#star wars legends fan fiction

[krisslegacy]

chapter four of first love/late spring posted on ao3!

[mystarwarsthoughts]

My Star Wars Update: Some Reading, Some Writing

As always, the Star Wars reading continues. Here are the books I’ve been diving into: Star Wars Rebel Force Book 4: Firefight, by Alex Wheeler. This is a continuation of the junior novel series I started a while ago and which has been surprisingly entertaining. This outing takes us to Kamino, which I thought was really neat, considering all the Bad Batch I’ve been rewatching. So we know what…

[steveallenwriting]

Chapter 29: Execution

The city silently moved beneath them as the speeder charged towards Klilor tower. They decided to take a roundabout way, in case Iv’taan had spies watching them. The whole trip would take them about half an hour. As they flew, they each made final adjustments to their gear- except for Vetesk, who was driving the speeder. As he adjusted his scope, something occurred to Thihirum:  “Hey Fessaen,”…

[mariasparrow]

Illustration Art for my Original Fantasy Novel!

I have been writing fan-fiction since I was sixteen, from Young Justice to the Outsiders. More recently the Legend of Zelda, with my story Travel Through the Darkness. In doing so I have learned so much from other writers. Since I was eighteen, I began writing my own fantasy novel. Eight years later, I am nearly finished with the editing process! I hope to publish within the next year or two: and when I do, it will be with the fantastic artwork of the wonderful La-Sera! Look at that detail!

The above image will be the back-cover of the novel: a fantasy story inspired by the Greek-Roman myths, the Prince of Egypt, Lord of the Rings, Avatar the Last Airbender, Star Wars, and, of course, the Legend of Zelda! It is the story of the last days of a terrible war, where a young soldier, exiled in a foreign land with his brothers-in-arms, must battle against demons, monsters and the desires of his own heart to become the warrior he was born to be, and the father of future heroes.

In addition to the back-cover, La-Sera will be doing the chapter illustrations! For anyone wishing to learn more and follow our progress in the New Year, I will soon post a link to a Wordpress blog this January or February, depending on my work schedule. Advice from anyone who has experience with publishing is very appreciated 😊🤗

Lastly, I would again take this moment to wholeheartedly thank La-Sera for her time, patience, and outstanding talent! I am so excited to be working with her!

Happy New Year, everyone!

[jedi-enthusiasm-blog]

Listen maybe the jedi couldn't end slavery on tattooine in their lifetime with just the numbers they had, sure. But they could've gone back for anakin's mom, like the one woman who is clearly a sore spot for him, I get it, not attachments and all, but he's far more likely to not make a sudden, angry, rash decision and slaughter not just the men, but the women and the children as well if she's not in danger of being kidnapped and murdered right?

Beautiful comment left by a dear in my post about the Jedi's limited numbers. At least it wasn't an essay in the reblogs, unlike the last… seven or eight I think. Idk, I lost count after three people dropped anti-Jedi essays I definitely didn't ask for in less than an hour in a clearly tagged post that wasn't even meant to be serious.

Now for the response because why the heck not?:

1) Sorry to break it to you buddy but she could still be kidnaped tortured and murdered on Couruscant.

2) They should have gone back to free one slave and risk war with the Hutts since Watto has connections with them? Really? It sounds really fucking risky. Plus, when freeing slaves, slaves are hostages, freeing them is dangerous for both the slave, the person/people freeing them and whoever is in the blast radious since, y'know, there's a fucking bomb inside them.

3) They did free her in Legends, or at least had a part in her winning her freedom.

4) It's not the Jedi's job to placate a fucking genocidal child murderer, it's ANAKIN'S job to keep his shit together and not murder people.

5) Why does Shmi deserve freedom more urgently than any other slave? Because she's nice? Because she's Anakin's mom? Newflash mate, freedom is a right and even the rudest slave who has no family or friends deserves it. What you say is ATTACHMENT, it's the Dark Side. You'd be saving Shmi because of who she is in relationship to someone else or because she's "earned" it, not because she's a fucking person and deserves her basic human rights. Arguably, if you flip this you could just as easily say that a rude person with no friends and family deserves slavery, or at the very least shouldn't be a priority when freeing slaves.

6) George Lucas is more metaphorical than literal, and the PT suffered for it (it does have some holes).

7) How do you know the Jedi didn't try to free her but couldn't for X reason? That headcanon is just as valid as saying they never tried (actually more, since Qui-Gon did try).

8) It bears repeating: it's ANAKIN'S responsability to keep his shit together and not. murder. people. I don't give a fuck that his mom died, it's no excuse to MURDER FUCKING CHILDREN. Shmi didn't deserve to be kidnaped, tortured and murdered, but the Tuskens (the children most of all) didn't deserve to be slaughtered like animals either.

