#so youre seeing serious meta and posts from people who care about the show

[princegaza]

🚨 🚨 🚨

Gofundme

🍉 🍉 🍉 Hello amazing Tumblr community, 🌹🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸

🚨 Important and urgent

they have been verified on @/el-shab-hussein's and @/nabulsi's list of vetted fundraisers here (#250, line 254)

90-ghost

I'm so excited to be here with you on Tumblr and I'm hoping you can help me repost the post I've been working on. This post is not just words, it is part of a fundraising campaign aimed at saving my family from death and supporting them in these difficult times. I hope, as I heard about you, that you will extend a helping hand and help spread this message to everyone and reach the largest possible number of people.

Pictures of martyrs click here

Help me by republishing my campaign and donating so that together we can reunite my family and take them out of Gaza so that my children can complete their education and so that we can live in freedom and peace away from killing, destruction, disease and hunger, and so that we can live together in safety and stability, and so that the hearts of my wife and children can be reassured after she lost her family. Her mother, father, brothers, and their children during the occupation bombing of the Tammos family home at dawn on October 29, 2023. She felt sad or overwhelmed. These pictures show some of her family members who were martyred in the bombing.

Other photos document the heinous crime against the family of my wife, Soha Tammos. Yes, it's time to console her and help her escape with her children to safety.

I, Amjad, and the family are still in dire need of your help, even more so than before. Our campaign is continuing, and I hope that you will be able to support us by sharing it and donating even a little, and I know that your small donation saves a person’s life.

We have been displaced repeatedly, and our displacement journey is still continuing amid an ongoing war of extermination in Gaza. I sustained serious injuries to my foot and I am still suffering from my injury. I cannot walk and need medical care and treatment expenses. My young children also fell ill due to the current living conditions in the tents and the lack of potable water and basic, health and educational necessities.

I deeply hope that you can contribute by sharing our campaign and donating, so that we can achieve our goal together and provide some relief to my family.

Supporting my family to survive the war

I am Majd Al-Shaltawi. I live in Gaza. I sent a distress call to evacuate me and my family from Gaza to escape the war. I am a Palestinian from besieged Gaza. I work as a skilled cook in Al-Shaltawi Kitchen and Restaurant, and currently my children are working to feed the displaced with donations from individuals and groups. This is my account on the Meta platform to follow updates

This is my accountx. To get new updates.

We lived through painful events during the October 7 War, and my children suffered panic attacks from the sounds of bombing and the killing of many family, friends, neighbors, and lineages.

Al Shaltawi Restaurant Page

Click Here

On the morning of Friday 10/13/2023, we woke up to a call from the Israeli occupation army to evacuate the residents of the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood in Gaza City, which we live in, in preparation for its bombing, and to head to the south of the Gaza Strip, which is considered a safe area. A safe haven, as the occupation claims

As a father, my duty is to protect my children. I had to leave my home, my job, and everything I own to save my children’s lives from this fierce war.

Then my wonderful restaurant was destroyed, as you can see in the pictures.

Restaurant photo click here

I lost my home, my job, and my source of livelihood, and I am the head of a family of 11 members

I lost a lot of weight due to war, hunger, and food shortages, and thinking about the future of my children and protecting them from genocidal war. I developed chronic high blood pressure, for which there is often no cure.

I am writing to you because I do not want to see death approaching my family

The cost of coordinating the exit from Gaza with travel costs per person is 7,000 euros. We also need housing. We need to evacuate my family of 11 people for approximately €97,000 to rebuild our lives and start again in peace and security.

My daughter Fidaa is studying a master’s degree in educational technology at Al-Aqsa University. The Israeli occupation destroyed the university buildings and ended her educational life. My daughter’s dream was to complete her higher education to obtain a master’s degree.

My eldest son, Ahmed, is studying a Bachelor of Business Administration at Al-Quds Open University and aspires to complete his university education. Al-Quds University was completely destroyed, and his dreams, ambitions and dreams were killed.

My daughter Farah is studying communications engineering at Al-Azhar University, and the occupation prevented her from graduating to become an engineer. The enemy stole her dreams and joy, as her wedding was scheduled to take place last November, and the occupation burned her entire house. Her dream now is to leave Gaza, go to her groom, Abd

My son, Hamdi, did not complete his “tawjihi” secondary education, and the occupation destroyed his school and his dreams of success.

And my two young daughters, Malak and Tala, the occupation demolished their school and their hopes for a happy and stable life. Like the children of the world, they were not unhappy with their childhood. They are now terrified and suffering from psychological problems due to repeated bombings by warplanes and seeing corpses and body parts in the streets during the process of displacement from one place to another.

And my two young daughters, Malak and Tala, the occupation demolished their school and their hopes for a happy and stable life. Like the children of the world, they were not unhappy with their childhood. They are now terrified and suffering from psychological problems due to repeated bombings by warplanes and seeing corpses and body parts in the streets during the process of displacement from one place to another.

The Israeli occupation has destroyed educational life in Gaza.

Thank you for learning about my story, thank you for your support and help, and thank you for your prayers for the people of Gaza to survive this war. I hope you will share the donation link with those around you and donate even a little to the evacuation of my family, Amjad, from Gaza.

@heba-20 @soon-palestine @ibtisams-blog @marnota @riding-with-the-wild-hunt @i-am-aprl @northgazaupdates2 @fallahifag @fairuzfan @sar-soor @90-ghost @hellspawnen @aroacekittywrites @ttohrus @proheromidoriyashouto @quagsiredoesnotfuck @turian @iamjustthinkin @genera1kenobi @fireyfobbitmedicine @tasteofyourblood @lesbianmaxevans @chimney-begins @ratmanwalking @aleksstroud @shellofashadow @ibtisams-blog @buttercuparry @wlwaerith @vetted-gaza-funds @sayruq @ripe @straycatj @thunderstruck9 @haflacky @catasters @northgazaupdates2 @northwezt @northernsiberiawinds @el-shab-hussein

[nightcolorz]

truly on board the armand meta train this evening but you mentioned in a post earlier about how the amc iwtv fandom reacted to the depictions of SA with Claudia in s1 and how it was responded to with sensitivity, and then in s2 this does continue- but only for her. The amount of people i have seen on various platforms (mostly show only fans) believing that Armand was lying about his own sexual trauma and repeated assaults for his own gain (again seemingly for some fan’s need to have a clear villian)

It just feels really horrible that a fandom that reacted in such a way to this sort of material in the first season concerning a female character who was underage (if only physically), then goes on to deny, belittle, and even romanticise and sexualise the same sort of trauma that happened to a male character who was also underage (and also mentally as well as physically.) Especially because Claudia’s trauma was only added by the show, which makes it no less valid- but pointing out it was not in the books like Armand’s explicitly was.

I think what im trying to say with that is that Armand’s sexual trauma was already explicitly canon and adapted from that book canon to the show, whereas Claudia’s was a show invention yet is treated a lot more sensitivity and is being believed more (again, i think this is due to show watchers seeing anything Claudia says as objective truth as it is more through the eyes of Daniel- who is of course always completely right and fair (/s) compared to Louis and Armand who of course must always be twisting the truth in some way from their own gain)

Anyway i have gone on a bit but I would love to hear your thoughts on the show’s audience reaction to Claudia’s SA and trauma in comparison to Armand’s

ooo yes I love this question, I’ve thought about it before. the double standard there is honestly pretty upsetting to me. I think part of why the fandom treats Claudia’s sa differently than Armand’s is definitely partly bcus of what u said, how Armand is assumed to be never truthful and Claudia is considered always truthful, which is applied by some ppl to everything they say and do with no nuance. I think a part of it is also a broader fandom issue where male sexual assault isn’t considered as serious/valid/wrong etc as female sexual assault is. so you’ll find people in fandom spaces who believe and discuss how sexual violence against women is a sensitive subject that needs to be treated with care, then go and treat male sexual assault in fiction like it’s sexy, or funny, or not so serious. because of the bias of course that exists with real sexual violence where male victims r often less likely to be treated seriously, believed, etc then female victims. when u think about it, considering the pretty prevalent socially ingrained belief that men can’t be sexually assaulted or that sexual assault against men isn’t as serious as sexual assault against women combined with a chunk of the fandom’s tendency to interpret everything Armand does or says as malicious or deceitful, it makes sense that this would be a prevalent take, but god it’s so disgusting, I hate it.

Armand’s history of childhood sexual abuse is extremely important to his character, as u said it was in the books, and the reason it was adapted so faithfully is because u *can not* remove it or change it without completely rewriting Armand and changing a lot of his fundamental characteristics. So frankly, it’s so fucking stupid to see people saying he’s lying, as if that would not be a character assignation so drastic it would be absurdly stupid for any writer to come up with. It would be like, idk, saying Claudia lied about being turned into a vampire when she was a child and that she actually was over 18, or some shit like that. Like genuinely be so for real 😭. And I mentioned it in another ask but I can’t say it enough, it’s repulsive to insist that a fictional sexual abuse victim who’s history of sexual violence is actively incredibly impactful to everything he does is “lying for sympathy”. Like y’all need to realize that u r making disgusting implications about real victims of assault and u sound like actual freaks. Also u sound dumb lol, like USE UR BRAIN, how would Armand be lying or using his trauma to manipulate when he is clearly actively acting due to his trauma 😭

So many people who were talking about how sexual violence against women is super sensitive and the show needs to treat it with more care, making sure to add tws on their posts and to make respectful disclaimers and such, are now taking another character who was sexually assaulted and saying he is lying or manipulating or their making jokes about it because they see him as some villain only worthy of ridicule and nothing else. It’s gross!!

I think another part of it is probably how a lot of people only see victimhood as real or valid if they perceive the victim as none-complexly “good.” Since Claudia is perceived by the fandom as always in the right she is a real victim who deserves respect, and since Armand is the villain who’s in the wrong he is faking it or smth. In reality people who have experienced trauma, especially childhood sexual abuse as intense and horrible as what Armand went through, are very flawed!! And having flaws or being a bad person, especially when said flaws r very tied to the trauma itself, does not make someone in any way less of a victim!!

Armand was taught to believe that he is an actual object, he grew up in a dog eat dog world where there r men with power who use weaker people to stay in control and there are slaves who the men use for whatever they please, and he internalized that this is how he will always has to live bcus this is how the world works. Assad zaman literally said Armand doesn’t know what love is bcus he’s never experienced it 😭. Armand models every relationship he has after his relationship with Marius, who literally raped and abused him as a child, because he was the first person who ever loved him 😭 and armand is always chasing love because he has never truly felt it and doesn’t know why he feels so empty. Marius taught Armand that love is using someone for their body and hitting them when they disobey u. Of course he’s fucked up! Of course he sees his relationship with Louis as a transactional power grab where he’s either the master or the slave before he sees it as loyalty and trust and companionship, of course he betrays him ‼️. And like 😭 everything wrong with Armand and all of the fucked up shit he does can be tied to his trauma . Come oooonnn 😭🙏 he is not lying 💀 he’s not trying to manipulate Louis or “gain sympathy”, Jesus Christ.

the petty, book purist part of me is so annoyed that a somewhat irresponsible rape plot line that was added without as much care as it should have been, especially considering it wasn’t necessary to the character or the story and wasn’t in the books, is being treated with more validity and sympathy and respect then a male characters childhood sexual trauma that has shaped every aspect of how he functions and behaves. And that’s petty 😭 but like, I can’t say I’m wrong for being off put. This is genuinely mf gross.

thank uuuu for the ask u r literally the best ahhhh!!! I hope this was interesting, I’m a lil brain fried rn lol

[tarisilmarwen]

Rebels Rewatch: “Spark of Rebellion”

With the Ahsoka show coming up here in August, I have just enough time for a full refresher so, you know, I Might As Well.

This is going to be different from my normal liveblogs, obviously, less real-time reactions and more commentary and meta analysis, though you’ll probably still get some incoherent nerdery and feelings spew here and there.

All right, let’s get into it.

You know with the benefit of hindsight, Vader’s speech to the Grand Inquisitor here is actually a perfect encapsulation and summary of the premise of the show.

“Hey so the Jedi are dead and the Empire reigns but the Emperor is still worried about threats to his rule, so your job is to hunt down and kill anyone a little bit too Force Sensitive and also anyone Order 66 managed to miss.”

It’s an interesting choice of phrase too.

“The Children of the Force”

Emphasizes the villainy of our bad guys in that they’re hunting down literal children and also seems to suggest some kind of protectiveness from the Force here; these are its children, people born into its “family”, so to speak.

