesn't mean the opposite isn’t true for someone else. Just like... be mindful, yeah?

song i associate with them

it took me half an hour to find because I couldn't remember anything about the song except the general feel of dread but: Counting Bodies Like Sheep to the Rhythm of the War Drums (Hecteli Remix) - A Perfect Circle

favorite picture of them

Favorite is a strong word but I like this one, because up to this moment (with his walking sprite) he seems composed, confident even, and then in this one you can see he’s losing it, and that effect is reached simply by putting his hand up, so like. Visual storytelling!

[game-meak]

A Proper Postmortem

Maybe?!  Heck if I know how to actually format a good post but let’s try.  As game development went on for almost four years, this is probably gonna be long... and also give away basically the whole game oops!  Read on with caution.

Sometime around July 2014, a month after the initial release of my first game, my room was being remodeled and I was stuck with nothing for free time but a garbage laptop I could do anything on, an old flip phone, my sketchbook, and my 3DS.  So beyond playing an obscene amount of Animal Crossing and Tomodachi Life, I at some point went “hey, what if I made a second game starring the kids.”  So I started trying to plan it out!  And it went

absolutely nowhere that I intended it to go!!!

For instance, this is the very first page of sketches.  This squirrel was supposed to be really important.  It’s not.  I don’t even KNOW what’s up with that duck.

A thing I like to think about before I set off making any of the story, assets, or scripts for my games tend to be themes and motifs.  And I kept circling back to a very important, very personal “theme.”  Without using the internet at large as my therapy couch, I was emotionally abused and taken advantage of multiple times in my life and it greatly impacts how I interact with people to this very day, as you’d expect events of such a degree would.  Particularly, I kept thinking that the RPG Maker fan crowd tends to skew young and be in the teenage range and at ages 14-16, I could’ve used something to help.

Of course, my entire thought process isn’t necessarily one of charity and selflessness.  It was also a way of me expressing what I’d dealt with in ways I’ve only ever communicated with my friends who were also victims of the same circumstances, the closest I would let myself come to personal stories and retellings with a cover of plastic children and wild adventures.  It was also in some ways a way of me verifying to myself that something ongoing was, in fact, bananas and should not have been happening, but that might be another story for another time.

As you can probably guess, Haze and Seal came into the picture since I needed to make two characters who would have this struggle.  A lot of decisions came about because of my personal experience.  They’re 15/16 because I was at the time of the incidents that primarily inspired me to make this game.  They’re both nonbinary because I am.  They love anime because I did (and do...?!)  One of their friends is even directly modeled off how one of my friends looked in high school.  To that degree, I guess someone, somewhere can call them self inserts.  But they’re also not, since I didn’t want to just do a personal retelling with fictional characters.  I’d just write a memoir or something at that point.

Haze’s design came first, and then Seal’s was sort of made as a foil to them.  Haze’s “colors” are pink, black, grey, and red.  Seal’s are teal and light purple... and also black.  Haze had a rabbit motif (which got toned down as I went on), Seal had an owl motif (which is now just a single mention in their list of likes...), etc.

Though in the beginning, the story was entirely different.  Initially, everything took place in the neon-ish areas with black sky and reflective, celestial water (that I, very eloquently, call “spacewater”).  The idea was that Haze and Seal were beings from another dimension and that their “fighting” was causing a rip in the universe that the kids stumbled into and therefore got wrapped up in this mess.  I had an entire script written and started making assets and when I went to sum up the game’s plot in a neat paragraph, I realized... I hated it!!!

So I chucked all I had done by that point writing-wise and started again.

In fact, I rewrote a lot.  After the first it was mostly small tweaks and adjustments, but the biggest ones (and the ones that still present a challenge to me!) usually involved trying to make Seal feel like a believable character.  I had shown an early draft to someone who said that Seal felt too much like trying to get back at someone, so I scrapped a ton of their lines and tried again.  I still worry whether or not they come across too Strawman-y, but I’ve done the best I can and whatever criticism people have can apply to my next writing attempts.  It’s very hard to separate yourself from subject matter you feel really personally attached to.  I don’t want to write them in a way that you immediately hate them, or hate me for writing such a blatant “villain” character, but in a way that you can formulate your own thoughts.  That said, though, I am violently allergic to people who call Seal a “tsundere,” even in jest.  So I guess I want people to have their own thoughts as long as it’s not that specific one...! (;;;;)

You may be thinking “heck, this is a lot of paragraphs in and you haven’t even brought up gameplay thoughts” and yes... that’s very true.  Shamefully, for a game where I thought “I should definitely, absolutely focus more on making it a Fun Game than a walking visual novel” I might’ve actually dropped the ball in that area.  I’d like to think I was more adventurous than I had been with my first game.  Some parts do kind of fall into the “walk to the next cutscene, find a key to unlock the next cutscene” pit, but I did put effort into figuring out what I could do with RMXP.  My obligatory “please don’t use this engine here, people thinking of using RPG Maker” statements here.  In the final product, though they’re very simple, I’m most proud of the chalkboard puzzle and the paint sorting puzzle.

Even if, y’know... I somehow neglected to include the letter “k”

Speaking of, I’m not sure if this is a general RPG Maker thing, a “man I hate RMXP” thing, or a “meaka cannot gamemake” thing, but I had several event/puzzles just up and quit on me a few times.  Like they would work fine for months and months, but one day I’d go to them and just nope, suddenly they’re not working, sorry.  Copy+pasting the event to a new map wouldn’t work, so I’d have to manually redo the event.  One of them was the chalkboard puzzle.  The other was the sliding puzzle when Tony is by herself.  Which I’m also aware slows the game down a ton, but I have legitimately no idea how to fix that... I tried and I could never get to to not lag like crazy.

Like I said, I started in July 2014.  I’d shipped the game off to my beta testers in March 2018.  A vast majority of that time was spent creating the visual assets since everything you see in the game is custom.  All the sprites, all the tilesets, every little pixel of it.  All me!  Needless to say... it was very exhausting and very time consuming. I grossly underestimated how much time I thought it’d take.  I never accounted for the very real possibility of burnout, which is incredibly silly considering I was making something entirely by myself that was also an occasionally difficult subject matter...!  There were quite a few weeks where I touched nothing because I couldn’t bring myself to and even a few times where I just considered deleting everything and cancelling the project.  I knew I’d be mad at myself if I quit, especially as I got later into production, so I just tried my best to make sure I didn’t turn it into a huge chore.  Obviously, there were parts that were more tedious than others, but this game really is a very large labor of love that I put a lot of my heart into.

Part of that time is also a little bit of indecision.  Did you know I went through 3 possible title screens?  I sure did!  I’ve also publicly posted about redoing both Haze and Seal’s bust sprites before.  I almost redid all of the kids’, too, but I didn’t wanna get caught in the loop of remaking everything, so I opted to just leave them as they are.  Most of them don’t bug me as much.  M...most of them!

I’m hopping back on the Story train since obviously that was my main focus, but the decision to have Seal sort of “reveal” their true nature (or at least have a jealousy-related anger burst) to Octavio as an animated cutscene was one I’d decided pretty early.  Which is also why, unsurprisingly, I was debating getting voice actors for a hot minute.  But I wouldn’t have used it anywhere else in the game, so I opted not to.  I also wanted to keep the file size low, but that wound up not happening so much, h-haha...   For someone who uses the only engine without native support for videos, I sure do like making animated cutscenes, huh.

Anyway.  This scene originally bridged Octavio’s section of the game to Pablo’s, which would’ve been (for some reason) in an abandoned hospital.  But that didn’t pan out because it didn’t fit what I wanted the game to be and also by switching the order of the two, it builds up more tension(?) on the kind of character you expect Seal to be.  I hope their very first “fuck off, maybe” took someone out there by surprise!

