#ohh what could have been

[maulish]

I'm late to the party (wake?), but I've taken considerable time off from Star Wars. I think it was around season 2 of The Mandalorian that I really felt like this ain't it. Nothing really caught my interest enough to come back to it until The Acolyte which I now just finished watching. I should know better by now than to see what people have been saying about it, given I was around to witness how it was the prequels already that "ruined Star Wars".

While the Acolyte was a painful watch it again points out what should be obvious now. If there is anything at all that's at serious risk of ruining Star Wars (outside of bitter middle aged men on youtube), it's Disney. Disney is to Star Wars what Amazon is to Tolkien.

We all connect with particular characters, storylines and elements within the cosmos of an IP and its lore, but I think what forms the core of those emotional bonds are stories told with heart and integrity. There is something significant that Star Wars shares with LOTR in that sense. The film franchises both started out as passion projects that performed miracles with small budgets. The people working on those films came up with ways of bringing these worlds to life without the guarantee that it would pay off financially. They also created the gold standard of cinematic worldbuilding. The franchises obviously turned out to be really successful and seeing the large bult-in fanbases and now proven profitability attracted corporations which held all of the interest in the potential of financial gain, having none for the source material and core ideas that had originally propelled these franchises to begin with. These corporations instead approach the IPs with a sense of arrogance thinking that the audience will simply lap it up because of a proven emotional connection to the material, and the more they can churn out, the bigger the profit. The initial optimism and interest for a new film or series may even briefly seem to affirm that belief. Eventually the idea of all the money to be made will make the corporations look at how to cut down the costs, how to compress the production timeline. The ambition grows, but the quality of the work put into it suffers and the passion fizzles out. Instead of a dream of bringing a world to life it will become a calculation. This is where we're at. But it's that lack of passion that is always evident in the finished work.

The Acolyte is symptomatic of what corporate greed does to culture and cultural artifacts. It's not the initial idea that is the problem, it's not the main characters, it's not the wokeness. The fundamental problem that set the series on a downward path from the start was that it was planned from the POV of corporate ambition to branch out and generate a maximum amount of product to the widest and least specific audience. And they forgot about the story they were trying to tell in the process.

And on a side note, the way the Disney acquisition pushed a LOT of high quality content out of the canon just for the sake of gaining free reign should have been a clear sign of what's to come.

The Acolyte was destined to fail. It was structured in a way that assumed multiple seasons that it would never survive to see, because the story itself was poorly planned and written. The writing for the series is embarrassing to put it mildly. The series is also giving screen time to random background characters with no actual plot line, and a good chunk to a bunch of others that steal precious time from the main characters, only to all be killed off without any of them save one having made an impact. And so the first season that should have sold us on the idea sold us nothing at all.

There's the kind of 'feedback' that would have us think that there isn't room for everyone in a galaxy far, far away. And then the kind Disney ought to take to heart. But if they've shown us anything then it's that they're not yet motivated to learn from their mistakes. And until then there is no story they can't or won't ruin.

What a waste.

[sluckythewizard]

YOU JUST HƎARD IT FROM [HIS MOUTH] FOR SURƎ!!!

[vaggieslefteye]

CHARLIE MAGNE from HAZBIN HOTEL (2019): Pilot - "That's Entertainment" ↳ "So, I've been thinking: Isn't there a more humane way to hinder overpopulation here in Hell? Perhaps we can create an alternative way to change souls through... redemption?"

[ghostofsnails]

so did you guys know theres this character called tristan vik disventure camp and

[lunarharp]

wanted to adapt the google search results a gay woman got in a japanese drama "tsukuritai onna to tabetai onna" which is good btw.

[some-pers0n]

The thing about the whole "Clearsight is a colonizer" thing that gets me the most is that she clearly never wanted or intended to be treated like that. She wanted a fresh start. She couldn't go on with her life on Pyrrhia due to Darkstalker's absence. She knew she would do little more than feel an ache in her heart and mourn the loss of the dragon she loved. The dragon she thought she would spend the rest of her life with. She wanted to run. She had to start anew.

Then, receiving the vision about the hurricane that was about to hit Pantala. She saw her chance and she took it. She flew for days until finally reaching the continent, being the first dragon to do so. She warned them all and saved countless lives because of it. She was seen as mystical and gifted, but that's a given when you have literal magic powers that lets you see into the future.