Anyway.

OKAY WAIT NO I NEED TO STOP BECAUSE I STILL CAN’T GET OVER HOW THIS SCENE IS PARALLELED IN THE FINALE.

SHOT FOR SHOT.  SHOT.  FOR.  SHOT.

The show opens with the “boy who was lost” and closes with the “girl who was broken”, Sabine’s move into more narrative prominence S3 onward was not a writing mistake, it was purposeful, it was deliberate, the show is their coming-of-age arc, they are co-protagonists, they are each other’s Most Important Person and have so much influence on each other’s character development and it’s reflected so perfectly in that seventy-something episodes later we’re going to see Sabine standing right here where Ezra’s standing now.

*sobs*

Okay I’m good.

Right here is also when we hear our first classic Star Wars leitmotif, as the Imperial March blares out with obnoxious brassy flair.

Followed almost immediately by the short excerpt of the Rebel Alliance theme that functions as our stinger.

(I’m going to be talking about the score A LOT this time around, better get used to it lol.)

Ugh, there was this one stupid post that was like, “What’s so bad about the Empire regulating commerce anyway?  Controlling food safety is a good thing!”  REGULATIONS ARE A TOOL OF THE STATE TO CONTROL ITS PEOPLE SHARON, you notice they harass this vendor specifically because he hasn’t asked permission from the oh-so-benevolent Empire to make a couple credits selling a single basket of fruit, as if that’s something the Empire needs to control, and when he dares to complain about it they immediately want to toss him in prison.  That’s the epitome of petty state authoritarianism.

This is also such a wonderful character establishing moment for Ezra, because as much as he says he’s only out for himself and doesn’t stick his neck out for people the very first thing we see him doing in the show is surreptitiously sticking up for this harassed vendor.

We learn three main things here: 1. He’s clever and agile, 2. He’s a street kid trying to survive, 3. He actually really does care about people.  All in less than a minute.  Very tight writing.

I love the sound effect they use to signify Force use.  It’s very pretty.

Aaaaand of course accompanying it, the quiet string prelude to the classic Force theme.  An immediate auditory clue cueing us into the fact that Ezra is also Force Sensitive.  So unconsciously, we’re already primed to expect that.

Snrk, I still love how casually Sabine tosses the grenade onto the speeder.

There’s a strechiness and elasticity to the character models here that I think they lose later, as the tone evens out into being more serious, but it’s very Disney-esque.

Actually hilarious and kind of fascinating that instead of stopping Ezra, Sabine lets him keep part of the shipment and have a fair shot at escaping.

She definitely sounds like she likes his gumption.

If no supposed to ship, why let Tiya say the line so playfully here?

Zeb’s resigned thumbs up always cracks me up.

It bears repeating but the animation?  Very Disney-esque.  The whole way characters move, their design, how they emote and express.

I was always particularly impressed by the hair.

Look at it.

It’s always shifting softly around Ezra’s face and blowing in the wind and reacting to his movement shafkjghkajh.

SO much better than early Clone Wars.

No, shut up, go back and watch those awkward early episodes.

The faces don’t emote.

Kanan’s fond little smile. :)  He already loves that kid so much.

Again with the animation being very 2D Disney hand-drawn inspired in the way Kanan sloughs his shoulders here replying to Hera.

Hgnnnglllll the little shine in Ezra’s irises shifts like it’s an anime sparkle, I love this animation I love it I love it your Clone Wars could never.

If no supposed to ship, literally why have this moment with the classic Sees Her In Sparklevision trope?  (Okay so I added the actual sparkles but still.)

Seriously Filoni.  “I think there’s an automatic instinct to ship them.”  WELL WITH THIS COMING DAY ONE EPISODE ONE WHAT DID YOU THINK WAS GOING TO HAPPEN?!

Hi Kallus!

Right so after this sequence where Ezra feels inexplicably guilty for not doing more to help the people of Tarkintown despite him literally only finding out they existed two minutes ago there was pretty much no way I wasn’t going to love him.

I think my brain subconsciously recognized, “Oh, he has a Hero Complex.” annnnd yep, yep, that did it, he’s my son now.

Interestingly, this is also I believe the first time we hear Ezra’s leitmotif, which like Luke’s theme is primarily in brass but in a minor key, slower, more somber, more introspective, almost a thematic foil to the adventurous bold excitement of Luke’s theme.

Luke’s theme, AKA the Star Wars Main Title theme, by the way, is primarily used throughout Rebels to denote heroism.  Typically it comes in whenever we have a Gunship Rescue from the Ghost or some other kind of Big Damn Heroes moment.

Side note appreciating the animation again, the storyboarding and blocking is very cinematic.  The camera moves as it might on a modern Hollywood production instead of a weekly TV serial, which I think helps makes Rebels feel closer to the Original Trilogy.

And here the full Force theme breaks through. :)

Note: At this point, behind the scenes, Hera and Kanan have already discussed Ezra’s potential Force Sensitivity, and agreed to test him.  I am still sorely in need of fanfics that cover that conversation.  Just saying.

AGAIN.  WRITERS.  YOU NEED TO BE A LITTLE MORE AWARE OF JUST HOW SHIPPY THINGS COME ACROSS BETWEEN EZRA AND SABINE THIS FIRST EPISODE.

Like, there’s a reason why this conversation and footage is used in a million Sabezra amvs.

Ezra rubbing his hand on his neck, Sabine’s soft looks of concern at him, how warmly she finally reciprocates on telling him her name...

(Also notice how Ezra, empath that he is, immediately cottons onto the fact that Sabine considers the Ghost crew her family and discerns that something or other happened to her bio family.)

Gremlin child Ezra. <3

I’m sorry, I just noticed this:

What is that look, Sabine?  Lolol.

Hera going into Mom Mode immediately.  Her cheeky look back at Kanan, lol, she knows exactly what she’s doing.

Edgy TWC bros complained so much about the humor in early Season One and I say they have no taste, “rare hairless Wookie” is hilarious.

Part Twooooooooo!

For all his bluster and his devil may care facade, Ezra had that Jedi compassion and drive in him from the very start, I will hear NO slander otherwise.

Something in this escape sequence I absolutely love?  Ezra clinging to Zeb’s back.  Just the way he grabs Zeb’s legs and climbs him like a feral cat.  And Zeb does not appreciate it lol.

Oh hey, we’re at The Scene That Basically Sealed Ezra As Tari’s New Favorite Whump Target.

Yeah, protip to all showrunners, you put an emotionally vulnerable young male protagonist in mortal peril and you basically guarantee that I will obsess and fixate on them forever.

EVERY SINGLE FRAME OF THIS SHOT IS MORE HEARTBREAKING THAN THE LAST.

Hngl and you can hear him hyperventilating too ow my heart.

A brief excerpt of Ezra’s theme plays right here too, as if to compound Zeb’s guilt about the whole thing lol.

Like the score itself is saying, “HEY AREN’T YOU MISSING SOMEONE?!”

Sabine automatically assuming Zeb did something to Ezra. <3

Hera full-naming Zeb. <333333

A couple people pointed out before that Ezra flinches pretty noticably when Kallus reaches for him, and Kallus definitely marks that reaction with his eyes.  It’s such a quick little sequence but it’s fascinating in the layers it suggests.

I reiterate: The subtle facial animation is this show is fantastic.  The minute little emotions that you can pick up tell so much story.

Chopper voting with Hera to go back for Ezra. <333333333333333  The murder hobo does have a heart.

I love the little sideglance these troopers give each other after Ezra seals them in.  You can’t even see their faces but you know they’re chagrined all, “Oh.  Ohhhh we’re in so much trouble.”

And the joke is even followed up on when Kallus demands to know how Ezra escaped and this poor dude just has all the notes of, “This is the worst day of my life.” in his voice lololol.

I gotta gives props to Taylor Gray, he pulls off Ezra’s impersonations really well.

So how much do you want to bet Kallus had unfortunate flashbacks every time one of Sabine’s bombs threw him?

“I’m sure your parents must be worried sick.”  “I don’t have parents.”

*URGE TO ADOPT HIM INTENSIFIES*

(Also, same, Hera, same.)

Speaking of entire stories being told in the subtle expressions...

Tangenting here a little bit, I’ve seen more than one bad faith reading chiding Kanan and especially Hera for “manipulating Ezra into being a child soldier” and hnnghghghgkjgdksh could you guys have any worse comprehension?

Ezra’s fate, narratively and meta-textually speaking, was sealed the moment he volunteered the information about the Wookies and actively took part in their rescue.  He didn’t have to do any of that.  He could have stayed quiet.  He didn’t.  He could have made Hera drop him off first.  He didn’t.  He could have stayed on the ship the whole rescue.  He didn’t.  And yeah, some of the reason why is because Hera told him it was better to fight for others than only for himself, but also have you considered that Ezra maybe is just that selfless at heart?

(See above where his Establishing Character Moment was saving that fruit vendor.)

ANYWAY, if he hadn’t done any of that, Kallus would have never seen him leap far higher than he was supposed to be able to, and would never have marked him as a Force Sensitive, would never have alerted the Inquisitor to him and basically marked him as a target.

Any time the local Lothal garrison spotted him, their impetus would be his capture and/or extermination.  Ditto for when news eventually reached the Inquisitorius.

The safest place for him was absolutely staying with the Ghost (where he could be trained to protect himself) and they even gave him the choice about it.

To say that he was manipulated or guilted by Hera into following instincts that were already inside him denies Ezra his narrative agency; he chose to become a Rebel and fight against the Empire.  Hera might have awakened his heroism but it was Ezra who Answered The Call.

All right, tangent over.

Oh ho man, you can tell they went into this with zero plans to redeem Kallus.

I mean, I’m glad that it happened, I definitely enjoy that aspect of his character.  But there was noooooo groundwork laid for it in these early episodes lol.

Writers got halfway in and realized, “Shit, we like him.” and then had to scramble to come up with something, which, I mean... I relate.

Ah, here’s what I mean when I say Luke’s theme is used primarily as a shorthand for the element of heroism.

And for an example of what I’m talking about re: cinematic camera motion, there’s the bit right where the crew charges out of the cargo hold onto the platform on Kessel.  The camera is behind our subjects and instead of immediately cutting to an exterior shot (which would be perfectly acceptable), instead it sort of rolls out behind them, pushing down and forward with them, for a more dynamic shot.

Add several tracking shots after that, that basically follow specific characters, and with that simple cinema magic, the action sequence feels more frenetic and energized.

Gosh, Ezra was so tiny back in Season One.

I do like this cue right here, when the Imperial ship drops in, don’t know if it’s generic action filler or it becomes a leitmotif later, will have to pay attention I guess.

With context from A New Dawn, we know that Kanan has not ignited his lightsaber since Order 66, though he apparently came pretty close it in that book.  I just find it rather beautiful and poetic that the Force tells him it’s time right when he has a padawan to protect. :)

And this reveal is still excellently done, fine candidate for my personal No Context Signature Scene Test (that being a scene which, when shown in isolation, showcases off the best of a movie or show and entices watchers to check out the rest, it must do a good job of selling the work, essentially).

POV shot as Kanan stands up out of cover, cut to in front of him, the action music drops out and fades into the Force Theme and Kanan just kind of... casually walks through shots, leaning around them, the sound gets muted slightly, we get the gunslinger shot of the lightsaber pieces clicking together and then the Force Theme gets a bass drum flare to emphasize the moment.  Awed looks from everyone.  A triumphant musical cue.

Even Kallus is unnerved for a second lol.

And I love the verbal hesitation when he says, “Focus your fire on... on the Jedi.” like he can’t even believe he’s saying that.

Is it any wonder why I love the whole Rebellion Era Jedi aesthetic?  It does such a good job of encapsulating pure eucatastrophe, the sudden happy turn for good, a beacon of light and hope breaking through the darkness and despair.

The Wookies look at Kanan like a living legend has stepped out of the pages of their storybooks.

HNGH no one touch me.

And of course, Kanan stepping up immediately inspires Ezra to do the same, I love these two so much.

Wilhelm scream, lol.

See people, Kallus already associates Ezra with Kanan and has marked them as a master-padawan pair, there was no chance Ezra was going to just be able to keep his head down and live his life after this.

And again with the subtle expressions, there’s just a flash of sadness from Ezra here as he watches Kitwarr reunite with his dad, HAVE I MENTIONED I LOVE HOW UTTERLY EXPRESSIVE THE FACES ARE IN THIS SHOW?