This also was the point when I decided I wanted to commission an original soundtrack, since nothing quite got across what I wanted at the time.  Which is when I put out my silly ad post and somehow managed to get the amazing ProjectTrinity to compose for me...!  I’m still amazed by the sheer quality of music he made for my little RPGMaker game.

Having the teen characters curse was also something I waffled on for a bit.  Clearly, I dwell on the important things as a writer.  I wanted it to contrast the cutesy, kidlike way the siblings talk and also the sort of squeaky-clean image the witches (particularly Seal) present to the kids by contrasting how they talk to each other, most importantly how Seal talks to Haze and their other friends.  I did have the same issue with the Mother in my first game, but I opted to not have her curse at all either since she’s childish in her own way, too.  But that’s not for THIS game’s postmortem, get otta here!!!

I also very much was set on a “battle” with words being the final event of the game.  Though I had a hard time imagining what that would be initially, but eventually arrived at a sort of fake battle system that was introduced in the mine.  The setting for this battle changed with time (everywhere from the park to the academy and in between) was considered...!  The dirty secret is that while I did like the decision to make it take place in the voids between worlds, I also sort of did not want to draw the staircase in the witch academy.  Originally, the kids would’ve also helped Haze “reach” Seal (who was putting actual obstacles in the way), but I guess in my own way, I wanted to give Haze the ability to confront Seal on their own, one-on-one.  Or something like that...!  I also didn’t want to add too much needless backtracking.

I’m... unsure what other point I really want to make, so I guess I’ll end this here unless anyone has anything in particular that interests them they’d want me to answer!

All in all, this game means a lot to me and took a chunk of my life to make and I really hope it’s able to reach at least one person who might need it, even if it’s only a little. 

To all of you who gave it a try, thank you, truly, from the bottom of my heart.

A shameless link to the game:  [itch.io] & [RMN]

[princess-in-a-tower]

Sansa’s “Beauty and the Beast” Arc, Part 1

GRRM has drawn inspiration for ASoIaF from various other works of fiction as well as historical events. The Lord of the Rings and the War of the Roses are two prominent examples. Not far behind those two big ones though is another story, which happens to be one of the author’s favorites: Beauty and the Beast.

Sidenote 1: For those of you who have not watched the following two versions of Beauty and the Beast, I suggest you at least read their summaries before continuing reading this meta.

 La Belle et la Bête (1946)

Beauty and the Beast (1991)

Beauty and the Beast is a fairytale that has heavily influenced Sansa’s arc. Many have commented on the Beauty and the Beast theme in Sansa’s arc before me, and yet no one to my knowledge actually took a step back to look at the bigger picture GRRM has painted. The picture which makes it clear that the outline of Sansa’s story, stripped to its bare bones, is following faithfully the one of Beauty in Cocteau’s Beauty and the Beast.

Sidenote 2: Even though GRRM holds Cocteau’s Beauty and the Beast in high esteem, I believe he is also critical of it to a degree and subverts the plot points he would like to “fix” (for whatever reason), while at the same time taking care to remain as faithful as possible to the original story. This of course is just my own observation while composing this meta, but GRRM’s own words support it, since he admitted:

Ruling is hard. This was maybe my answer to Tolkien, whom, as much as I admire him, I do quibble with. Lord of the Rings had a very medieval philosophy: that if the king was a good man, the land would prosper. We look at real history and it's not that simple.

George R.R. Martin: The Rolling Stone Interview, April 23, 2014

Sidenote 3: This meta series is in no way a shipping manifesto, but rather a critical in-depth analysis of the ASOIAF text in relation to Cocteau’s “Beauty and the Beast” adaptation. As a result it ended up being extremely critical of ships like Sansa x Sandor and Sansa x Tyrion , because they, in no way, parallel the dynamic between Beauty and the Beast, but rather juxtapose it, as will be demonstrated in the following parts of this meta series. If you like those ships and still decide to read on, please remember that you have been warned.

In the very beginning of her story in AGOT it would have been impossible to guess Sansa would become asoiaf’s most prominent “Beauty” figure, mainly due to the fact that GRRM went to great pains to present her like an “evil step-sister” to Arya’s “heroine”.

When we are introduced to Sansa in Arya’s first POV chapter, and even later in her own first POV chapter, on a surface level she comes off as bratty, spoilt, superficial and snobbish. In other words, she is presented to us in a way that makes her look similar to Beauty’s step-sisters:

Beauty lives in the country with her father, a 17th-century merchant who has lost all his money; her brother, Ludovic, whose only interests are drinking and gambling; and her two sisters, Felicie and Adelaide, who are motivated entirely by spite, selfishness and vanity.

La Belle et la Bête (Beauty and the Beast) script

Not only that, but it can be argued that Sansa was Ned’s least favorite daughter with Arya as his favorite (proof of that can be found in the following series of metas: Ned, Sansa and Joffrey Part I, Part II, Part III) and it’s not a secret that Sansa looked forward to leaving her father and his protection for that of her husband’s. All of that links Sansa to Felicie and Adelaide and Arya to Beauty, as you can see in the following quotes:

BEAUTY: That wasn't the first time [Avenant has] asked me to marry him since we lost all our money.

THE MERCHANT (to Beauty): So you want to leave me.

BEAUTY: No, father, I'll never leave you.

[…]

THE MERCHANT: They're real little devils, aren’t they? Let them sulk; I'll soon console them. Tomorrow morning I'll go to the port to see to my business. Then one can marry a duke and the other a prince!

La Belle et la Bête (Beauty and the Beast) script

Another interesting scene is when Sansa wishes to join the queen in the royal wheelhouse, and Arya chooses to get her hands dirty instead:

"You better put on something pretty," Sansa told her. "Septa Mordane said so. We're traveling in the queen's wheelhouse with Princess Myrcella today."

"I'm not," Arya said, trying to brush a tangle out of Nymeria's matted grey fur. "Mycah and I are going to ride upstream and look for rubies at the ford."

A Game of Thrones - Sansa I

This echoes how Adelaide and Felicie wanted to attend the concert at the duchess’ court in the beginning of the film, while Beauty stays back and does chores around the house.

FELICIE(shouting): Beauty, you can wash the floor. We'll be late for the duchess.

La Belle et la Bête (Beauty and the Beast) script

The parallel here is anything but perfect, considering Sansa genuinely wanted Arya to join her in the royal wheelhouse and repeatedly tried to convince her to do so, unlike Beauty’s sisters, who wanted her to be their servant. That is because, as I said above, GRRM made both Sansa and Arya a mix of Beauty and her two “evil” sisters.

What actually makes the above parallel interesting and layered is exactly this mixing. Once you consider that it was Beauty and Sansa who chose to stay back and do what was right/expected of them (which are two vastly different things for each girl because Beauty is a commoner and Sansa is a noble maiden), while Arya and Beauty’s sisters decided to run off and do something more or less selfish for their own pleasure (which again are two anti-diametrical things for the same reason as above).

To wrap up this parallel between Sansa and Beauty’s sister, we see that she never got to ride with the queen:

“Sansa, the good councilors and I must speak together until the king returns with your father. I fear we shall have to postpone your day with Myrcella. Please give your sweet sister my apologies. Joffrey, perhaps you would be so kind as to entertain our guest today.”  

A Game of Thrones - Sansa I

Just like Felicie and Adelaide never got to attend the concert

FELICIE: We were told that the duchess was not receiving, though the court rang with laughter and music.

La Belle et la Bête (Beauty and the Beast) script

Another thing that makes the connection between Sansa and Beauty more pronounced is the introduction of an “Avenant” figure, who is of course Joffrey: the blonde, dashing suitor with a not so hidden affinity for violence and an all around terrible character, with whom Sansa got to spend a whole lot of alone time in her first chapter. Unlike Beauty though, Sansa (and her father) accepts his marriage proposal and delights in spending time with him.