Clearsight spent her life peacefully. I don't think she wanted to be hailed as a god-like figure at all. She wanted to be seen as a member of the community, one no more special or note-worthy than anybody else. Her status as a prophet and deity I think was brought on in the following centuries. Wasp, the actual genocidal maniac, used Clearsight mostly as a means of which to get her way, manipulating the population into thinking that Clearsight herself foretold this would happen.

Clearsight wasn't a colonizer. I think it's a gross misuse of the word that really misunderstands both her character and the text in favour of going: "SEEE????? TUI IS BIGOTED!!!" That being said it is very iffy and uncomfortable to have Tui say: "Ohhh the reason why Clearsight basically bred out BeetleWings was because of her strong genetic material" like what are you talking about

[two-person-job]

hi it's been a month and a new . hold. is over me. it's called hollow knight. and. I have. like. 50 hours in it. in the past two weeks. 150ish total. and i've almost 100%'d it achievement wise. I already got the pure completion/112% completion achievement the only thing I have left is um the p5 ending which i've gotten really close to. I got to abs-rad last time which is funny because the time before that I got to pv before dying and that's also funny because the time before THAT I got to nkg so each time I only got one boss further so hopefully next time if I make it past pv again i'll beat abs-rad (ofc I need to practice against her but yk (I'm so bad at fighting her)) ALSO tiso is my favorite character he's the best he's my favorite ant EVER second place goes to god tamer she's cool. I hate fighting her tho she actually can ruin my p5 run. boooo. grimm gets me my health back tho he's real one. anyways ig unpopular opinion but I LOVE godseeker idc that she hates ghost in a normal playthrough I heart her she's the best :) and I like cloth a lot too that's a normal opinion I think cloth is really neat! hive knight is also my second favorite character. I loveee the little bit of lore we actually get about him and I like how he goes "bzzz huzzah!" because that's so real hive knight!! huzzah!! and pure vessel. pv. oughh they're totally my favorite fight with hive knight being my second. pure vessel is so much funnn like idc that they already deal double damage like. they're soo much fun!!!! and speaking of vessels lost kin is also the best lost kin makes me want to cry sometimes. ough the nod after you finish the dream battle I KNOW THE LORE I KNOW WHAT THAT NOD MEANS RAHHHHH. I also like monomon and quirrel a lot. jellyfish and pillbug combo my beloved.. I want. the next username I need to make. monomonn. because I love her. and I think her name is super neat. also nkg is pretty cool but like his name is kind of. middle schooler. nightmare king grimm.. muah ah ah... but he's a fun fight he's an enjoyable fight. idc that he's also double damage it's fun!! it's so much fun I love how. he's .pink. anyways. yeagh. bzzz HUZZAH! bzzzzz HUZZAH!

[shadowmoses]

my issue is that like. i wanna do sooo many things and i get these bursts of inspiration like ohh im gonna find my fandom niche! im gonna make my own clothes! im gonna paint more! im gonna get into those aus ive been thinking about! im gonna fix up my dolls! and then i start all of them at once and i end up not feeling like finishing anything at all. its like my house is a graveyard for projects.

[krytus]

how would u fix the show!

thank you for this completely unprompted question

okay so first i would literally Start w harrow and viren killing thunder the dragon. because that is the inciting incident. of the show. like throw out all the exposition and Show us the conflict between humans and elves. that s3 flashback scene could work as an introduction scene with some tweaking. harrow kills the dragon and hes like yayyy revenge but then viren pushes. the first thing viren should do on screen is manipulate his best friend into doing something terrible. prologue over.

skip a few days forward whateverrr introduce the princes. flesh our their relationship w their dad. maybe the first thing he does when he gets back from his Murder is tell them he did it for their mother. maybe he's acting a bit different now a bit distant. but the relationship between harrow and his sons should be like. actually thematically important? instead of. not.

harrow tries to shield his sons from the truth of what he did he tries to be the same man but theres a hint of that, my god what have i done? he did something terrible and bold. have his people be like. happy their queen is avenged but also like. expecting retaliation. compare killing thunder to humans first learning dark magic. great power heavy price. viren being like literallyyyy dont worry about it. elf racist. god i would make viren so elf racist but couch it in like. he wants what was taken from them -- positions himself as the avenger of humanity the way harrow avenged sarai. what we're doing is right. they started this. etc etc. dont make all the adult characters so fucking stupid and useless. have harrow face some friction from his advisors/councilors. but he's still the king. oh and throw in his notions of wanting to be a fair + just king. how do his actions fit into that childish dream? they dont. facing his flaws.