I do kind of wonder what made Ezra decide to swipe Kanan’s lightsaber.

He had a thought to sell the holocron but honestly it seems like he wanted to keep the saber.  As a keepsake?  To use?

Honestly though I love it when writers have Force Sensitives just kind of compulsively drawn to Jedi artifacts and tools.  Like some part of them is called by the Force within the items.

There’s a really cute, almost shy way that Sabine ducks into her shoulders here.  I see it in amvs all the time but no one ever really talks about it.

I mean, along with Chopper’s sad little moan I think it’s meant to convey that they’re already fond of him and regret him having to leave.

Chopper loved Ezra from the beginning and only gave him grief because that’s how he shows affection change my mind.

Ezra does not take Zeb’s playful hit well, flinches like he did with Kallus.  Of course later he’d get used to it but right now Ezra definitely does not associate roughhousing with affection.

Ezra gets so timid in his body language here.

I... I would really love to know how Kanan got up the tower.  Where exactly is the turbolift in this thing?  Is it in Ezra’s room?  How’d Kanan sneak past?

I know we’re meant to believe Kanan is physically there and just Batmans in and out but honestly I don’t blame the people with the wild theory that Ezra’s having a vision of Kanan in this moment.

Speaking of Ezra’s timid body language, have you noticed how often he crosses his arms, in an insecure kind of self-protective fashion?  This all but goes away in the later seasons as he grows up.

Aaaaaand we hear a snatch of Leia’s theme as Obi-Wan’s message plays again, a little musical Call Forward to the princess’s iconic plea for help perhaps?

Interestingly it fades into a very understated version of Luke’s theme, without the full orchestral accompaniment, just a single trumpet and then some quiet strings playing the notes.

I’m going to have to pay attention but I’m tentatively hypothesizing that Leia’s theme will primarily represent the aspect of hope in the series, to accompany Luke’s representing the idea of heroism.

Hope and heroism, two classic archthemes of Star Wars, lol.

Maybe it’s fitting that Ezra’s theme kind of blends the feel of both of the twins’.

On a completely different note, nice to see composer Kiner keeping in the tradition of assigning the Ominous Latin Chorus to the villains, lol.

I like Grand’s theme, it’s reminiscent of the Emperor’s, all bass male voices and dark minor chords in the strings.

I warned y’all I was gonna be talking about the soundtrack a lot in these.

And that’s the pilot premiere down.  Some people said they found it hard to get into the series at first, but I was never one of them, the pilot had me hooked from the get go.  Granted it was my birthday and I was a bit, ah... sloshed at the time.

Still, there was pretty much no way I wasn’t going to be into this show.  The classic Star Wars feel, the lovely animation, the fact that Ezra was basically exactly My Type... (Orphan, tragic backstory, Hero Complex, heartwarming relationship with (surrogate) father figure, this boy was ticking off boxes left and right lemme tell ya.)

Pilot still holds up.  Not every show’s first episode does but this one does.

This was a fun exercise.  I think I’m going to try to knock one of these out a day at a time until Ahsoka drops, maybe not as in-depth and rambly as this one, but we’ll see.

Until tomorrow then.

[lookbluesoup]

I've had a lot of people interacting with my post yesterday about wishing there was more fandom meta discussion and exploration of "missing moments" with... huge amounts of fear and insecurity.

And I get that it's hurtful to share stuff in a fandom space and potentially be met with silence. It's easy to feel drowned out or get overwhelmed in a big fandom. It's terrifying to be in an online space and potentially get harassed by assholes who think anyone who looks at canon differently from them are evil.

I have definitely left spaces before where one or both of those things were so prevalent that I didn't feel like it was worth it trying to be part of that community. Your feelings are valid, they're legitimate fears. But it really hurts my heart to see so many creative people be so afraid.

Based on what I've seen, I assume that many DO want a more interactive fandom experience, in spite of that anxiety.

I can't tell anyone what they should do. I can advise you that fear and insecurity usually come from the inside - from past hurts, and that understanding them and deciding you don't want to be afraid anymore, that you deserve a space and a voice, is an important step in being able to reach out and form healthy, genuine connections with people over the things that you love.

But you are the only one who can decide what's good for you. Maybe you need therapy, or a different fandom, or a different environment. Maybe you need to cut some toxic people out of your life. I'm a stranger on the internet and I'll never be able to answer that question for you.

In lieu of that, I'll share some tips that have generally helped me feel safe in fandom spaces even though I have sometimes have anxiety attacks just trying to talk to friends.

Block people. I am dead serious. This bit is extra long because of how serious I am. 1) You're deliberately putting your comfort first, and that's a good thing to practice and 2) You won't have to worry much about those people invading your space

You don't have to hate them, they don't have to be evil, you just have to decide this isn't someone who's opinions you want in your corner of fandom. If they keep posting way off base critique of your favorite character, or imply liking a ship/character is somehow evil, or are just generally negative and you feel worse after seeing their posts most of the time? Take care of yourself. Block them.

If you really don't like their takes, you can go into your settings and use the filter tool to hide posts that their username is mentioned in from your dash. You don't have to see them or deal with them. Ignorance is bliss.

This is not being mean, it's not being an asshole, it's not being insensitive.. It's telling yourself "My comfort matters." We're in a hobby space, here to enjoy ourselves. You can always unblock someone later if you want.

If someone sends you anon hate. Block anon. If you MUST reply to the ask to show your friends or get the last word in, screenshot it and post the screenshot to respond to. But click that menu beside the actual ask and block the shit out of that Anon. Afaik they'll be IP blocked, it will be much harder for them to send you additional hate. (Not impossible, but harder, and most will move on to easier targets.)

You are not "winning" by leaving them unblocked, you're not proving that you're brave or that they don't matter, you're just leaving yourself open to more abuse. Block anon hate.

Unfollow people if the content they put on your dash upsets you. You don't have to dislike them personally. You don't have to justify it. Being "mutuals" is often overemphasized on here. You can be friends, you can read their fics or send them asks and be supportive without having to see every single thing they share. Following is about curating your dash, not picking friends.

Don't post when you're angry. I know that person bashing your fav character is an idiot but do not vaguepost or call them out in a fit of rage. Take a step back, remember it's fandom and not the entire world. If the other person seems interested in discussion, you can have a good-faith talk about it, but don't go into it determined to change their mind. You're just exchanging information, and you're allowed to disagree. If they're only hating and clearly not interested in talking, then write something positive about your character instead, in your own post, and focus on maintaining a space with people who you actually like talking to.

Hopefully you're seeing that the above advice is about building a safe, manageable fandom corner for yourself, and feeling powerful enough to enforce it. That's important. You don't owe people online interaction.

Fandom acquaintances can certainly grow into strong friendships, but not everyone, or even MOST of the people in fandom, deserve to be your friend and all the social obligations that entails. It would be exhausting and stressful to do otherwise, and it's not practical.

Now for positive action!

Nurture a handful of good friendships. If you brought some to fandom with you, great. You're a book club now. Each other's main "support", who (hopefully) do genuinely enjoy talking together. Fandom at large might not always give you affirmation, but a few good friends who know you giving you that support will be much more meaningful and sincere.

Talk to people you like! Say nice things about their art, writing, or characters. Reblog from them. Show a genuine interest in talking to them and seeing their creations. I know it's scary, but if you're trying to make connections, you do have to reach out! Lots of us are scared and most of us don't hear that we matter to someone else often enough. Be the change you want to see. You may be surprised to find that opening a door allows others to come through it, too, and they'll often try to connect back.

Not everyone will reciprocate the interest, for a variety of reasons which won't usually be your fault. That's ok! If you like their stuff, keep supporting them because that's part of what keeps fandom alive, but look for friendship elsewhere. Even if it doesn't work out and you don't hit it off, you tried!

More people agree with your takes than you think. A lot of them might be scared, too, because going against fanon mainstream is intimidating. But you'll have a much harder time finding like-minded folks if you never share your takes/writing/art/etc for people to find. Putting your voice out there is an investment that might take some time to pay off, but if it makes one other person out there feel less alone and more validated, surely that's worth it?

You're allowed to change your mind. About characters, about people, about fandom, about yourself. You are not beholden forever to your first or second opinion about a topic.

[extraterrestrialechos]

I've really enjoyed reading your meta on Ed (and the show as a whole.) Do you have any predictions/expectations/hopes for how his arc will play out in s2 and s3?

I’ve tried not to set too many expectations on S2 and hopefully S3 so I can just be surprised by and receptive to whatever rolls through.

The fundamental, primordial thing is I'm a big horror fan so of course no one would want me to write a second season of a comedy! Even my jokes are...

Me, making a crazy wall about how Ed and Frenchie are gonna make it work in the end.

Pointing to the mess of red thread and smiling with gleaming-eyed fervor as I corner you and tell you this is so obviously the endgame.

My smile is too wide I have too many teeth.

And clearly my one aspiration will be fruitless!

.

Rhys isn’t in the writer’s room obviously but I was saying in some reply I thought this bit of meta in an early Collider interview was really solid on his part:

Even in his most romantic sequence of thinking about everything he loves about Ed he thought about Ed threatening to stab a man through the eye (I mean it was very sexy of him, I feel you Stede), but obviously the last shot of Ed we see is a man heartbroken from crushed visions of a future denied him.

So, maybe I would like to see a dark but funny reunion, like Stede exulting that Ed has recovered from the awful (shudder) sock folding state Stede reduced him to etc etc and then looking down like “Oh. That’s a knife!”

But have we reached our impalement level with Stede? He’s already been stabbed twice! (Luckily this doesn’t seem too serious for him, but is more impalement a narratively fruitful direction? But then, a third beat can land hardest.)

I want to be entertained as it is impressed upon Stede that no, in fact, Edward does not feel refreshed and un-ruined and zesty about events as they transpired.

.

The show was, ofc, extremely careful to show that Ed didn't just fall apart because one man left him, but gave us a strong confluence of events where his new beau cut out on him and his professional partner and attack dog of however many years (in the post-S2 filming Insta interview series it was said they taught each other swordsmanship) was spooked by getting himself about drowned when left alone for five minutes.

(This was Izzy's own fault for being insufferable at people and open to the wiles of anyone including Black Pete who has like one (1) wile if any, but obvs the impact of the isolation after a season of Unattended Henchman Anxiety Syndrome was acute.)

So I guess my biggest hope is we really see Ed as his own man and being positioned to plot his own course with a clear head.

Which doesn't mean not forging healthy, re-negotiated relationships, but also doesn't mean being rescued by love or something unless it's Frenchie's that Episode 10 already psychological realism'd us out of.

Love by itself doesn't mend a lifetime of unaddressed trauma. Wherever you go, there you are.