As we can see, by the end of Sansa’s first chapter, GRRM has established both similarities and differences between Sansa and Beauty. In my opinion GRRM decided to keep the core of Beauty’s character intact in Sansa (dutiful, kind, gentle, protective and romantic) and make her work towards the rest. That was accomplished by giving her some “undesirable” traits shared by Beauty’s sisters, which she would shed in later books through her negative experiences that would in turn result in positive character development.

From here on things only get more complicated, because, as I mentioned in the beginning, GRRM liberally subverts the things he disagrees with in Cocteau’s story. Not only that, but he uses a plethora of characters as stand-ins for Sansa’s “Beast” to move the story forward, all of them his foils in different ways each.

They all have one thing in common though, which establishes them as the Beast’s foils: They don’t care about Sansa’s consent. And the fact that men like Sandor Clegane and Tyrion Lannister could have taken more from Sansa but didn’t in the end, doesn't undo the abuse or lack of agency that Sansa suffers in those situations they put her into.

The most powerful force in Beauty and the Beast isn't magic, or even love, but consent. Most retellings of Villeneuve's version are careful to keep it. The Beast is clear that Beauty must know what she's getting into. (In Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch's 1910 version, it's still more explicit: The Beast warns Beauty's father to "be honest with your daughter. Describe me to her just as I am. Let her be free to choose whether she will come or no...") Later, the Beast asks Beauty herself if she comes willingly. And that first dinner is marked by the Beast's deference to her wishes. Beauty's earliest surprise is how much power she wields. Even in his nightly request that Beauty marry him, he defers. Andrew Lang emphasized the power dynamics in 1889's Blue Fairy Book:

"Oh! What shall I say?" cried Beauty, for she was afraid to make the Beast angry by refusing.

"Say 'yes' or 'no' without fear," he replied.

"Oh! No, Beast," said Beauty hastily

"Since you will not, good-night, Beauty," he said.

And she answered, "Good-night, Beast," very glad to find that her refusal had not provoked him.

Lang was one of many who used marriage proposals for the nightly request (Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont's 1756 retelling was the first), but Villeneuve was under no illusions about the story's undertones. In her original, Beast asks Beauty to sleep with him. Beauty's power is the ability to withhold sexual consent.

Beauty doesn't admit love for the Beast until after he releases her (which permits her to rejoin him on her own terms). But this regard for her will is what first softens Beauty's heart. The story's not just reminding young women to look beyond appearance but reminding young men how to conduct themselves. Fairy-tale scholar Jack Zipes outlines the story's social mandate in Fairy Tales and the Art of Subversion: "The mark of beauty for a female is to be found in her submission, obedience, humility, industry, and patience; the mark of manliness is to be found in a man's self-control, politeness, reason, and perseverance."

Disney takes that out, and the story becomes significantly darker. Besides their rocky introduction, he punishes her for refusing to eat with him ("If she doesn't eat with me," he bellows, "then she doesn't eat at all!") and physically threatens her. His temper must be tamed before he can love or be loved—that, not his appearance, is the barrier. It's a decided departure from the courtly Beast, and Beauty's now required to forgive his outbursts before friendship can begin—an additional emotional burden. In this, Disney's more akin to 1978 Czech horror Panna a netvor (in which the Beast barely curbs his appetites and Beauty's drawn to him only through loneliness) than it is to the dreamlike tension of Jean Cocteau.

[...]

But Disney's retelling doesn't acknowledge its darkness. Covering threats with musical numbers doesn't count as exploration of subtext. This wasn't the first Beauty and the Beast adaptation to feature a Beast with rough edges, either; a story centered on power dynamics in relationships will shift to include contemporary concerns. But Disney's retelling asks Beauty to forgive abusive behavior, both ignoring the sovereignty of her consent and erasing the Beast's own obligations. And it's such an influential retelling, it's affected how the archetype has applied. By now, the label of a Beauty and the Beast story applies as much to a relationship in which the woman's love "tames" the man as it does to one about looking beyond appearances. (The CW's recent Beauty and the Beast updated the 1987 series(*) but replaced the scholarly, leonine hero with a handsome man with uncontrollable bursts of violent anger; these abusive undertones are the new beastliness. These days, Beauty is trapped in the Beast's S&M penthouse, and his understanding of consent is decidedly murky.)

How Disney's 'Beauty and the Beast' Became the Darkest Tale of All

(*) The 1987 series with the scholarly leonine hero mentioned above is the CBS TV adaptation, which was written amongst others by GRRM himself.

The above article was written in order to criticize the dark retelling of Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast”, but I believe that everything that has been said there about Disney’s version could also be said for Sansa’s “Beauty and the Beast” arc in ASOIAF up until ASOS. And everything that’s been written about the audience’s faulty perception of the archetype can be applied to the readers of ASOIAF as well.

Beauty’s consent is of paramount importance in the original Beauty and the Beast fairytale written by Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villenueve, which is something both Cocteau’s film and the CBS TV adaptation stayed true to. And yet, the men who took on the Beast’s role in Sansa’s storyline showed minimal to no respect towards her wishes and an equal amount of concern for her lack of consent. On the contrary, they all used and abused her, each of them in their own way, behaving more like villains than romantic interests. And that is because those men serving as the Beast’s foils are meant to be viewed as villains and not romantic interests, which can be supported by the words of the author himself:

Amazon.com: Do you have a favorite character?

Martin: I've got to admit I kind of like Tyrion Lannister. He's the villain of course, but hey, there's nothing like a good villain.

George RR Martin, Amazon.com, 1999

Martin: I am sometimes surprised by the reactions of women in particular to some of the villains. [unintelligible] Over the years who have written me that their favorite characters are Jaime Lannister, or Sandor Clegane the Hound, or Theon Greyjoy, you know. All of these are deeply troubled individuals with some very dark sides who have done some very dark things.

George RR Martin, interview with Geek and Sundry, June 2012

Commenter 1: Oh please don't cast an old guy for the Hound, his scenes with Sansa are so romantic and erotic, I couldn't bear if it'd feel creepy all of a sudden. Well, that's me making demands. LOL

Martin: Old guy? No, but... the Hound is still a whole lot older than Sansa, and was never written as attractive... you know, those hideous burns and all that... he's a lot more dangerous than he is romantic.

[...]

Commenter 2: LOL, you're such a man. To many of us women, dangerous *is* attractive.

Martin: But no one has any love for poor old Sam Tarly, kind and smart and decent and devoted…

Comments on GRRM’s Not A Blog, August 2009

But why would GRRM decide to change his Beast from the kind and decent Beast archetype into the obviously much more problematic and villainous new one when he started writing AGOT in 1991, just one year after the CBS TV adaptation ended? Considering that 1991 was the year Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast” came out and that one of GRRM’s favorite movies is Cocteau’s “Beauty and the Beast”, I believe it’s not that far-fetched to assume this change can be attributed to the author’s discontent with Disney’s adaptation.

In my opinion, the subversion of the “Beauty and the Beast” trope in Sansa’s arc is the author’s in-text critique of Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast”. By having the Beast figures in Sansa’s arc be dark, abusive and villainous, GRRM wished to showcase how the new “Beauty and the Beast” trope, where Beauty is required to forgive the Beast’s abusive behavior and “tame” him with her gentleness, should not be romanticized, because, in real life, Beauty not only won’t be able to tame the Beast, but she also shouldn’t be required to.

So in away, I believe he is deconstructing this very dark and problematic version of the trope in order to reinvent the original one. And for the deconstruction part he needs foils, but for the reconstruction he needs the actual Beast. And there are foils of the Beast aplenty in ASOIAF, but only one Beast.

The first foil of the Beast will be discussed in the second part of this meta series.

Special thanks to @kellyvela and @lostlittlesatellites for their help in the writing of this meta with their invaluable input and constant support.