anyways okay all that happens. one, two episodes max we get to know the human side of the conflict. and thennn stinger for the end of that first arc is well. elves r done being sad its time to get revengeeee. instead of a group assassination, its just rayla and runaan. two person team bc strength isnt in numbers its a stealth mission. sneak in slaughter their targets get back. an eye for an eye. give rayla that motivation of wanting to avenge her cowardly parents/their failure. runaan being like this isnt a childs game this is for serious. and rayla being like yeah im not a kid + wanting to prove herself too. okay two man team we can still throw in rayla being unable to kill one guy. and that kinda ruins the mission. now theres tension. who do you root for? no ones doing the right thing. theyre all being terrible.

and then maybe the princes have a fight w their father their king. callum not wanting to seem ungrateful for all he's been given but ezran thinking what his father did was wrong. see he doesnt have that connection w his mother he was a baby when she died. but still being his mother's son and like she wouldnt have wanted you to do that. in the binary world of good and evil that exists in a ten year old's head, killing someone for something as abstract as revenge is evil. especially if you develop his bond w animals over humans.

okay so major turning point. rayla still sneaks into the palace alone runaan breaks away. the princes can still run away w her -- ezran being the one whos like. our dad did something wrong and i want to fix it. callum coming along to protect his brother. they leave Knowing how its going to destroy their father but that relationships tainted now. hes not the man they thought he was. but theyre going to go to the elves and prove that not all humans are bad. woefully childish dream, like wanting to be a good and just king.

anyways ok so the princes disappear. runaan fails and gets captured. viren realizes the egg is gone and who likely took it. urges harrow to find them bc he wants his prize back. he has plans. harow being like yeah obvs im sending my best to get my boys back.

okay and then you knowww. but big thing for me. for ME. is developing the fallout between viren and harrow because viren Wants the war. he needs the war. he needs to prove he is special and right. and harrow realizing he made a mistake. he chose death over life. becoming increasingly desperate to get his sons back. but at the end of it, he decides against escalation. he trusts his boys. he trusts their dreams.

and THERE. there. viren betrays him. harrow is going to do the right thing and viren wont allow him to be weak. and harrows like treason? you would kill your king? and virens like oh youre no use to me dead. i need you to see i was right + puts him in a coin (explicitly gives him a fate worse than death) and goes on trying to start a war w xadia. there. we have manipulator viren heroic harrow w agency a sense of urgency for the prince's mission and a conflict that's not easy to peg into good guys and bad guys. that took me what? a day to think of. tdp should have been good should have been nottt bad. amen

[unproduciblesmackdown]

sometimes recall that Scenario of like "oh a stranger draws another stranger sharing a space with them & without their knowing & Drawn Stranger is like how flattering that you did that & i love your Beautiful Artistic Interpretation of me" which i hate so i was like what's the opposite of that. & i'm pretty sure i'm averse to like every aspect of it & the opposite is about strangers sharing space with consideration for that & like oh no its sickos using headphones, on they phones, reading. if direct verbal interactions happen (or eye contact, or nonverbal cues) it doesn't have to Transcend shit or be an inherent improvement over not interacting. but also the best opposite is like oh sorry i looked over your shoulder kind of or just indeed spontaneously glimpsed what you were drawing but i like your jellicle cats haunted house episode fanart. or i have a question about some technique or materials i see you using b/c i'd be interested in having that knowledge for myself & if this is a meetanything that's fine i guess but can be a limited as what it is strangers interaction for a minute which is no worse

[rabbitindisguise]

Some innocent soul: oh you like [anime title]? :)

Me, trying to sound normal: haha yeah 👍

Also me: *kicking the thousands of reblogs on Tumblr of gifsets and handful of fics I wrote about two characters 69ing under my bed*

[sluckythewizard]

'I wont cry for you, I wont crucify the things you do. I wont cry for you, see, when you're gone, I'll still be BLOODY MARY'

[rozugold]

Ok no more asking the internet why my back hurts, they’re giving scary answers

[keeps-ache]

the urge to talk my head off vs. the calm of quiet vs. the Thoughts

[johndonneswife]

[pumpkinrootbeer]

people hate s11 lip but like.

I get it.