[jyndor]

Sorry but maybe it’s time to stop trying to find parallels between literally everything. Bix and Jyn are nothing alike, their relationship with Cassian are nothing alike and their arcs are completely different. How is Bix being tortured by imperials a parallel to Jyn being interrogated by the rebels? How is Jyn being sent to a labour camp a parallel to Bix getting arrested for informations? Yes I agree that people should stop this bullshit of comparing them, mainly because they have >nothing< in common besides having some kind of relationship with Cassian at some point at their lives. But they’re not defined by what they mean to some man, just stop it. Also these ‘parallels’ will just make people compare them even more, so if it wasn’t your intention you should reconsider what do you want with that

eat my asshole since you’re so far up it already anon

the interrogation wasn't the point, it was about how they're both hiding how they are actually resisting the empire behind the smokescreen of petty crime/black market business. don’t act like you care about the details of any of this, if you’re the same anon (and again anons don’t get a shred of benefit of the doubt from me) you’ve proven yourself to be uninterested in the film and its characters.

part of character analysis IS comparing and contrasting, just not the nasty ways that a lot of fans do it - in misogynistic, racist ways. ever heard the term foil? it's a character that contrasts with another character to highlight these characters’ traits. comparing and contrasting characters is not necessarily a bad thing - it’s about how are we handling it? for instance: i’ve seen some racist, xenophobic behavior from jyn fans through the years (and honestly i’ve not even seen the majority of the early fandom shit because i wasn’t on tumblr as often - i saw that later on) that makes me question some jyn fans’ thoughts on bix because i know how this shit goes. and of course shippers are incapable of respecting the fact that people can have multiple important relationships in their lives without devaluing them, and often women characters get backlash for being *barf* in the way~~ of their ship or whatever.

what they mean to some man. are you serious right now. first off i have critiqued andor for bix’s arc in particular being pretty shallow in comparison to other characters’ arcs, and how she suffers an extreme amount in the service of pushing a man’s story forward. but also... the show is about cassian andor. it’s his show. in some way each of these characters will be there in service of CASSIAN’s story.

a big part of andor's thesis is that cassian is a mirror to the lead from rogue one as well as a foil. parallels aren't necessarily intentional by writers or even real parallels, and fans have a tendency to point out like things where a writer is just unoriginal and call it a parallel (see: steven moffat’s doctor who lmfao). my guess is when it comes to bix, they aren't entirely intentional - except of course the shots that are similar to shots of jyn. i understand how some people might find it annoying to see people pointing out random shots and thinking the fuck the context is totally different - but i deliberately made the gifset with some meta in mind. like i’ve got explanations for all of those scenes. maybe i should have just included it in the original post instead of writing it on a reblog like i’m currently doing but whatever.

i’ve been trying to give a lot of space to bix fans on this because i’ve seen jyn fans act up and i don’t want to spark some bullshit or play on racist, xenophobic and misogynistic shit in fandom. and frankly some bix fans, or people who claim to be idk yall don’t get to claim anything if you take the cover of an anonymous identity, have been horrible to cassian fans and jyn fans, and its felt similar to the melshi/cass shippers who have been harassing wlw rebelcaptain shippers and...

idk some of you either need to learn to block people whose content you don’t like and/or blacklist tags you don’t want to see. i tag really carefully so if you never want to see jyn erso content, you don’t have to. you don’t have to see my content because guess what? you can block me. i won’t miss your ass. if you were someone who actually liked my content or my blog or whatever, you’d have dm’d me with your concerns privately. because i’m gonna consider criticism from people who do that a lot more thoughtfully than some anon. i get not everyone feels comfortable contacting people off anon, which is why i always keep it on because really lol most of the time even idiot asshole anons are funny to me. but in all seriousness if you don’t feel comfortable saying this shit off anon, then maybe you should reconsider who you feel comfortable following and engaging with.

[lucythornwalter]

So this is going to be a long reply, but coming from a slightly different perspective - I agree with everything you’re saying here, but I think there are some additional points that are worth considering.

I’ve been on Tumblr since 2011; I abandoned my old main blog because I wanted a change of pace but I had a little over 3k followers there with an extremely high degree of engagement and multiple posts with six-digit note counts. There wasn’t a gap (so, I didn’t abandon Tumblr for another platform, I just immediately made a new blog). Starting fresh - as in, not tying my current blog to my old blog, not making an effort to court my old following, focusing on my original work over fanworks and meta - has made me notice some things about General Artsy Tumblr that isn’t true about fandom Tumblr, and has given me a lot of things to think about re: art and engagement.

First, in a lot of fandoms, fandom blogs do troll tags regularly with the specific intent to find new stuff and talk to new people and engage in new conversations; this is of course more common for stuff people already like than original work but it is disheartening if you don’t want to focus on fandoms with all the drama that already exists. It’s a wildly different experience joining a fandom (where people will be excited for new blood) vs posting into the void.

Second, original stuff gets noticed if you happen to be on the dash of the right people who will see it at the right time. If you have less than 100 followers, it’s a crapshoot if people will notice your work at all, and if you’re a new blog you have to post in tags and gain a few followers for a few days before your posts even reliably show up. If you’re in a fandom and you’re excited about making things, that urge can carry you through the initial disappointment of No Friends, but original works by people who are neither established nor posting in popular fandom tags often float by with no engagement.

And that’s not a catastrophic thing, but it is disheartening. I was psychologically prepared for this - I spent a good six years on Tumblr with barely any interaction with anyone; I’m here for the long haul - but if you’re not prepared for days that become weeks that become months with nobody talking to you at all, it is disheartening. I don’t think people are wrong to be frustrated by it. I’d also like to add that interacting with people when you have an established presence or a shared interest gets a different response than reblogging with tags or commentary when you genuinely want to make connections with people but have less than 100 followers - I’ve been seriously interacting with people and my most “successful” follower gains have been after making fandom posts, which I started doing seriously so I could get eyes on the rest of my work.

None of this is some kind of condemnation - you’re absolutely right that in order to get the most out of Tumblr you have to post into the void and do what you want and just kind of hope you find your people. But it is a longer grind that requires continuous work simply to be seen unless you’re starting off by targeting a fandom space that (in my experience) does not care at all once you stop posting the things that you’re known for. I’m prepared for it, but I do bemoan people liking my posts but not reblogging them, and not sending asks, and seemingly not noticing replies or reblogs. (And I’ve also been doing a project that has me crossposting on an app called Combyne that’s somewhere between Instagram and Polyvore; I’ve been there for a few days and I’ve been getting a lot of interaction there with less effort than Tumblr. I’m also on Bluesky; people do interact more there with original work and there are hashtags designed to help users find community around art and original fiction that are regularly checked.)

tldr (because I can’t shut up) - you’re right that a lot of people are just entitled, but I do think that there are serious barriers beyond the psychological to becoming an Established Tumblr Presence, especially if you don’t have anyone you’re regularly interacting with here. But also, imho a significant part of this is psychological, and more people trying to use Tumblr for self-promotion should be aware that you’re gonna have to grind with limited reward, and that it’s a lot harder than being a fandom blogger because there’s nobody serving as a welcoming committee.

Looking through the notes on the post about Tumblr being terrible for artists, and seeing people talk about how people don't reblog art or follow artists just seems kind of bonkers to me considering that my first post to crack 1000 notes was a drawing back when I had like 600 followers and it gave me a panic attack that so many people were looking at my stuff.

And this week I managed to pick up about 5k additional notes on a reblog of a zine from 2021, pushing it over 13k notes (no tumblr radar, no promotion, no cross promotion, people just like the dog zine and it's currently showing up on a bunch of people's dashes. Because they're sharing it. Because they like it. So I'm sorry i also just don't really see the "people don't reblog art here" thing - there is art on my dash all day long, i reblog art, and people reblog my art. I don't know why people aren't reblogging your art, but yeah I do think it's kind of entitled when people lament the likes to reblog ratio. There's someone in that other post saying that tumblr has never been good for them because they don't make art on popular subjects and I'm sorry but popular things will get more attention than unpopular things. I am unsurprised when my Twin Peaks art gets more attention than a cartoon about Drop Dead Fred. Yes, kitty drawings are probably going to perform better than conceptual art here! People here like cats! That doesn't mean you only have to draw cats to get attention, but you should be realistic about why your OCs aren't as widely shared as, say, fanart of a popular ship.)

There are a bunch of artists talking about how actually you shouldn't have to have your entire personality online or promote yourself to promote your art, that tumblr is bad for art because what's "good" for art is sites like IG and DA where the art speaks for itself and spreads because people like it.

But.

Like.

That has never been my experience of those sites. I've been on DeviantArt for nearly twice as long as I've been on tumblr, and barring a webcomic artist commenting on some fanworks i made and tagged in their very small Fandom, i can't remember any interactions with people i didn't know personally, or pieces that got more than a couple hundred views. I stopped posting on DA mostly because it felt kind of, well, dead. Unless you pulled off something *ridiculously* clever (i guess i had one clever fiber art post that got a little traction in 2012) or with a pretty significant level of technical skill, nobody would look at it.

That first drawing that i had that went "viral" on tumblr (i think it ended up with 30k notes) was done with a ballpoint pen on some printer paper during my lunch break. It was kind of hot garbage actually, in terms of being "art."

The tiny Bastard zine wouldn't perform on DA or IG. It's too many panels to scroll through and no single panel is "good" as a standalone piece and it's not a style I draw in often enough that people would look for it specifically like the "oh no" comics that are allowed to be "bad" art (those are not bad art, btw).

The moving eye drawing might get attention on IG, but what the fuck would I do to present the companion piece, which is vertical?

One of the reasons that tumblr has never felt "dead" for me as an artist is that I've never felt the need to conform to a specific style or medium in order to get people to look at what I'm making.

Pornographic fanart altoids tin dollhouse? Sure.

Detailed pen-and-ink papercraft illustration that moves? Hell yeah.

Messy sketch of Argumate with the bowsette power crown as a shitpost? Cool.

Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck as Sam and Frodo bickering about throwing the ring into Mt. Doom on the end of someone else's post? Yep.

Ballpoint pen comic about rape culture? Yeah.

50 pages of a weekly grayscale comic about alt subcultures? Why the hell not.

Rainbow squiggly line digital drawing done in the ER? Yeah okay.

Advil chicken? You bet.

Gru excitedly telling people that practice means more than talent appended to a post about fanart? Not only yes but hell yes tumblr fucking loves "boobs" goblins and reaction images and reading people's posts as prompts.

Like, I get that artists want people to focus on and appreciate the art, but there's a BW architecture photographer in those notes lamenting the loss of curative aesthetic blogs that heavily relied on the tags.

Bud. People come here to chill. I absolutely love following brutalist and art deco and desert photography blogs, but what you're telling me is that the only reason tumblr is dead for you these days is that other people were collecting an audience for you. Your problem isn't that tumblr is dead, it's that your art fit the dark academia style and was shared by people who had strict themes for their aesthetic blogs, which is not particularly popular in 2024.

I don't follow any tags. I almost never tag my art. The "downfall of tagging culture" is not something I've experienced on tumblr because it's not something that was ever important or useful for me as an artist here, tags were always far, far behind "people who followed me for wild stories/shitposting/ranting" in terms of getting eyeballs on my art.

"Tumblr *is* dead for art because people used to follow tags" - friend, it is easier than ever to read and follow tags, but that is simply not the current culture of the site. People also used to make jokes based on post threading. "Just _____ things" used to be the favored style of gimmick blog. Are you telling me you haven't changed how you interact with tumblr since the days of superwholock?

You shouldn't have to put your entire personality on display to get followers for your art, i do agree with that. But you can't keep using a site that used to be drastically different and expect it to work the same (and people don't expect that on other sites - artist behavior changed on twitter and IG when they went non-chronological, artist behavior broadened to include reels and short video on IG, artists talk about posting schedules that will make sure they stay relevant to the algorithm on twitter, but you think this site is dead because there aren't aesthetic blogs trawling the tags and sharing your stuff anymore?! Keep up. "no sideblogs, you get to drink from the firehose" has been a prevailing attitude here for at least 4 years)

Anyway. Here's some art that I've had great success with on tumblr that has gotten zero traction elsewhere.

I'm in the enviable position of not relying on aesthetic blogs, which is good because I'm not someone with a clear aesthetic, and no aesthetic blog is going to get me thousands of notes on big titty duolingo owl or gaussian blur advil chicken.

(Btw, Gaussian blur advil chicken is heavily inspired by Chris Maggio, an artist i found and whose work i fell in love with on tumblr!)

[cockbiteproductions]

if you told me a month ago i would be 4.5 seasons into supernatural again i would’ve shot you AND YET.

[separatist-apologist]

Wow, I really love your hater book review take – it’s so eloquent and enlightening. Hope this isn’t too meta, but can I ask for your review on ACOMAF? Like you’ve talked about the “magic of Rhysand” and Rhysand is my favorite character across all literature but I always have a hard time verbalizing why besides vague gesturing of like look at him!!

First of all, I feel like I need to state that anyone who reads this and gets upset that it's positive, I have written many posts about the problems with Rhysand. So like. Just spare me your hate or your "whatabout-" I have answered anti-Rhys posts many time.

For Rhysand, I think the magic of him is first all, SJM is a good writer. Without touching on her flaws, of which she has, she is good at writing characters, dialogue, and emotions across all her series, which I think is indisputable for the people who generally like her characters. I see tons of anti-rhys stans who love Nesta/Eris/etc, and like, who wrote those characters you know?

When we meet Rhys, he is the archetype morally gray character- handsome, dark haired and smirking while he laughs as he commits his misdeeds. It's all funny to him- he's the foil to serious, brood Tamlin. If Tamlin hates being High Lord, well Rhys loves it. If Tamlin can't stomach the thought of Feyre being in Prythian, Rhys thinks her presence is interesting and fascinating. Feyre is angry and lashes out, which sends Tamlin away but Rhys keeps poking and prodding because it's all amusing to him.

He's also the only person we consistently spend time with when Feyre goes under the mountain. Tamlin is rendered silent and Rhys is allowed to speak, and the man who we keep being told is evil incarnate gets a chance to shine. Is he good? Not really- but he is interesting, which I think makes him likable. What are his motivations? Sometimes I think Rhys himself doesn't really know.