EDIT: The rest of the series can be found in the following links part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5

[reality-imagined]

Plans - Part I

SWU Poe x Reader

Warnings: Angst, Fluff, Slow Burn, Romance

Rating: T+ 

Word Count: 1289

Sequel to Schematics 

Disclaimer: I do not own any rights to the Star Wars characters, themes, or plots mentioned. All rights reserved to Lucasfilm and respective companies. 

Masterlist

Recap of Schematics Part XII:

You absently played with the ring around your neck whenever you thought about him. Tiro shortly notied that as well and would softly ask if you wanted to talk. You never said yes, but that didn’t stop him from attempting to be there for you. He opened up to you about missing Raena often, in attempt to get you talk, but you always just listened and never spoke about your own feelings. You didn’t want to admit that it would hurt to much to speak about him out loud. You appreciated Tiro’s attempts and stories he would tell about his and Poe’s adventures. It made you feel closer to Poe in the most minimal way possible, and you were grateful to have Tiro with you.

Your recruit asked you about S-foils and you snapped back into the moment. “I have a couple of books in the ship about old X-wings, I’ll let you have them okay?” You had come across this recruit that reminded you much of yourself in the beginning stages of learning about engineering. He had an affinity for drawing landscapes just like you had and once you showed him a few of your schematics - he was all in for it.

“Thank you.” Kel smiled widely after you introduced him to the schematics that you had drawn up for Poe, what seemed like eons ago. Your heart ached as you looked upon what had started your relationship with the Commander. Your hand tightened around the ring, imprinting the circular shape into your skin.

With a clearing of your throat you regained your strength and started to clear the table of the cantina that you and Kel had set up shop in, figuring it was getting late and you needed to speak with Tiro before turning in for the night.

But the man in question came surging in, scaring a few of the other patrons in the restaurant and earning a scowling yell from the humanoid behind the counter. You relaxed a little and placed your concealed blaster back into place. You dismissed a concerned Kel then, telling him that you’d speak in the morning and left without question. Tiro looked distraught as he approached you and before you could ask what was wrong, your world came crashing down as he spoke:

“It’s Poe… something’s wrong.”

“Wait up, Y/N! Captain Y/L/N! Please, wait!” 

You weren’t hearing Tiro though. Not really. 

Your mind was on the next move, the next idea, the next solution - whatever you could think of to find Poe and find the General and figure out what the hell Tiro meant by: ‘something’s wrong.’ If you had increased your pace just a little, you’d be in a full-blown run and despite the ship being on the outskirts of the village you were currently docked, you made it in a matter of minutes. Boots now pounding on the steel plated floor, carrying you to the main control where you had an idea that would either work or leave you desperate for another solution. 

Tiro caught up as you started setting about different commlinks, data pads, and wirings across the large steel table within the middle of the room. Despite it only being you two on the assignment, somehow Tiro had finagled a larger ship than the others - you figured he had sweet talked one of the guards on Suna’s home planet, Calara. He was charming like that. 

“It’s not like I was calling you or anything.” He spoke, breath heavy. Eyeing your busy hands as you began stripping wires and breaking apart comms. “What are you… Hey! That’s mine! Y/N…” 

You ignored him though, mumbling under your breath to catch the scattered thoughts that were bouncing in and out of your head. You had to get to Poe, but you had to find him first. “If I alter the GPS function on my data pad-“

“That’s actually my data-“ but you had already cracked open the backing. Tiro let out a small annoyed sound as he watched you destroy it.

“Then I can replace the main control switch on this comm-“ your gave the small screen a quick jab with tool, exposing the panel placed behind the, now shattered, glass. 

“Also my comm…” He pointed out.

“I can rewire the data pad and manually rewire the tracking mechanism, connect it to the transmitting frequency of the commlink, reverse the signal, and find out where everyone is.” You continued, voice mumbling as your hands kept working. You pulled the glowing blue tracking unit attached to thin cord from your wrist. 

“You can do that? I thought-“ but he was cut off as you smashed the orb onto the table - breaking it into pieces to reveal a small data chip within the center. “But the General’s was the only one that could-“ He was having a hard time keeping up. 

You looked at him with an exhausted face, as if you- the one who reconfigured the tracking device- didn’t set up a failsafe to reverse the techs that kept just anyone from extracting locations. Of course, you would’ve made that part a little easier if you had more time to actually work on them properly. Those last few days before you all separated were quick and you barely had time to think properly. Your encryption had been a small afterthought, with not much deliberation or how to retrieve and activate it on your mind, but you did manage to place the code in yours and the General’s before passing them out. 

“Let’s think about this… hold on.” Tiro spoke gently as he stopped your shaking hands from dropping the chip into his ruined data pad. “I only said somethings wrong because I haven’t heard from Poe.”

You looked at him incredulously, what did talking with Poe have anything to do with this?  “That’s not an awful lot to go on, Tiro. I haven’t heard from him in 7 months - no one has! I don’t get what you’re…” But the guilty look Tiro had, told you everything.  And your hands immediately dropped to the table, numb with the realization he had been lying to you. “You’ve spoken with him since we all divided.” Your shock had your voice emotionless.

Tiro looked awfully shameful, “I wanted to tell you but he told me-“

You looked up at him doe eyed, “He asked you not to tell me? Why wouldn’t he want to talk to me?” Your hand reached up to the ring and Tiro’s face somehow fell even more at your nervous impulse.

“He wanted to make sure you were okay, Y/N. That’s all. We… set up a time to communicate once every 4 weeks, for only a few minutes at a time. His only question would be about you, Y/N. That’s it.” Tiro placed comforting hands on your shoulders as you looked up at him teary-eyed and only slightly heartbroken. 

You were conflicted by what he had told you. On one hand, Poe had gone out of his way to check in on you and ignored the General’s direct orders of no contact… on the other, he had several opportunities to talk to you, to ensure you of his safety. Had he not considered that you were just as worried about him? About his safety? He was the one, in whatever this relationship was, prone to dangerous, self-sacrificing ideas. Did he not realize that most nights you stayed awake, hoping the force was on your side for once?  

You turned from Tiro, placing both hands onto the table in front of you with an attempt to find some solidarity to your wavering mind and body. Dropping your head between your shoulders, “What did you mean by somethings wrong.” Your voice was still void of emotion, everything happening at once left you shattered.

“Like I said, I haven’t heard from him.” He only continued when you looked up at him with narrow and tired eyes, “He’s always on time, never a day or minute late. Now he’s…it’s been 3 days and I still haven’t heard.”

“Why didn’t you tell me sooner!” You screeched, standing up and throwing your arms out. So, so much could happen in three days. Your heart and stomach constricted at that thought.

“I didn’t want you to act like this, Y/N!” Tiro retaliated, irritated that he was being made out as the bad guy here. “This is why Poe didn’t want to tell you! You would’ve acted irrational and started tearing up my stuff!” He snatched his comm off the table with a pout. “Look, I’m all in for you doing your crazy technical magic on these and finding the gang - but you gotta compose yourself.” His voice was pleading as he set the comm down once more and gesturing to the havoc you had unleashed onto the devices. 

You pinched the bridge of your nose in exhaustion, eyes closed and trying to gather yourself like Tiro had asked. You sighed, “You’re right. I just… The thought of…” your voice broke and you both knew you’d never be able to finish that sentence. You looked away from him quickly, deciding the wall opposite of you two was a good focal point to ground yourself again.

“I’ll go round up the recruits and give them the spiel about us leaving. I think Kel would a good leader, I’ll give him the radio.” He paused, looking to you for agreement and continued after you gave him a short nod, “You keep working on this and I’ll prep for departure.” Tiro’s voice only soothed you a little as he created the tangible plan. You could only continue to nod in return, gently stripping the wires of Tiro’s commlink now, instead of the shaky and hasty hands earlier. 

“And, Y/N…” Tiro spoke softly, halfway out of the ship, you looked up at him, “It’s gonna be okay. We’re gonna find him.” He reassured with a soft smile before ducking out. 

You took a deep breath and continued working on finding your pilot. 

I thought today was the best day to post the first part of the sequel because well.. May the Forth Be With You and all that. I’m so excited to finally get this to you guys, the updates won’t be as frequent as Schematics was but I’m hoping to have this series wrapped up before I start my summer semester! Let me know what ya think, I’m still not feeling the title honestly... Anyways... As always, thank you for reading ❤️

Tags: Tags are Open 

I’m tagging those who wished to be tagged in Schematics, if you don’t want to be tagged in the sequel let me know and I’ll remove ya from the list no problem! 😘

@introvertedmouse @i-said-goddameron @ttawny @xfirewolfx74 @theladyofmanyfandomsofficial @imaginecrushes @empathiccally @emily-vole @xenwayy @yourwonderbelle @omgikwangminwoo @fortheloveoflamp @zestygingergirl @unstoppableforcce @agirlinherhead

[akiralazuli]

Greetings, people who stole a cookie when you thought no one was looking.

Greetings, pillow pet enthusiasts.

Hello, rejected characters from Winnie the Pooh.

Hello, anteaters participating in a business meeting at Coca-Cola.

Greetings, cosplayers of historical musicians in disguise.

Greetings, experimental clones of Ellen DeGeneres gone horribly awry.

Greetings, people who know me but not one-another.

Hello, those of you who have survived up to this point.

Greetings, beneficiaries in the life insurance policy of that one frog you saved a long time ago.

Hello, calvinball aficionados.

Greetings, finalists in this dystopic reality game show of death.

Hello, people who are important.

Greetings, faded echoes of voices long silent coming back to take revenge on those shouting into your canyons.

Hello, people who have not been blaring all the Linkin Park songs on your earphones until the music hurts more than the existing pain.

Greetings, sentient bits of peanut brittle.

Greetings, living manifestations of alien dreams.

Hello, statues of U.S. vice presidents made out of little foil candy wrappers.

Hello, fake astronauts.

Hello, people who are probably humans, I guess.

Greeting, little saplings of endurance growing into mighty trees.

Hello, jumping beans going to space on the back of a giant flying frog.

Greetings, those keeping the ends out for the tie that binds.

Hello, fallen leaves being used as currency by a chipmunk newly corrupted from discovering economics.

Hello, adequately composed personifications of the Universe.

Greetings, people getting patted on the head while standing on a lake dock.

Hello, vine snakes in a rocket ship heading for Neverland.

Hello, slightly evolved anthropoids wrestling with the consequences of your own involuntary sentience.

Hello, soldiers up against a wall.

Greetings, petrified cephalopods waiting millions of years just for archeologists to think you are not that interesting.

Greetings, philosophy students lost in the desert supplied only with the works of Kierkegaard.

Hello, college hockey players creeping into a hotel breakfast bar hours after midnight.

Hello, auditioners for the live-action Pixar Lamp.

Greetings, giant CGI whales floating around a band performing on a tower in the desert.

Greetings, breakdancing penguins in Russia.

Hello, toothbrushes mistakenly left in a hairbrush museum.

Hello, shrill-voiced people in a rapidly flooding cave begging Obama to save you.

Greetings, collection of geese performing show tunes outside the Sydney Opera House.

Greetings, beholders of the final battle of Ceiling Cat vs. Basement Cat.

Hello, impersonations of baseball players in space.

Greetings, off-brand military cannons.

Greetings, forensic scientists dominating a murder mystery game.

Greetings, Chosen Ones.

Hello, cluster of shrimp slowly realizing this woven pattern is not what you first thought.

Hello, marmosets in my attic with nothing better to do.

Greetings, tribe of pygmies in Dulles International Airport.

Greetings, lights in the sky for all but a moment.

Greetings, jack-in-the-box car advertisements that appear on my bedside at 3:33 AM every night.

Hello, middle-tier heroes who thought you had seen the last of me!

Hello, bags of mostly water.

Hello, those who will be spared in the feline uprising.

Greetings, alien cats rigging a horse race with your psychokinesis.

Greetings, local owl who has had enough of this chaos.

Hello, those building it up to break it back down.

Hello, silently furious crowd walking slowly closer to me with blowtorches as you prepare to burn me alive.

Greetings, doves and other birds journeying to sleep in the sand.

Greetings, propane tanks over a lit stove.

Hello, those lying under oath to save humanity from a talking comet.

Hello, incorporeal forms of energy in the corner of a room.

Hello, little flecks of sulfur caught in my air ducts.

Greetings, pirates wreaking havoc in the local BestBuy.

Greetings, flying fish battling Weird Al with sewing buttons.

Greetings, coins in the bottom of a birdbath.

Hello, duchaunds dressed as hotdogs eating sausages.

Hello, insomnia-stricken Big Bird action figures.

Greetings, cast of, “Pride And Prejudice" who are mostly zombies.

Hello, giant red starburst living in a lake.

Hello, strange bird-people fighting a statue of Abraham Lincoln.

Hello, Starfleet first officers mumbling about not getting any character development.

Hello, soft-serve pizzas.

Greetings, bruised action movie heroes comically waiting in an elevator with a tall and bearded man who is carrying laundry as you both awkwardly avoid eye contact and piano music plays in the background.

Greetings, lavender blossoms finally growing on Mars after so much effort.

Hello, asymmetric fragments of pottery.

Greetings, ant colony worker of the month.

Greetings, reclining chair that just keeps going backward.

Freelancing in technical theater means you’re on a lot of different email lists. People need a crew, they send out an email, you respond with your availability. Now, most people start these with things like “hey folks” or “hi everyone”. Neal is not most people.

His openers started off innocent enough.

Then, he started to push boundaries.

And as you can see, it has spiraled out of control since then.

[driftingglass]

aaaa i read why you love Katsuki and Izuku's dynamic! Can you also tell as why you love Killua and Gon's? *w*

[ WARNING: Discussion of the Hunter X Hunter anime/manga/characters below. If you haven’t read the manga or watched the anime and don’t want any spoilers of any kind, do not read. ]

*Holds breath.*

HOLY. Oh damn. This. THIS is where it gets real, my friends.

Anon. You have no idea how pumped I am to answer this. I’ve got it all ready to go, and please, if it’s a bit scrambled at times… that’s just how my brain is. All composed of bunny trails and dumb theories that may or may not be connected.

Alright. Here it goes. 

Why do I love KilluGon? 

Or… why do I love the dynamic between Killua and Gon in general?

As I’ve stated in my response to another Anon about why I love the dynamic between Katsuki and Izuku from Boku No Hero Academia, my love for a ship is constructed based on a few important details.

It depends on whether or not I respect and intensely admire both characters involved in the ship, and whether or not I find their dynamic interesting, with or without evidence to support a romantic inclination.

Now, in order for me to dive into the reasons why I just… honestly, adore Killua and Gon as individual characters as well as the ship, I have to pinpoint my connection for respecting them to the manga/anime as a whole.

Hunter X Hunter is my favorite anime of all time. 

Now, there is a reason I’m pointing this out, as seemingly unneeded it may appear. For, the main core reasons why I adore Killua and Gon as characters and their ship so much is connected to the overall appeal of the anime/manga in general.

It’s common sense to those who have watched Hunter X Hunter (and if you haven’t… what are you even doing with your life?) that numerous traditional shōnen manga tropes are either inverted, discarded entirely, purposefully subverted, or deconstructed within a story that contains arcs with no conclusion, but rather a continuous, streamlined story. 

As far as my personal experience, I started watching Hunter X Hunter with little to no expectations. I was completely blown away with what I received, and almost all of that is owed to the reasons I listed above out of pure respect, awe, and wonder at how the mangaka has been able to craft a story that’s so complex and rewarding with characters that face continuous hardships, growth, and struggles that we can relate to. 

I consider both Gon Freecss and Killua Zoldyck to be two of the greatest anime characters ever created, especially when considering the shōnen demographic.