And then ACOMAF comes along and its Rhys again, but in his element. He's HOME and instead of just info dumping everything all at once, he lets Feyre peel him back layer by layer, and we get to do that with her. And Rhys, for all his flaws (of which he has many), isn't just a brooding asshole with dark hair. He cares about things, he has jokes, he can have fun. He's also not insulting Feyre or making threats or declaring she belongs to him the way a lot of other book LI's do (at least, not until the very end).

Rhys grovels and has his own fears and nightmares and I think by the time you get to chapter 54 when he shows up at the cabin, we've gone through all of that with Feyre. He's now nuanced, has a distinct personality, and has evolved beyond his ACOTAR beginnings (Which I saw someone describe as a prequel to the book SJM really wanted to write, which was ACOMAF- and I agree with that analysis. ACOMAF is where Feyre really shines and ACOTAR always feels disconnected from the later story).

My issue with Rhys wannabes is that authors never bother to develop them BEYOND UTM Rhysand. Feyre tells Rhys he can get out of her cell if he's gonna keep insulting her, and in ACOMAF he's not that dude anymore, but authors I feel like don't understand that like, Rhys also undergoes some amount of transformation once he's freed. He is who needs to be dependent on the situation, but when there are no requirements on his time or personality, he's worth being around. I see people asking all the time what Rhys even likes about Feyre besides being mates and I think ACOMAF answers that question sufficiently, and also shows what, who in ACOTAR says flat out being with Isaac made sense to her because they both had the same undercurrent of darkness between them, Feyre likes about Rhys.

Also, I want to add that like, for Rhys's flaws, a lot of people like him specifically for those reasons. Fiction is a place to engage in behavior/themes/romance you wouldn't be interested in in your real life. And I do think Rhys is reflective of that. The redeemable badboy, the unrepentant asshole who loves one person/a few people and no one else. Only you know the real him, etc etc. That's a pretty clear fantasy among a lot of women.

And I think also the writing is just incredibly accessible. It's not cringe or poorly done though I know people disagree with me. At some point, when do you judge a book based on its popularity and not the amount of em-dashes? Are any of SJM's works literally masterpieces, obviously not. Are they free of the society we live in? Certainly not (and they're worth critiquing specifically for that reason AND their popularity, but thats a convo for another day). But they're accessible, they're interesting, and I think Rhys is reflective of that.

[utilitycaster]

Top 10 (or five or however many you wanna do) hopes/dreams/things-you-wanna-see happen during the two shot? What do you want the most. Also for a bonus point however many things you’d hate to see, or like things the fandom wants that you’d disagree with (coughs in inexplicable fjorjester hate)

So, on some level, it's like. It's Mighty Nein. They are dealing with Uk'otoa. I don't really think they can go wrong, per se. With that said, here's the stuff I'd like to see:

Sabian. Travis always excels at providing a certain weight to his character backstories and in having people who are both immensely important and also largely unseen (Vandran; the Claret Orders/Oltgar/Chet's past lovers; Wrayne Agrupnin; Kevdak felt this way prior to him showing up) so it's like. Let us see Sabian, he's at the center of Fjord's backstory, we narrowly missed him bc the Nein decided to go mad hard on Avantika right away and then it made sense to part ways post-Aeor (this is valid of them but still) and he's DEFINITELY caught up in this.

I will be happy if they reseal Uk'otoa, but I will be ECSTATIC if they just fucking kill him. Fuck off, snea snake.

Similarly, I'd like to see Caduceus and Essek cameos. We know Cad's not coming (and why would he, tbh, he's got a garden and he does not have any love for the sea and [long derailing meta about Cad and Fjord's friendship redacted]). I highly doubt Essek is joining them for the full two-shot either for mechanical and narrative reasons. However, a brief send-off scene or a Sending to those guys would be a nice touch.

TBH on that note I'd love for it to open with a like, call to action with scenes from each of the groups, so like, Jester, with Fjord and Kingsley, calling up Beau and Yasha; Caleb (and possibly Essek); Veth; and Caduceus, and each of them getting a scene of what they're currently up to and then joining everyone on the ship, or not, as the case may be. (Cad: I'm well! Absolutely not! But if any of you die and it's not Caleb tell him you can teleport here for resurrection or burial, whatever.)

Veth has 6 first level wizard spells now (possibly more if they leveled up further?) and I want her to go fucking wild.

Taliesin gets carte blanche - even when I don't vibe with his characters (which has only happened once) I trust his builds will be at minimum interesting - so I would love to see something absolutely bananas for Kingsley.

I want Marius LePual to finally kill something. Like, a small thing, like a sea spawn dude.

Fjord was considering getting a tattoo, vaguely, from Orly, and he's had the time, and I think that would be very fun. I feel like dexterity is the obvious choice but who knows. Maybe he picks cold resistance.

torn tbh between "somehow, Avantika returned" for comedy and making Vandran very unhappy, and the fact that her zombie death was a significant moment and the moment of the Star Razor's exultation.

My ridiculous long-shot wish is a Beauyasha engagement thus setting up another one shot set at their wedding. This offers an opportunity for Caduceus and Essek content that would make more sense than in this two-shot, it would be very fun, and probably Isharnai interrupts it.

Things I don't want to see are under a cut so that people who want to be in a pure state of bliss can continue. Rock on; as established, I am, as Brian Murphy once said of himself, made almost entirely of salt, but I admire those who are not.

So here's the thing. Do I care, particularly, about the opinions of people who keep calling for two characters who have been dating for like four months and have never once been stated to be married, to get divorced? Do I care, particularly, about the opinions of people whose social skills are so utterly lacking that they genuinely think that the way to achieving closure for unrequited feelings for one of your closest friends, who is dating another one of your closest friends, when you are also either in a relationship, or at least involved in Serious Wizard Flirting, is to confess this love to them, instead of quietly moving on? Like, realistically, it goes like this:

Do I care, particularly, about the opinions of people, who I believe with unshakeable certainty, would 100% be the biggest Fjord stans of all time if he were played exactly the same, beat for beat, word for word, except by either Marisha or Liam (depending on their personal preference), instead of by Travis?

The answer is, of course, yes. I do. The devil on my shoulder constantly whispers to me "but M, someone is WRONG on the INTERNET." Fortunately, the angel on my shoulder has a boombox blasting "Welcome to Wildemount" at top volume and is doing a pretty good job of drowning it out right now.

Anyway, is it Thursday yet?

[pleasestopdeletingmyaccount]

Yeah I see both of your points

But

Have you considered

✨Delulu✨

Sorry being ✨delusional✨ is my coping mechanism

What ? You see proof that points to Buddie not becoming canon?

No you don't ✨

On a separate note, I honestly think this is just a preference in methodology of media consumption.

Buddie fans have been waiting for close to 6 years for this ship, and sadly, truthfully, as a Buddie fan, most of the canon fuel burned out after season 4, and from there it's less canonical materials and more, this is how we've chose to consume this content so this is how we'll interpret the material.

There's a time and place for serious TV analysis and metas, holding shows accountable for stringing viewers along, being lazy and repetitive with storylines and character arcs. And Buddie fans do make these, they're fans of Buck and Eddie, sure, but they're a fan of the show first and foremost.

We love this show, with all our hearts, it means something to us, it makes us go crazy but we love it anyway. That's why we want it to do well too, we want the character arcs and storylines to progress in a logical sense, to tie neatly into the narratives, to be coherent and thematically appropriate. We love this show just as much as the general audience do (if not a little more, I swear, some of the posts I see on the 9-1-1 tag), so we're also the most likely to see its flaws and criticise it (look at the season 6 finale, I was on both Tumblr and Reddit at the time and let me tell you the number of essays I read)

We're not trying to make it seems like anything they put out is great as long as we can spin it to become Buddie. Some of us just try to have faith in the show and believe it will find a way to improve (and we'll be here to shit on it if it doesn't)

On the other hand, there's definitely a time and place for fun, light hearted jokes and commentaries about the direction the show's going in and how much we don't like it, so we pretend to not see it :)))

I absolutely understand how it can seem annoying and childish the way we approach Buddie content, literally scouring the floor for CRUMBS of a HINT of Buddie. But it's fun, it's not fun because it's lowkey a little pathetic looking, it's fun because there's a sense of community in it.

Somehow, the show being a little queerbaity and us getting next to nothing for our ship becomes a bit less shitty when you log on to your account and there are some 90 thousands people collectively losing their shit with you.

That's just how fandom spaces have always been, like-minded people with similar interests coming together to both celebrate and commemorate this piece of content that they love. I'll be sad if Buddie doesn't become canon, but honestly I don't care, I don't need it to live, I have more than enough fics and delusional friends to help me scratch that itch.

And right now, that's what I'm here for, not just for the show, or the characters and actors, but also for my incredibly talented mutuals, writers and bloggers that I look up to, new interesting free content from people who love the same thing I do.

In short, I think we all know that reality is not fanfiction, we've been burned by too many shows too many times to not take that to heart. But we get our hopes up anyway and live in this fictional land anyway because we find this way of consuming content way more fun.

And that's okay, neither way is wrong, and neither way should be shit on. We all love this weird wee woo show in our own ways, and I love that ^^

So, I lost the fucking point on this, this went from a simple reply of a post to a love letter to the Buddie fandom, the 9-1-1 fandom, and fandom as a whole.

Just in a really positive mood today, so wish everyone a happy day ^^

I’m loving how everyone is changing their tune to “oh hey now we can get a double date! We’re still wining!”

Like…do they think what that they will go on a double date and suddenly dump both girls in the middle of it to go make out in a corner…? The problem a lot of fans seem to have is they have it in their mind the show runs like fan fictions do and it does not.

💯 Headcanons are great, but some of the scenarios people throw out make it sound like Tim is just waiting for the right moment rather than writing scenes the networks will approve of.

Double date awkwardness would have already happened if this were a m/f ship.

What do we get?

Subtext.

[ladyluscinia]

speaking as someone who reads a lot of ed/stede fic i think you're exactly right re: woobification of ed. if the fic in question touches on e10 his actions are usually given far less weight than stede's, and imo i think it's because a lot of fans don't know how to deal with the gravity of what he did. something i've seen often is that ed will get some grief from the crew and they may be somewhat cautious around him, but mostly it's stede who has to work to win back ed's trust and affection. which, yes, obviously he should have to do that, he fucked up, but ed not having to do the same with the crew & izzy if the author even bothers to write him in has always seemed idk unfair to me? obviously, people can write what they want, but i do feel like this attitude is prevalent in fandom meta as well. it goes on a wavelength of something like: all of ed's actions towards izzy, the crew, and stede are largely excused, stede's behavior towards izzy receives the same treatment, and izzy is simply not around for any variety of reasons and no one cares that he got his toe cut off. the reason i have accidentally read so much fic like this is because every time i open something that piques my interest thinking maybe it will be different and almost always it is not. i wouldn't be so bothered by this if it didn't contribute to the pipeline of me seeing with my own eyes posts made by people on this very website attempting to justify bodily mutilation as some fucked up form of punitive justice.

Hi, yes, all of this.

Like, I will confess that I'm already very lukewarm on BlackBonnet as a ship (just not my preferred dynamic), but I have been avoiding the tag on tumblr and AO3 like it's radioactive because I know I will risk losing all positive feelings for it in a matter of hours (which... probably not a great idea seeing as it's endgame 🤣). I'm sticking to SteddyHands where nitpicks about characterization are easier to spot in advance and often actual nitpicks, not slam the back button levels of drastic.

Anyway, the part of this ask that really grabbed my attention was...

...it's because a lot of fans don't know how to deal with the gravity of what he did.

...because that is a major part of the problem and also kinda interesting to talk about. And I have thoughts on it, both on how the show is potentially equipped to handle it and why so many fans struggle.

So preface: here's a link to my followup woobification thoughts post, which links the original woobification thoughts response right at the top.

Now... Why is reckoning with and forgiving Edward's actions (that are obviously going to be forgiven) proving so difficult that it makes sidestepping the problem entirely such a common fandom response instead?

---

There's two main factors that I think are the most important at the moment. (Well, three, but the third is anti culture declaring that faves must not be "problematic" or "bad people" or you aren't allowed to like them, and that's way bigger than this specific OFMD problem. Those antis just need to be ignored. So two actually interesting to discuss main factors.)

The genre of the show is hitting a very nice spot in handwaviness around violence that is crucial to getting past this in canon.

Edward's character arc spent pretty much all of S1 in the setup phase, while Stede actually progressed through his.

Genre, I'm almost positive, is going to be the show's saving grace in this matter, because they have played some really clever games with it. I talked a lot in this post about how handwaving narrative consequences at a certain point can be a really good thing, but it's also deceptively hard to set up because if you fail to be consistent then it only highlights your issues.

Edward's actions in a more serious show would be pretty hard to come back from, and even in this show, they aren't currently being treated as funny or no big deal. That's why just handwaving them from here doesn't work. Stede fixing the Kraken with a swashbuckler entrance and a kiss is a funny joke and a great fanart, but not a satisfying story for Edward. At the same time, OFMD's humor is actually really dark for a show that is best described as a romcom. Meaning even as Edward does awful things you can keep a running thread of humor to kind of lighten the gravity - like Jim's "What did you do to your face?" comment.

I still maintain that the big three four events of the Kraken turn - Izzy lashing out at Edward, Edward "killing" Lucius, Edward maiming Izzy, and Stede's abandonment overshadowing it all - have to be dealt with roughly equivalently and at the same time. Leave a hurt out (like Izzy's toe) and you mess up the whole balance, so there's one problem for people who don't like Izzy very much. But so long as all the characters get to acknowledge how they fucked up and how they won't do it again (requiring some character growth and communication from them all), then the genre tone will let them collectively move on without unpleasant hurdles (like Lucius feeling unsafe on a ship with Edward for the rest of his life).

This helps the show, but it doesn't necessarily help fans and fanfic, because a lot of fanfic writers are not working in this genre.

Angst people are writing angst, fluff writers are in slice of life romance, plot heavy fics might be adventures... all very fun, but possibly lacking the required tools to satisfactorily resolve these problems the way the show is likely going to. They have to adapt it or discard the need for a solution entirely, and adapting it might be trickier both because it's more work and there's a lot more open questions around Edward than around Stede.

We're back to character arcs.

It's so easy for fans to focus on how Stede needs to fix what he's done because, yeah, it wasn't that terrible in comparison, but also the show has already built and explored the whole framework for him to do so. We know exactly what was going through his head, we know what he wants now, we know the direction his character is going in... He's most of the way there already. For Izzy enjoyers, too, a lot of his character arc was covered this season. We have lots of evidence for his motivations and wants and plausible ways he could grow as a character, even if it's a bit more open to interpretation than Stede.

Edward, meanwhile, has just started. We can try and interpret his behavior this season for hints as to what's driving him, but there have been no recent backstory flashbacks or goals he was openly chasing beyond the general idea of Stede, and clearly the Kraken is not about getting Stede back. His flaws haven't been starkly established, much less the intended solutions. Like, I think that greed for both lives he's been sampling is a major part of it, and the resolution will involve compromising to a life he's satisfied with, but that's just informed speculation at this point.

Edward is so hard to figure out in a fic because first you have to decide what you think the problem and solution is, and then how to adapt it to whatever genre you are working in so that it actually fixes the whole attempted murder of 7 people + maiming and abduction. Not very easy if said genre is, say, the ever popular fluffy romance. Good fucking luck conveying even the idea of a whole arc in a oneshot. It can be done, but not easily. Meta, too, can have a sort of "genre" that causes a similar struggle. I feel like my meta probably isn't overly concerned with how characters are mentally affected by violence committed against them, for example, simply because it rarely interests me long term and I watch so many shows where violence is omnipresent, which probably helps me here.

Anyway, for a lot of fans it's much easier to just focus on what has been clearly established - that Edward has childhood trauma and was hurting - and a solution that conveniently can play out in almost every genre - make Edward feel better. Even if, as I will continue to complain, that's not really an arc and therefore boring. Also pretty woobifying to suggest a guy who committed 7 attempted murders had no underlying issues that are on him to address. Just really hurt feelings and the need to believe in love again.

So yeah. Interesting factors. I think considering both makes impressive strides to explain where the problem is coming from, even if it doesn't really prevent it. Just back to waiting for season 2, I guess.

...also I just realized that this is finally my version of the "only BlackHands shippers get Edward as a character" post 🤣🤣🤣 Because they are actually pretty good at navigating the Edward/Izzy part of this. Sometimes. I have way more faith in them out of the gate, at least.

(EDIT: Follow up response where I make a Helen of Troy joke)

[therealbeachfox]

The Complete Canonical Timeline of “Legends of the Starlight Hero”: Part 2

[[Character Breaking Information to Prevent Confusion: This whole thing is meta fan-fiction for @unpretty’s Astielle series, which is written as if it’s fan-fiction of a non-existent long-running video game series. This is my vision of what said game series might look at based on everything she’s written so far. Legend of Starlight Hero XII: The Gods of Astielle is the name of the ‘current game’ Astielle is supposedly fanfiction of. This is “written” shortly before its release. The first part of this exercise in metafictional self-indulgence can be found HERE. ]

Legend of the Starlight Hero (1985) [Nintendo/Atari 2600/Other] [Itokto]

[[A giant poster of the cover of Legend of the Starlight Hero I is hung up at a ComicCon. Someone dressed up like a giant Clippy-style sewing needle decked out in the Original Starlight Hero garb and wielding (an upsettingly well done considering the rest of the costume) Starlight Sword poses dramatically in front of it.]]

Legend of the Starlight Hero. The first. The original. The baffling origin of decades of magic and wonder and side-quests.

The plot is as simple as we're ever going to get. There's this big monster, you see. King of All Monsters, no less. He lives in this giant fortress-city called Monster Citadel on top of this giant mountain named Monster Mountain. From here, he sends out his Monster Armies to ravage and pillage the country-side. Only the holy weapons of the Celestial Sisters can defeat him, but he has those locked up deep in his Crypt of the Monsters. 

But that's fine! You've got a sword, a devil-may-care attitude, and a nameless girl who can cast Shield over and over again. It's time to fight your way up all seven interlocking zones/levels of Monster Mountain while slaying Armies of Monster until you reach the Monster Citadel and unlock the Crypt of the Monsters and finally defeat The Monster King - King of All Monsters' once and for all!

Monster!

[[A mildly pixilated jpg of the back of the Legend of the Starlight Hero case. Each instance of the word Monster has been magnified and pixilated an increasing amount until the bottom of the box is just a series of overlapping jagged MONSTERs]]

And now that you know the plot, you don't ever need to play the game.

I'm serious. Don't play this game. Ever.

To explain why you shouldn't play the original Legend of the Starlight Hero, though, we need to talk about all the things that make it so janky. And in order to do that, we're going to need to get into its development. And to do that, we need to talk about one Ito Makoto. And to do that, we need autobiographical information about Mr. Ito, which we don't, because he was a man who never understood why people would be wanting to know about him when they could instead be knowing about all these neat games he was making.

But this is a rabbit-hole that needs going down; join me under the page-break for the whole convoluted tale. Or just ignore it and wait until I post the next part of the timeline which has 99% less biographical information on old Japanese men and 1000% more Jonys!

[[16-bit image of The Old Man of the Mountain from LotSH IV with a fox head 'shopped in]]

"Come, child. Witness what I have to show to you."

We start in 1982, Japan, at Itokto - a corporation of modest means which has found itself uniquely positioned to take advantage of the Video Arcade boom thanks to its holdings in electronics, data-storage, vending machines, and real-estate (among others). The founders, never ones to hesitate before jumping onto a new trend for however long it made money, had already put out a series of low-effort and simple arcade machines that were mostly in the time-honored genre "Like this thing you already know, but slightly different". The founders weren't stupid, however, and had their teams working on a second generation of arcade games with more polish and more budget that could stand on their own and be the sorts of things other companies would make cheep knockoffs of instead.

Into this environment arrives Ito Makoto, nephew of one of the founders, 42 years old, and recently unemployed from a career that no one seems to agree on the specifics of except for the fact it most definitely had nothing to do with computers, electronics, or games.

Despite this, Ito Makoto's uncle dropped him down into the middle of the second generation development and basically told the division heads to find something for him to do that would keep him out of the way, Because Nepotism. The division heads shrugged, gave Ito a little office off in the corner, handed him a game spec document, and told him to see what he could do with it. It would be 18 months before anyone checked in to see how he was getting along.

Due to the previously mentioned habit of Ito Makoto to never talk about himself if ever given the chance, there's very little primary sourcing on what exactly happened during these 18 months of solo-work. But based on what others said once they got involved afterwards, along with some basic extrapolation, inference, and a few shavings of Occam's Razor, it seems likely it went something like this.

Ito Makoto had never worked with computers (or electronics, possibly even machining) before in his life, but the same day he was handed his spec sheets, one of his few recorded interactions occurred with a co-worker. Said co-worker's recollection was: "Some new guy I didn't recognize came up to me and asked what script our games were written in. I told him Assembler, and he thanked me and wandered off. People across the office kept having their documentation vanish and then reappear a day or two later for months after, but at the time I didn't put two and two together." 

(That doesn't read like a proper translation, but I don't read Japanese myself and Google Translate's attempt is even more garbage, so let's trust 'Xtreme Gamerz' magazine's version of events because it's all we got.)

After spending a month or two teaching himself Assembly language from the ground up via temporarily "borrowed" manuals, Ito got to work on the actual game.  I've seen the scans of the original "Heaven's Heroes vs Monster Mountain" concept pages. (And their translations.) It looks like nothing so much as a Gauntlet knockoff; but seeing how Gauntlet was still two or three years away from even existing at this point, it probably would've made quite the splash if it was ever released. And I can only assume that at one point in time, Ito Makoto had a fully functional implementation of the spec programmed. But there are two things Ito Makoto would become known for. Being incapable of sticking to spec, and having an endless font of new ideas he’d keep adding to a project until someone else physically restrained him.

And so we come to 18 months later. The division heads were doing a roundup of all the game projects they had going on and someone remembered that they'd handed one of the specs off to the boss' nephew and they should check in on that one too just to keep all the ledgers looking balanced and aesthetic. I doubt any of them were prepared for what they would walk into.

Imagine a broom closet. A large one, but a broom closet. Big enough for a nice solid metal 80s work-desk, a nice clunky lead weight of a computer, some boxes, a bit of workspace. Now fill it with paper. Lots of sketches and drawings. Some of circuits, some of level maps and pixel-box layouts. Lots of colored pencil sketches of amazingy homoerotic monsters. Lots and lots of code and programming diagrams. All pasted over every available inch of wallspace. And in the middle of it all, a 43 year old man scribbling furiously in a notebook as he attempted to invent the video game inventory system from scratch for the second time.

It's almost a shame Legend of the Starlight Hero didn't finish development as an arcade-game. I mean, I understand why it didn't - it would've been an engineering disaster followed by a financial disaster - but it would've been glorious.  Two joysticks, one to control The Hero, one to control The Heir. Each with three triggers. The one on top for the thumb would either attack or shield depending on if it was the Hero or the Heir it controlled. The second trigger (index finger) would flip through the inventory of powers and power-ups for each character. The third trigger (middle finger) would fire the currently selected power or power-up. You'd have to keep the Heir in position so that their shields and buffs would have line-of-sight to the Hero. You'd have to keep the Hero moving to prevent any monsters from being able to attack the Heir. There were endless levels. Ruined shrines, enchanted pools, a lava dragon nursery with erupting environmental hazards, there was a river where both Hero and Heir would have duel-control over a massive river serpent and have to keep him from crashing as you outraced murderous Abysscales. There was what I can only describe as a quick-time-event/rhythm game section when you break into the Crypt of the Monsters where you have to copy the posses of Goddess Statues. And a massive multi-stage boss battle against The Monster King at the end where he shape-shifted into each monster ever encountered before finally taking on his King Form (Impyr) for the final battle.

But it's 1984, and the list of technological reasons why this wouldn't work itself would create a text-file too large to fit on the storage arcade machines had available. Despite this though, there was no arguing that the mess of concepts and designs had promise. And Ito Makoto's uncle was just finishing a deal with a fellow Japanese game company about possibly porting some of their arcade games over to this new console that was about to release...