Those who have watched the anime and read the manga know that both characters subvert traditional tropes presented in their storylines as well as their personalities. 

The author has taken numerous risks with showing his star characters in incredibly twisted circumstances that presents them in extremely nontraditional (and even, at times, antagonistic) ways. I love the risk factor taken with this series.

Now, without including any spoilers in this post, I can safely say that Gon Freecss, in particular, is one of the greatest deconstructions of any character-specific category I have ever seen. 

And Killua, while incredibly complex and going through tremendous character development alongside Gon, introduces traits that are highlighted in the other that the reader/watcher would never expect upon entering the show/manga for the first time. 

Alright. So. I want to make one thing abundantly clear with this ship. 

Many people consider Killua Zoldyck to be canonically in love with Gon Freecss. 

I respect that opinion, and I’ve entertained the idea myself, particularly with the dialogue choices, artistic liberties taken in the 2011 anime, and the reputation the author has in general of subverting shōnen tropes in his other works.

However… I do not believe that we have enough evidence to actually pinpoint Killua being romantically interested in Gon, simply because of the genre in particular. At least, for this very moment in the manga and where the anime ended. 

I do think that the potential is there, but it depends on where the story will be heading in that regard.

Could I be wrong? Absolutely. 

Could I be right? Yeah. I could. 

But, that’s a discussion for another time. 

Does this make their dynamic any less human, complex, or phenomenal? 

Absolutely not. Not in any way, shape, or form.

It’s because of the fact that we’re not sure about the possible romantic undertones between Killua and Gon that we have the freedom to deconstruct, theorize, and discuss these characters in general. 

And, this is only made possible through fantastic writing, characterization, and the undeniable one-of-a-kind friendship and connection formed between two incredibly flawed, damaged, and different characters. 

Gon and Killua go through the unimaginable and demonstrate the true essence of friendship with elements that are so human and complicated that it’s just… so impressive, that it’s able to be conveyed at all in an anime.

There are specific aspects that make their parallels all the more interesting. As I’ve noticed myself, and my two OTPs, I tend to ship characters that have very fascinating parallels and have “foil”-like connections to one another. 

Gon and Killua are not foils, as far as I can tell, but they do challenge and push each other to reach the ultimate goal, and it’s due to their mutual companionship that they are able to face the struggles they come across.

Similar to my other post regarding the dynamic between Katsuki and Izuku, I would like to present more complicated bulleted lists showcasing the inner complexities that balance Gon and Killua as well. 

So, hopefully this helps.

Let’s Focus on Gon Freecss First.

Gon, for all intensive purposes, is very simpleminded and driven mostly by a slightly skewed form of logic that is only understandable to him, both morally and culturally.

He is ambitious and ultimately one-track-minded, very driven towards a goal that could either cost him or others’ lives. 

Because of these factors, Gon is ultimately a bit of a selfish character, despite his normally good intentions. He is very much driven by his emotions.

Again, Gon’s logic is a bit skewed, though in a way that is far more complex than some give him credit for. It’s shown often in the 2011 anime, with his judgment and, at times, butting heads with Killua’s far more perceptive views on certain situations. 

Gon’s logic is based on what he sees as a genuine fact brought to attention by what he sees as the path towards success and growth. 

Both he and Killua are extremely hard workers and have been ground to the bone to achieve the strength they have.

Gon acts primarily on adrenaline and instinct, in definite contrast to Killua’s personality elements. 

Because of these factors, Gon seeks the balance to his temperament and recklessness through Killua’s (rather ironic) stability and caution. Of course, the over-reliance between the two leads to catastrophic consequences, which all ties back to the elements of them both that are, ultimately, human.

Now, Let’s Focus on Killua Zoldyck.

Killua, as stated above, has been referenced in the 2011 anime to be the offset to Gon’s temperament. In other words, he’s very much the person who calms the other down and redirects his outbursts towards something else.

At times, Killua demonstrates the need to assert control in their dynamic, which Gon does not have a problem with despite the intense way that they can, while unintentionally, take advantage of one another’s weaknesses while simultaneously boosting one another’s strengths. 

Killua is cautious, analytical, observant, and both outwardly cocky and insecure. He is also, above all things, loyal. 

Despite the intense nature of his character, the only person who rather effortlessly breaks down Killua’s walls and introduces him to a new understanding of the world is, in fact, Gon. 

Killua’s loyalty is, arguably, the main factor of his character that roots himself to Gon. No matter the situation, he will pull through for Gon. Gon is, essentially, his world. 

Killua comes from a rather twisted family background with traces of moral ambiguity and questionable relations to his parents and siblings. 

Gon is an only child and is seeking his father, while Killua seeks his family companionship in Gon and values the other’s perspective to a point that is both freeing for him as a person and damaging. 

Another thing needed to be made clear with discussing the gray, less-than-pleasing aspect of their friendship…

None of these discussed personality traits and reasons excuse any elements of their relationship that are damaging, because there’s plenty of pain in what happens between them. But, that’s part of what makes it all fascinating. 

And, I think that’s what it all comes down to. Despite the craziness in their world, in the two of them as characters individually and the indescribable, believable connection they have, one thing is made abundantly clear. 

Killua and Gon’s relationship is the most complex, fleshed out, beautifully presented, tragic and fulfilling dynamic between characters I’ve seen in an anime. Ever. 

This is, of course, my opinion. But there is something that needs to be said with Killua and Gon and their inseparable connection. 

It’s because of Gon that Killua knows he must take a step forward and grow on his own while being apart. It’s because of Killua that Gon has reached the milestones he has, that he’s even alive. 

The both of them balance each other out, survive together, challenge each other, suffer through the worst of the worst, and still remain steadfast in a companionship that is so brutally human and complex that I will forever laud the two of them (and their fantastic ship) for existing in the first place. 

I love them as best friends. I love them as characters. I love them as romantic interests because I’ve never been so convinced that it could happen not only in theoretical discussion, but also in the canon universe. 

And that is something that I don’t think will ever be repeated. 

Gon and Killua are the epitome of complex, relatable friendship that treads the lines of the ugly and the beautiful in the best possible ways. These factors make their dynamic breathtaking, awe-inspiring, tragic, wonderful and human in both platonic and romantic ways. 

*Releases breath.*

Believe it or not, I could say more, but… those are the overarching reasons. Anyone who hasn’t seen Hunter X Hunter needs to just watch it right now and experience it for themselves. No amount of words can express the justice of these two. Ever.

THANK YOU ANON. 

[logh-icebergs]

Episode 7: Iserlohn Taken!

May 14th, 796/487. Infiltrating Iserlohn fortress in the guise of a damaged Imperial ship, the Rosen Ritter swiftly overpower the control room. The quick thinking of one Imperial soldier temporarily locks them out of the fortress computer, forcing Yang to stall for time while Schenkopp and co. rush around Iserlohn kicking ass and taking names—names and computer passwords, I guess, since they unlock the system and allow Yang’s ship to dock. The Thor Hammer makes quick work of a large chunk of the Imperial fleet, although Oberstein flits away like the cockroach he is.

Technical Aside: Character Redraws

As I mentioned, when LoGH was released on DVD the episodes were remastered. By and large this involved evening out the colors, fixing the lighting when it was too washed out, sharpening lines, etc., and it’s beautifully done and deserves a lot of credit for making this show such an aesthetic joy to watch.

However. For reasons lost to the sands of time (at least, unknown to us) some scenes were entirely reanimated, primarily in the first and early second seasons. These redraws go beyond the touchups of other episodes—sometimes in ways that have little consequence (changing backgrounds, slightly different positioning of the characters in the scene), but sometimes in ways that significantly alter the emotions conveyed on the characters’ faces. This poses a problem for us, since the whole thesis of this project is that the animators of LoGH intentionally conveyed a ton of important information about emotions, thoughts, and relationships of the characters specifically via the details of the expressions and body language.