So it was Ito Makoto was assigned a full team to rework Heaven's Heroes vs Monster Mountain into Legend of the Starlight Hero. From what I've read, it seems 90% of their job was about keeping Makoto from sneaking back into the office at night to program in more features while the other 10% was spent cutting down what he'd already put in. Most of the existing ideas and concepts were cut, but that didn't stop Makoto from making use of them in the future. You probably recognize the River Serpent Chase from LotSH V, the "Lava Dragon" Nursery (now featuring three times as many Brutelings in bad dragon costumes) from LotSH IV, and the Goddess Statue pose matching as the foundation of the entire Starlight Beats series. Let it never be said Ito Makoto ever gave up a good idea without a fight. And come 1985, Legend of the Starlight Hero was released in Japan on the Famicom, and in North America on the "Whoever wanted to pay for the port rights, America's in a video game crash, it doesn't matter" systems.

Then, about eight months later, The Famicom is released in NA as the Nintendo Entertainment System, followed shortly by the first Black Drakonis game, and you can read on how the rest of that went all went a few entries back up. History!

Now, I've often (maybe five times) been asked, "Old Fox of the Mountain, in your sageous wisdom, where is the best place to play this, the origin of Astielle, so we may experience the magic from the beginning?" and I always answer, "Youtube. There's like five Lets Plays that actually manage to get all the way through and two of them even manage to beat The Monster King, King of All Monsters without cheats or quicksaves."  

I mean, if you really want to, just hit up any ROM site, but you will throw your controller at something and I will not be held responsible. With only one D-Pad to work with, the Heir was given a cutting-edge-for-1985 AI to follow you around and not get hit by monsters and said AI does not work and your Heir will die. Repeatedly. And the attempt to work the inventory system "intuitively" with the pause menu will leave you trying to smite Taurils with your Star-Digger more often than not. And Karzarul's attack patterns are flatout bullshit. Don't subject yourself to that. It doesn't make you any less of a fan or 'gamer' to just skip out. Watch a Let's Play, laugh at their misery, and move on with your life. Or don't. I'm just an old fox on a mountain, what do I know?

We're already spent more time on Starlight Hero the First than on the rest of the games so far, but there're a few more side notes I feel it's important to cover.

First Side Note: Karzarul?

You might notice that there's no mention of Karzarul in the game. Or the phrase "Moonlight Monster". Or three goddesses. Or the reincarnation cycle. Or really anything. It's either a case of 90% of Mr. Ito's plot getting cut to cram it all into 384kb, or a case of massive retconning/expansion once everyone involved realized how many more of these games they'd be making. I personally assume both, but leaning heavily on the latter side, but I'll wait for Legend of the Starlight Hero IV: Heroes Reborn to get into the details.

Second Side Note: Needle?

Through this entire piece so far, I've been referring to the playable character of Legend of the Starlight Hero as simply “The Starlight Hero”. But everywhere else you look, he's called Needle. Further up in my Chronology list. In all the official documentation. In Karzarul's absolutely hilarious rant in Queen of All Monsters. Hell, Jonys has his "Starlight Sword in the Shape of a Needle That Wields Its Own Much Smaller Starlight Sword" trophy attack in Smash Brothers. So what gives?

Well, as I alluded to before, this was not a game designed with Story, Lore, or Sequels in mind. You had a Hero, you had an Heir, and there was no need to assign things like names or motivations or history to anyone involved. But the moment Heroes Reborn came out in '89, people needed a way to differentiate between this new Starlight Hero who had a name, and the original Starlight Hero who did not. I mean, you could always use Original Starlight Hero, but that's going to get old fast. And it did. Fortunately for everyone, the Atari 2600 port existed.

(One more historical digression. Porting games to different systems remains a pain in the ass, but back in the bad ol' days it used to be even worse. It was not unusual for the people in charge of porting a game to a new console to just reprogram it from the ground up in the native language rather than translate all the code manually. And it was not uncommon for teams who resorted to this approach to not be as good at programming as whoever made the original game. Exhibit A: The Atari 2600 port of LotSH.)

[[Gif of a five second loop of gameplay. A blocky, vaguely recognizable SLH slides along the ground without moving its legs, slashing its sword in front without moving its arms. The figure is only slightly wider at the shoulders than at the feet, and has a single eye in the middle of their head that is the same color as the background, giving the distinct impression of a hole in the middle of its head showing the ground behind/below.]]

With the speed of a Usenet connection, the Original Starlight Hero was slapped with the name Needle. Various in-universe justifications for the name were made by the fans to shore up support, and despite a belated attempt by the short-lived cartoon series to give him a proper moniker, it stuck.  It probably helped that by the time the next main-line Astielle game came out, the franchise was under the control of Fantastico who had a much more casual approach to the property and made the Needle name official. It's commonly assumed, but unverified, that this was mainly at the insistence of Ito Makoto who found the whole thing fucking hilarious.

Third Side Note: Hey, Speaking of.... Ito Makoto?

Like I said before, Ito Makoto didn't speak much, if at all, about his personal life. He did have a wife who he was with from the age of 20 to his death; their relationship was apparently very close and loving. She moved with him to America during the Fantastico years, and has lived with his family back in Japan ever since his death. They never had any children. Ito Makoto also had a close male friend from his university years whom his wife called "Cousin" who lived with them, also moved to America with Makoto, and still lives in the same house there all three of them had before he died. 

This does not necessarily mean anything. 

Ito Makoto also drew all of the concept art for the first Starlight Hero game (and most of the art for the next four as well), and the art was... Well.  Look, it's not uncommon to have Certain Sorts of Gamers come around complaining about how gay Starlight Hero has gotten. "Why are all the monsters so hot?" they ask, "Why does Karzarul move his hips like that?" they ask, "They weren't all sexualized and weird when I was a kid!" they say. Sometimes they even say that while taking control of the franchise for eight years.  These Certain Sorts of Gamers have apparently never read the manual for Legend of the Starlight Hero I. All illustrations by Ito Makoto himself, and, well...

You've got the Taurils.

You've got the Abysscales.

[[A Bullizard lunges at the camera with a crystal spear. Both his tongue and pectorals are much longer/larger than they're usually depicted these days. Everything below the waist is shadowed, but suggestive.]]

You've got the Bullizards.

And of course you've got Impyres/King of All Monsters.

So the next time you get a Fake Gamer Boy bitching about how much attention has been spent on programming Karzarul's hip physics, just spam him some of these until he shuts up and goes away.

All of this also doesn't necessarily mean anything. 

Speculation has it's place, but it's also important to remember that it was Makoto’s choice to be private. If there are any details about his private life that might deserve to be public knowledge, he has a surviving wife and a surviving 'long term live-in best friend' who are fully capable of making those details public if they ever decide it's appropriate. And neither of them have yet to do so. And Certain People need to stop being dicks about that.

And with that, we've reached the end of my write-up for this one single solitary game. Jesus. 

Stars above! Let us continue this conversation another day, child. 

Next time: More fun with Needle!  And Jonys! And also more Joyns! Aaaand Joyns a few more times! 

What can I say? They made a lot of Jonys games. And more of them are canon than some people might think.

Until then!

[rebel-in-white]

Sam Wilson’s Feelings Towards Bucky Barnes

In this meta, I’m arguing that Sam Wilson, as he is portrayed in the Falcon and the Winter Soldier, has romantic feelings for Bucky Barnes. Before you think I’m overreaching and reading too much into this show, read on and think about the evidence I’m going to present. Could a simple friendship explain the differences in Sam’s interactions with other characters versus his interactions with Bucky?

Disclaimer: I’m not saying that Disney is going to show us a homosexual couple. Honestly, I don’t think that’s going to happen. I’m not accusing anyone of queerbaiting either. I don’t want to enter into that argument. I just believe that Sam Wilson is a man in love with another man. 

Sam’s Demeanor with Bucky:

In episode 1, we have a delightful scene between Sam and Torres, who seems to genuinely admire Sam. After taking a video of Sam speaking Arabic, the impressed Torres makes a few light comments. Sam responds with a smile but maintains a serious demeanor and cracks minimal jokes. He doesn’t relax or drop his guard. Compare that to his drastic change in attitude in episode 2. After only spending 3 minutes with Bucky, he’s talking about wizards and sorcerers and something about hats. 

And he’s always joking around with Bucky. He doesn’t let himself do that with other characters on the show, not even his own sister. This shows that with Bucky, Sam feels like he can relax more. For some reason, he feels safe with Bucky to show his true self.

Sam checks on him, constantly

In episode 1, we find out that Sam has texted Bucky post blip several times. Enough times that Bucky’s therapist, Dr. Raynor, uses that to gauge how well Bucky is connecting with other people. She admonishes him for ignoring Sam’s texts. In episode 3, we find out that Sam hasn’t given Sharon the same treatment. He hasn’t texted or called her, despite the fact that she had placed her career on the line for him, Steve, and Bucky. His only concern was Bucky and to see how he was doing.

Not only did he text Bucky, but Sam is periodically checking on his state of mind and well being, showing genuine concern and care. 

“You good?” 

“What’s going on in that Cyborg brain of yours?” 

Again, we don’t see him check on other characters like this. Bucky gets special treatment.

Sam lets Bucky do what he wants

The keyword here is lets. Sam lets Bucky do whatever the f*ck he wants to do because he’s weak in the face of Bucky’s desires and demands. Sam can be very stubborn, he’s just subtle with it. In the show, he refuses to give up on the boat, refuses to give into his sister’s demands, and tries to think of solutions for this problem. That bank scene not only hints at the consequences of the blip and other social issues, but it highlights Sam’s intelligence and determination. When he wants something, he will work hard to get it. That’s why he survived so long as Steve’s partner-in-crime when they were on the run. And he still hasn’t given up on the boat.

Yet, we see this intelligent, stubborn man cave into Bucky over and over again. First, Bucky wants to come with him on the mission in episode 2. Sam says no, but Bucky is sitting with him on the plane in the next scene. If Sam truly didn’t want Bucky to come, he wouldn’t have let him come. He isn’t a pushover- he gave up Steve’s shield because he couldn’t stand the idea of being the new Captain America. Some other examples: Sam lets Bucky go in to see Zemo alone and goes along with his plan to use Zemo’s connections to find out more about the super-soldier serum.

Sam keeps touching Bucky’s metal arm

He’s touched Bucky’s metal arm a total of three times. The first time, after rolling in the flowers, he lets his hand rest on it. This is almost a comforting gesture, one that is entirely unnecessary, but the camera lingers on the touch for a few seconds. Next, in the therapy scene, he pointedly slaps Bucky’s vibranium arm. In episode 3, Sam protectively grabs Bucky when he sees that the danger has increased in the bar. The touch helps snap Bucky out of his Winter Soldier mode. 

This shows a fascination with what makes Bucky different and dangerous, which could be the type of people Sam’s attracted to sexually. Let’s not forget that Sam had expressed physical attraction towards Black Widow, who is the embodiment of sensuality and danger. Sam Wilson has a type, and Bucky fits it.

Sam calls Bucky “Buck”

 It’s the nickname Steve had for Bucky, and it’s interesting that Sam seems a little bothered when Bucky says he couldn’t use it.

“Why not? It’s what Steve called you?”

“Steve knew me longer. And Steve had a plan.”

Sam rolls his shoulders, a gesture of discomfort. He says, “I have a plan.” Almost like he wanted to say, now, can I call you “Buck,” too? It’s also very illuminating to hear this nickname when Sam’s afraid for Bucky’s life in episode 3:

[Gunshots]

“Buck!” Sam yells.

The nickname shows a deeper level of intimacy between Sam and Bucky, something that Sam wants. That’s why he uses it, remarks on Steve having used it, and continues to use it. 

Sam lets himself argue with Bucky

Again, the keyword here is lets. Sam is a very controlled person. I’ve read numerous posts about all the things that Sam has to deal with - blip, institutionalized racism, Captain America’s mantle, that mantle being given to a lesser suited individual, losing his boat, losing his friends, and losing the connection with his family. Yet, Sam holds himself together very well. He doesn’t break dangerous criminals out of prison (looking at you Bucky), and he tries to follow his values in a world that is making less and less sense to him. 

Yet, with Bucky Barnes, he allows himself the freedom to argue with him. They argue in episode 2 numerous times, but I’m going to focus on the argument in episode 3. I loved that random back-and-forth in the middle of a fight scene. I cannot picture Sam doing something like that with Steve, and he definitely wouldn’t argue like that with anyone else. With Bucky, we see Sam let his guard down to bicker and voice his immediate feelings and thoughts. We don’t see this happen with anyone else! He’s usually more guarded with his true thoughts and emotions.

What does Bucky feel?