As an example of an inconsequential but unfortunate change, they made this random dude’s hair way more boring. Poor guy.

The original here conveys much more character though the body language.

Our policy will be to base our analysis off of the original animation when we believe there’s a real difference. In these cases we’ll give a heads up and include plenty of screenshots for those who don’t have access to the laserdiscs on which it was first released. Episode 7 is one of the handful of episodes that was actually about 90% redrawn, including a few key character moments, so in some of the discussion below I include both versions to illustrate the differences. In the future we may not even show the comparison, but just analyze the original animation. It’s annoying that the version on hidive is the redrawn version, yes, but these are the hurdles one must contend with in pursuit of true LoGH scholarship…

Believe it or not, changing poor Julian’s outfit and pose here is not the most egregious example of straightwashing in the redraws—we’ll come to that later in the season.

Ideals, Pragmatism, and Tea

Okay, with that out of the way, let’s get into the substance of the episode. One main theme that’s woven throughout the entire Iserlohn mission (dipping back into episode 6 as well) is Yang’s distaste for the abstract ideals that are commonly invoked as justification for the continuing war and destruction. We saw this a bit in his reactions to Trunicht’s speech in episode 3, and we see it again when he addresses the newly-formed 13th fleet:

(From episode 6.)

I love the tea speech. While at one level it’s humorous—silly Yang, so awkward and out of his depth giving a speech to thousands of people—it’s also a really pithy expression of Yang’s priorities. In two sentences Yang undermines the fundamental concept of this war: that they’re fighting for an ideal, for honor or love of their country or hatred of the empire. Circumstances have led the people in this fleet to find themselves facing a battle, and given that reality, the motivation he offers them for fighting is that living is preferable to death. And not just living, but living pleasurably. For Yang it’s drinking good tea that pops into his head, but it’s not a leap to substitute a more general idea of tangible, visceral experience of the world: being alive to do the things that make life enjoyable.

Yang believes that life is the sum of choices and experiences, and he hates the war not just because of the unnecessary death, but also because of the way it cuts off people’s choices and individual agency—his own, for example, and as he sees it, Julian’s.

Never mind that Julian claims to *want* to fight; in Yang’s view Julian’s agency is an illusion since it’s so shaped by societal forces. Hmm, projecting much, Yang? We’ll come back to this, of course. (From episode 6.)

Toward the end of this episode we see again how frustrated Yang gets with rigid adherence to ideals of honor at the expense of actual lives. We saw this in episode 1 when his commanding officer refused to abandon the already-defeated fourth fleet; here Admiral Seeckt of the Imperial Iserlohn fleet refuses Yang’s offer to let them withdraw, instead responding with haughty phrases about the honor and glory of soldiers. Yang’s reaction here is the single biggest difference between the original animation and the redraws, so I’ll show both here:

The redraw exaggerates Yang’s reaction in a way that feels inconsistent with his character. He is angry here, yes, but the composed, sad anger of the original fits him more than the seething, almost explosive rage of the redraw.

Also he is just so much more beautiful in the original, damn.

Yang’s hatred of the rhetoric of war is palpable here, and his reaction—to concentrate fire on the flagship—accomplishes the dual goals of allowing the rest of the fleet to go ahead and withdraw, and eliminating the Admiral whose attitude he found so harmful.

But despite hating the war and wanting it to end, Yang accepted this mission; and when Schenkopp grills him about it in episode 6 we get insight into his specific goals.

Yang’s pacifism is of a highly pragmatic flavor: As a historian he views cycles of war as inevitable and lacks the hubris/ambition to think that anything he does will change that in a lasting way. But the value he places on individual freedom and self-determination means that he sees full surrender to the autocratic government of the Empire as worth avoiding, and his hope in taking Iserlohn is that it might be the bargaining chip they need to conclude a peace treaty that would allow the Alliance government to remain independent.

His desire for peace is intimately tied in with his desire to leave the military and go back to the life he finds more enjoyable: drinking tea and studying history. And indeed when the mission succeeds, he initially attempts to do exactly that, going so far as to hand over a letter of resignation to Admiral Sitolet.

This is obviously a huge turning point for Yang. Nothing is actually stopping him from resigning here; it was his plan from the beginning of the mission and he has the power to do it. But Sitolet, who was his instructor back at the military academy so has known him for a long time, knows exactly how to play him. 

While Yang scorns the typical lofty ideals that his government puts forward to justify the continued death toll of the war, he believes deeply enough in the value of individual human lives that Sitolet’s guilt trip works on him. He can’t quite bring himself to put his own aspirations above the futures of the people in his fleet when faced with what amounts to a threat on their lives. Yang has served under other commanders and seen them, for example, advocate suicide attacks in order to play a game of attrition; Sitolet’s words are not abstract to him. While he urged his soldiers to fight so they don’t die, he himself feels the burden of fighting so that other people don’t die, so that other people have the choices he’s turning down himself.

I introduced Yang as a man of paradoxes, and we see that here: his belief in the ideals of freedom and self-determination pushing him to stay on this path he doesn’t feel suited for.

Oberstein

We already met Paul von Oberstein when he accosted Kircheis in episode 4. (In fact he’s been around lurking in the background since “My Conquest.”) Here I would just like to point out that Oberstein is set up as a clear parallel/foil to Yang. Remember in episode 1 when Yang is the only one to see through Reinhard’s plan but his commanding officers won’t listen until it’s too late? Oberstein plays exactly that role here, seeing right through Yang’s delay tactic of pretending to control the weapons of Iserlohn before they actually did, but Seeckt refuses to listen to his logic.

(Yang shots from episode 1.)

Like Yang, Oberstein is deeply pragmatic and keenly intelligent. His vibe here comes across like “what if Yang but no soul?” We’ll keep an eye on the parallels and contrasts between them as we get to know them better. (Well, get to know Yang better anyway; can anyone ever really be said to “know” the enigma that is Oberstein…?) 

The Rosen Ritter

In case you thought the Rosen Ritter were all sexy swagger and no action, here we get to see them actually doing their thing—hacking people to death with battle-axes. This fight sequence is beautifully choreographed, incredibly badass, and starkly brutal to watch. 

Yang may be sitting out in his flagship doing his best to craft a strategy that minimizes loss of life, but that doesn’t mean much to these soldiers who are sacrificed to his plan. Again, war at all levels of zoom.

Stray Tidbits

I can’t resist ranting a bit more about how much they change Yang when they redraw him. Fortunately it’s pretty rare—we won’t see redrawn!Yang much more until episode 39. But just...why...did they change the shape of his face and make his skin so red? Why? Original!Yang is so beautiful and sad and sleepy. 

This scene makes me crack up every time. Between this and the waitress scene in the last episode we’re amassing quite a “Blumhart waves awkwardly at random women” collection.

[mdwatchestv]

Game of Thrones 7x02: That’s Not You

Weee welcome back lords and ladies to episode two of Game of Thrones! After last week's crowd pleaser of an opener this episode felt tonally...astray. The plot surged forward, some good things happened, some shit things happened, but none of the emotional impact really landed for me. Maybe it's because this episode was composed of mainly expositional scenes, maybe it's worry that beloved characters are journeying down the wrong path, or maybe it's because my ceiling started leaking in the middle of the episode causing a small household crisis. We may never know for sure. But it was undeniably a bit of a dip after the glorious return of last week's premiere. So let's talk about why.

Things start well enough with Dany's all Lady War Council of Power (tm), which I absolutely loved. All the baddest bishes of Westeros were there: Indira Varma Queen of Snakes, Yara Greyjoy Queen of Boats and the Bi-Curious, Grandma Emma Peel Tyrell, all presided over by Khaly K herself. It was extremely satisfying to see so many separate threads of plotting and planning culminate in a room full of (female) power players. But for all that fierce feminine energy all in one place, their war plan leaves something to be desired. Tyrion's strategy is logically sound, but I have questions. Everyone seems pretty anti burn King's Landing to a smoldering ash heap, but why? As seen by the membership of the All Lady War Council of Power (tm), most of the powerful Westerosi houses are already on Dany's sides with the Lannisters being the only hold outs that pose any real threat. I say let's smoke King's Landing, it would be a decisive quick victory and Cersei already blew up half of it anyway! No one really seems to like living there, and doesn't Dany want a shiny NEW capitol city? Burn it all I say. And burn it now before Cersei can finish making her dragon killing crossbows.