Unfortunately, I don’t see clear evidence that Bucky reciprocates his feelings. There’s evidence that some feelings are forming (I have high hopes for the pulling Sam’s hand closer to his chest scene!), and the genuine bond is there. As of now, Sam’s feelings run deeper. It’s understandable because Bucky is a man in transition. He doesn’t know who he is, and we can see that struggle in some small details here and there: for example, when Sam wedges his thigh between his in the therapy scene, Bucky places his hands over his crotch in an insecure position. Sam, on the other hand, is relaxed and secure in his identity. Bucky is still struggling to adjust to the modern world when he’s a 1940s man at heart. Plus, there’s Steve. According to Sharon, Bucky was “Mr. America” (LOL). He needs more time to solidify himself and his feelings.

Where did these feelings come from?

Sexual attraction (sexy and dangerous is Sam’s type)

Bucky is probably the only person in his life who makes sense. Everything else is so different and difficult.

He was Steve’s close friend, and Sam loved and respected Steve.

Bucky ignites his protective instincts. Bucky emphasizes this when he says that Sam gave up so much for him. (Interesting that Bucky doesn’t mention Steve, who wanted to save his best friend and helped to convince his current friend to help him do that.)

Perhaps, Bucky reminds him of Riley (would love to see a Riley flashback)

He feels a connection to the loneliness he sees in Bucky. Despite the people in his life and his natural charisma, Sam strikes me as a solitary figure.

Ultimately, we still know very little about Sam and Bucky, and we have three episodes left of the show, so many things can change! Hopefully, the change will be good for this ship.

I hope you enjoyed this meta. Thank you for reading!

[darkqueenofshadows85]

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (2022) Film Review

Introduction

Greetings, mortals! For today's review, we'll be looking at Paramount's Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (2022).

This is part of a series of reviews in which I’ll be going into slightly more detail about my thoughts on various Sonic TV shows and movies, and why I think they're either well written and engaging, or an absolute trainwreck (or somewhere in-between). I’ll be giving my stance on the character portrayals, visuals, soundtracks, voice actors (and actors in general), and what themes/messages they had to offer. Keep in mind that these are just my own personal thoughts. Whether you agree or disagree, feel free to share your own thoughts and opinions!

(SPOILER WARNING)

Anyway, let us begin! ^^

Plot

Following Robotnik's defeat, he returns to Earth for revenge with the red echidna warrior Knuckles in tow. With Tom and Maddie Wachowski on vacation in Hawaii, Sonic then teams up with a yellow two-tailed fox named Tails on a world-wide adventure to search for the Master Emerald, which gives its user ultimate power.

Characters

Sonic is once again very endearing and relatable, and he actually does get some nice character development this time around. He now possesses morals rather than just being cocky. His human side really starts to show and would risk himself to save those he really cares about. He is still very much a kid like he was in the first movie, but he has matured a bit. His relationship with Tom Wachowski also evolved from a friendship to a form of son-and-father relationship, with Tom trying to be a supportive presence to Sonic by reminding him that the time will eventually come for him to use the incredible powers he possesses but is not allowed to use in public.

Tails is super adorable throughout the film. He is a determined and brave young fox who is willing to face the unknown on multiple worlds and deadly villains, all in an attempt to find Sonic, no matter what. He is also quite logical and intelligent, as seen by how he steadily narrowed his search for Sonic by thinking things through and using what he learned along the way. Tails was once insecure about his extra tail, but after seeing how Sonic uses his weird quality, his super speed, to be a hero, Tails came to believe that his weird quality is not so bad. This is a relatable message as many people (myself included) may have some sort of disability that makes them get ostracized.

I really like how Knuckles is portrayed in this film. It’s fun to see him adjusting to how things work on Earth. He comes from a warrior tribe, and he had never really experienced friendship before. He is gullible, but he's not stupid. In fact, he's actually pretty smart. This movie understands Knuckles better than the Meta Era games and the Sonic Boom games/TV series did. I love that this film brings Knuckles back to being a serious rival to Sonic, compared to the more recent games demoting him to the role of being an idiot since the Sonic Boom cartoon. It makes me wish SEGA would take notes if they saw the films, because in my honest opinion, Paramount is basically doing Sonic better than SEGA did post-Unleashed/Black Knight. It even goes as far as to give Knuckles a father, something the games would never do. And while Knuckles is mostly portrayed as a serious, badass character along the lines of his depictions in S3&K, the Sonic Adventure games and Sonic X, he does have his fair share of funny moments as well, with the majority of them having to do with his general unfamiliarity with Earth. My favorite moment is when Knuckles is reading out loud, "Dot, dot, dot... dot, dot, dot... dot, dot, dot..." That got a big laugh out of me when I saw it in the theater for the first time, and I still find it hilarious to this day. See, SEGA? You CAN give Knuckles a few comedic moments here and there without turning him into a complete joke like in Sonic Boom. And seeing him and Tails just having fun playing baseball and heading to get ice cream after having such difficult upbringings was very heartwarming. Knuckles is one of the best Sonic characters in my opinion, so seeing him portrayed in possibly his best iteration yet after years of flanderization was such a massive treat and was one of the things that made this movie the best video game movie I've seen since the first Sonic movie.

Visuals

Visually, this film looks considerably better than its predecessor. Back in 2019, many people on the Internet infamously cyber-bullied the makers of the first film into changing Sonic's look, winning out in the end with his current design. I'm not sure how they were able to pull it off, but Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles all look well integrated into our world. Scenes where human characters were interacting with Sonic, both physically and verbally, all looked very convincing, as though there really were an anthropomorphic blue hedgehog sitting next to them or dancing alongside them in a bar.

Soundtrack

Once again, I think they did a pretty good job with the soundtrack for this film. Stars in the Sky by Kid Cudi is pretty catchy in my opinion, and I liked hearing Barracuda by Heart and Walk by Pantera in the film as well.

Acting

Like in the first movie, Ben Schwartz does a great job playing up Sonic's cocky attitude to full effect. Although he still has that streak of impulsivity, Sonic this time feels as though he is trying to make an effort to use his intellect rather than just his speed to hunt down the Master Emerald.

It was also great to hear Colleen O'Shaughnessey reprise her role as Tails from the video games, as I can't really think of any other mainstream actors capable of voicing the loveable two-tailed fox. If you enjoyed O'Shaughnessey's voice of Tails in the games, then you are sure to like how she is able to hold her own alongside the rest of the cast.

Idris Elba absolutely NAILED Knuckles in my opinion. He is a really excellent choice for Knuckles in this movie and arguably gives a better performance than the alternative from the video games and even television series.

Jim Carrey once again does a fantastic job playing Dr. Robotnik. In fact, he actually seemed a lot better this time around, allowing Eggman to lose his mind, and therefore allowing Carrey to do what he does best. His facial expressions are hilarious, and he still manages to strike a perfect balance of goofy and threatening. Whoever cast him as Robotnik is a genius. It's so perfect. I can't imagine it being anyone else. And while I respect his desire to retire, I'm still holding out hope that he will reprise his role as Dr. Robotnik one last time for the third Sonic movie.

The supporting actors, from returning cast members like James Marsden (Tom), Tika Sumpter (Maddie), Natasha Rothwell (Rachel), Adam Pally (Wade) and Lee Majdoub (Agent Stone) to newcomers like Shemar Moore (Randall) were all fantastic in their roles as well. Say what you will about the human characters in the Sonic movies, but they're certainly written better than most of the human characters in the games. Can you imagine Princess Elise from Sonic 06 driving a golf cart all pissed off chugging a bottle of wine? She's too busy trying to break Princess Peach's record for most times kidnapped.

Theme/Message

This film sheds light on the importance of having family and friends in your life. They will always have your back and keep you on the right path in life. Sonic and the other characters experience different obstacles that teach them the true definition of a family, even if they come as friends.

Conclusion

As much as I loved the first Sonic movie, I honestly think this film is a vastly superior sequel that improved upon its predecessor in every way. This film has new character appearances, major plot twists, more story elements and lore from the game series, mind-blowing adventures, and tons of laughs throughout it. It's great that this sequel is one of the few movie sequels out there that's actually better than the original. And considering the "we know better than the fans" mentality that is so prevalent in the entertainment industry nowadays, it's refreshing to see movies actually made for the fans for a change. There were plenty of Easter eggs and nods to the Sonic games sprinkled throughout, including several Sonic Adventure references, as well as several callbacks to jokes and plot points from the first film. The humor and pop culture references were really well done in my opinion. I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of 80s movie references that were in the film, including a brief homage to Risky Business, as well as mentions of Poltergeist and Ghostbusters (for instance, when Tom's deputy, Wade, learns about the Master Emerald's ability to convert thought into action, he compares it to the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man), and one of my favorite lines in the movie is when Sonic says "Oh great, the winter soldier..." I'm not even a Marvel fan and I find that line funny. Also, I've got to give a shout-out to this gem: "And who is Clifford the Big Red Rage Monster??"

The wedding subplot was actually pretty entertaining in my opinion, especially the parts where Sonic crashes the wedding and Rachel goes full on bridezilla mode upon learning that her fiance is actually an undercover G.U.N. officer.

And the ending where Sonic turns into Super Sonic, and he comes to truly accept the Wachowskis as his parents, and they, along with Tails and Knuckles, bond over a game of baseball, is just... [chef's kiss] beautiful... It truly does end the movie on a wholesome, heartwarming note... ^w^

Overall, I personally consider Sonic 2 to be a fantastic sequel that improves upon and greatly surpasses the original. If you enjoyed the first film, then you will LOVE this sequel. Don't listen to what critics say, this movie is a blast and I'm sure you'll have a lot of fun with it!

And as for the post-credits scene with Shadow... I was SUPER HYPED when I first saw this, because Shadow has always been one of my favorite Sonic characters ever since I was a kid. And considering the writers seem to have made it their mission to fix the characters that SEGA broke during the 2010's, let's all hope that Paramount will do Shadow justice as well...

My final score:

5.9/5 (Amazing)

[what-we-fight-for]

So I don't ship Caiatl and Zavala for many reasons but I thought if asking someone else and what they think of the ship and also if you think that Bungo would actually make it cannon or nay cuz everybody apperantly going crazy for that ship. (Let's not forget the fact that Zavala still cares for his pervious dead wife but that just my opinion) *shrug*

What @thefirstknife said.

I don't think anyone is going to argue with you that Zavala is grieving over his wife and has been for a long time. I'm going to assume you asked this in good faith, but given that you asked at least one other person and phrased it differently, I honestly don't know whether you expect this to be some kind of own. But I'm not going to argue that people are in fact sad when they lose their partner. Caiatl has lost a lot of people as well, so it's not like Zavala is alone in that.

I observe that Zavala and Caiatl have a healthy mutual respect and that with time, it could possibly grow into something more given the right circumstances. Especially with the rather innuendous exchanges they make over the radio in most of Proving, and now with a more sincere element post-Season which was already better touched on by others.

Also contributing to this is her response to the attempted assassination and the repeated subversion of expectations on her part, which lends a lot of narrative suggestion for romance to a lot of people. Enemies/rivals to lovers is a well established pattern. If you position characters against each other but keep subverting and forcing them to reevaluate each other while maintaining tension, that evokes such a pattern from a meta standpoint.

If Bungie is interested in showing an interspecies relationship (of which they have shown several friendships already so this would be a mere step up), they could feasibly make it canon. It's possible they intend to already and are working up to it, but at this point it's impossible to tell. Some people see the potential, others prefer not to contemplate.

"Apparently everybody is going crazy for that ship" I don't share this perspective. A few days' activity on your dash or in tags doesn't constitute everybody going crazy (I assume you mean in support of it). This pairing as a concept wasn't even really in the public eye in a serious way until Tassi made a video, and now the overwhelming response outside of Tumblr has been toxic and negative.

Before that, I saw no negative response to it, but no overwhelming positive one either. It was something I contemplated privately and maybe said a word or two about with friends. I don't really consider my appreciation of the concept "shipping" so much as interpreting the source material. I made a flippant post about it because I was nettled and I saw that others were nettled, but my response was to the disgusting misogyny on Twitter and YouTube, not to people challenging a pet ship. You all can do what you want.

However, for people who decry this as impossible or unthinkable because "ewww Cabal are nasty" I remind you that a solid chunk of the player base want to bone Eliksni, and there are a fair number of Hive enthusiasts as well. If you really expect nothing but sanitized heteronormative same-species relationships from Bungie, let alone the fandom, then you have either not been paying attention or hanging with the wrong circles.