 It's not any less merciful to the people of King's Landing than setting an army of their own countrymen on them. It is also no small thing to ask even soldiers to slaughter their neighbors, look no further for proof of this than Papa Tarley's reluctance to assassinate Grandma Peel Tyrell. Also Dickon Tarly, Sam's dickon of an older brother, has been unceremoniously recast with a different British hottie. Goodbye Freddie Stroma, hello Tom Hopper.  Additionally, Dany was right that the loyalty of the women present was more anti-Cersei than pro-Khaleesi. These ladies haven’t survived this long for no reason, if forced into an long-term war it’s more than likely allegiances may change. Look sharp Khaly. 

And while Tyrion's divide and conquer strategy sounded good on paper, it was dispiriting to witness it fail almost immediately when the rebel Greyjoys/Indira and the Snakes were overtaken by the party Greyjoys and subsequently annihilated. More on that later. The moral is: we should only listen to Grandma Emma Peel and never to men.

Speaking of people who are done listening to men, my main girl Sansa continues to bring the sass to the Daily Board Meetings of the Northern Bannermen (tm). Sansa has been swallowing her words for six years and she has had it officially. For better or worse, girlfriend is DONE being quiet. Once again her opinions prove more popular to the Northerners than poor Jon's (who isn't even supposed to be here today.) I am increasingly worried the show is trying to turn us against Sansa, by mirroring her appearance to Cersei, forcing Littlefinger to lurk about, and making her increasingly incendiary. But nothing she is saying is wrong! She is doing her best to look at the big picture of Westerosi politics, a skill Jon still struggles with (need I repeat he was successfully assassinated like not that long ago) and put the interests of the North first. Anyway, the issue on the table in today's assemblage is whether or not Jon Snow should advance the plot by answering Tyrion's summons to go to Dragonstone. The North needs dragonglass, and we the audience need these two characters to finally meet. Even though Sansa is right that it's crazy for the brand new king of a tenuous North to just jet off.... whatever long live the Queen in the North. Honestly I was hoping Jon would send Sansa or better, Brienne, down to Dragonstone simply because I think it would be fun for those characters to meet the Dragon Queen. But we are full speed ahead on plot this episode so it's Jon Secret-Targaryen himself undertaking the mission.

But let's back up for a second and talk about that plot.  For there was one more Lady of Power at Dany's Council, and that was everyone's favorite semen-collecting, child-burning Melisandre. Melisandre has come to Dragonstone to find a new ruler to get behind and also to drop some white hot prophecy knowledge. Here is the crib notes version of all of it, (feel free to skip if your knowledge of Azor Ahai is as strong as Nikolaj Coster-Waldau jawline):  

The followers of the Lord of Light (notable priests on the show include Melisandre and Thoros of Myr [the guy with the top knot hanging out with The Hound]) believe in a  mythic figure named Azor Ahai. Back in the day Azor Ahai was a hero with a magic fire sword who banished the "Others" (probably White Walkers) during The Long Night. According to legend Azor Ahai will be reborn to once again save the world from the Long Night as The Prince That Was Promised. The Prince That Was Promised will also wield a magic sword and be reborn amongst "salt and smoke", your classic Chosen One hero stuff. Melisandre has spent most of the series following Stannis around under the belief that HE was The Prince in question. Boy was she super wrong. You dear reader likely more astutely thought that Jon Snow was The Prince, because not only does that just make good narrative sense, but because you had eyes and could see Stannis. But TWIST - in High Valyrian the word for "The Prince" is gender neutral and could ALSO refer to a lady. Obvi Dany is a great candidate to be a rebirthed hero who will cleanse the world in fire (seeing how she herself was rebirthed...in fire). So who is really the Chosen One? Maybe it’s both, or neither. Only time will tell. 

If you were skipping, please come back now we still have much to discuss. Or maybe you have already forgotten the strangely forgettable at sea battle between the Greyjoys and the Greyjoys. Usually the battles of Game of Thrones are a thing of violent beauty, lovingly choreographed and mercilessly executed. Perhaps it was the constraints of shooting fighting in such close quarters, or the clearly sped up frame rate, but for all its potential this family grudge match did not quite bring the thunder. (I have been a staunch defender of the Sand Snakes up until this point, but even I am ready to admit that whip is a stupid weapon). But Euron did prove himself a formidable opponent, killing two snakes with one stone as it were. Not only did he squash Yara and Theon's fleet in one fell swoop, but he also procured his wedding gift to Cersei in the form of Mama Snake and the last surviving Baby Snake. And while the battle may have failed to provide satisfying thrills, there were some standout performances particularly from Gemma Whelan whose reaction to the loss of her ships, and then her brother, was devastating.

Finally let's wrap it up with Arya, who had two unexpected reunions. The first with Hot Pie, who has been baking away all this time and hoarding valuable expositional information. Upon hearing that Jon Snow has retaken Winterfell, Arya is conflicted between her quest for vengeance and a dormant allegiance to her brother, but ultimately decides to journey North. All I want is for Arya to meet any other Stark, and even though she is literally on the path to making that happen, I know better than to get my hopes up so soon. On her journey northwards Arya runs into another familiar face, Nymeria her direwolf that she was forced to chase off all the way back in season one. Although Nymeria remembers Arya, the giant wolf chooses to stay with her pack rather than accompanying her previous master. This poignant interaction is potentially meaningful in a number of ways.

Firstly it mirrors Arya's own breakaway from her pre-destined path. Like Arya herself, Nymeria has chosen to go her own way. Second the death of direwolfs has historically marked death or radical change for the Stark that owned them. Sansa's loss of Lady symbolized the beginning of her new life in King's Landing where she shed her Stark identity to become a political chameleon. Recently Bran's wolf Summer sacrificed himself to save Bran as Bran was becoming the Three-Eyed Raven (an identity that transcends the Stark name). Meanwhile Ghost resides at Winterfell with Jon Snow and acts as a symbol of Jon's current embodiment of Stark leadership and overall Stark-iness. Lastly Nymeria, the last surviving direwolf, is an independent wildcard beholden to no master (just like Arya). Arya has been struggling with her identity for the past several seasons, first attempting to eschew it, and then triumphantly reclaiming it. Nymeria finds Arya as she is considering returning to her Stark identity but, perhaps meaningfully, does not ultimately reunite with her. My favorite moments in Game of Thrones have always been simple scenes that have deeper meaning compounded by backstory, and this season one callback symbolizing Arya's character arc really hit the spot.

Overall while this hour had all the elements that usually make GoT great, the episode didn't quite come together as effortlessly as last week. We had no sooner seen a plan hatched then foiled, a long-awaited meeting between ice and fire was set in motion surprisingly quickly and without fanfare, and a game-changing battle that felt rushed instead of revolutionary. The notes were all there, but the music didn't hit the pitch we are accustomed to from a show that is usually a sublime opera of plot and bloodshed. Ultimately, this episode wasn't quite you either Game of Thrones.

Stuff I didn't get to: - Jorah would do anything for love. - So would Grey Worm and Missandei - And so would Littlefinger.....

MVP: Euron Greyjoy. Say what you will, the man knows what he's about.

XO MD

PS Want to tell me what you thought about this episode? Or about a cat you saw earlier today? Or about something you watched on TV? Or just say hi? Send questions, comments, and snarky thoughts to @marthadee on twitter! Warning: I am not very cool at twitter.