9) I'm gonna say it again because this is serious: Anakin shouldn't be coddled by the fans, he was above the IRL age of majority in most countries, twelve year olds spent their whole lives in PRISON for far less and he got married literally one day after. He. Was. An. Adult.

I apologize for the essay because it does seem disproportionate in hindsight. But after months of having nearly every single one of my posts infested with anti-Jedi people dropping essays I have clearly stated I don't want, after years of not being able to enjoy the content I like without looking at comments and reblogs and seeing vitrol towards not just the fictional characters I love but towards me and other real people, I'm at the end of my patience.

I won't tag you in the end, commenter, because I don't want to give any incentives for harassment or make you or anybody who sees Star Wars like you to feel upset by reading this. You are entitled to your opinions as much as I am to mine. If you see this post, you know who you are.

[mysticstarlightduck]

Late Writeblr Intro!

Hello, friends!

I figured it was about time I made an actual blog intro of my own since I forgot to make one when I started this blog last year. Better late than never, lmao!

Pls, reblog, like, and/or reply to help boost the blog! 💕

Let's get started:

Personal Stuff! 💜🩶🖤

My name is Anna/Anya but you can call me Mystic, Ducky, or just Anya on this blog! My personal nickname is Ani and I adore it (:

I am an Asexual woman (my pronouns are she/her!) and I'm also personally an atheist who puts my faith in the spirits of Mother Nature, though I respect all other religions equally!

I'm Gen Z and Latina (Brazilian). I was raised bilingual (Brazilian Portuguese + English) and I love learning languages - currently, I'm working on learning French and Spanish! Career-wise I am studying in college to become a character designer and hopefully animator, as I want to pursue a career as an artist and writer! I also wish to have my WIPs published in the near future (:

Some fun facts about me!

My favorite shows are Critical Role, Game of Thrones, Castlevania, The Legend of Vox Machina (animated series), Star Wars, Voltron, The Dragon Prince, Avatar the Last Airbender, Legend of Korra, and DC Comics content, as well as many more lmao. I love watching movies and series!

My favorite Vox Machina characters are Vax'ildan and Percy (:

I am a younger sister 💖

My hair is short and curly (pixie style, similar to the haircut Rapunzel has at the end of the Tangled movie!)

I adore listening to music, especially songs that can inspire me to write my WIPs! Playlists are a huge part of my writing process and something I really enjoy making.

I'm currently rereading Shadow and Bone (+ Six of Crows) and I am always looking for more good dark fantasy/historical fantasy books to read so book recs are always welcome! I also am a huge fan of the Percy Jackson series and Trials of Apollo (by Rick Riordan), though I'm usually more of a gritty/dark fantasy fan (like Game of Thrones)!

I have three dogs and two cats!😺���

I know how to play the piano, though I haven't done that in a while because things have been chaotic for me, but I'd like to start playing regularly again in my winter vacation.

I have worn glasses since I was 5 years old and have terrible eyesight without them (and some days with them, lol, so bear with me).

My friends and I are doing a DnD campaign every Sunday, where I play as a half-elf rogue named Aeryn (he/him). I'm adoring this adventure so far, it's so fun!!!

I love to bake and am rather good at it, but am a painfully average cook lmao (some specific recipes I make are actually rlly good, but it depends a lot on my mood and the 'alignment of the stars' lol)

I want to learn how to knit/crochet! 🧶

I'm a theater nerd and love musicals (:

About my Writing!🏹⌛

I write fictional works mostly in the genre of fantasy (high fantasy/epic fantasy/dark fantasy/historical fantasy/urban fantasy, etc. You name it!) and science fiction (space opera/cyberpunk/superhero, etc).

My works usually revolve around themes such as epic quests, secrets, adventure, rebels fighting an oppressive system, sibling bonds, acceptance/respect, outcasts, and much, much more! I love fluff and whump equally, and though my stories tend to focus on serious topics (or at least darker/heavier themes) within a fantasy/sci-fi setting, I like to have a good bit of humor, lighthearted fun, and comedy to my stories to lighten up the mood!

My main WIPs:

Song of Thorns

🌹WIP Intro: (here)🌹

Genre: dark fantasy, medieval fantasy, adventure/mystery, dark fairytale, eldritch horror (mild)

Style: Standalone (possible Trilogy)

Tags: #wip song of thorns #song of thorns

Short Summary/About: "A peasant girl moves with her siblings from her struggling seaside village to the kingdom's glittering floating capital, but after her older brother is kidnapped, she ends up discovering the dark, bloody secrets hiding behind the long-lasting royal family of the town and must team up with a young dhampir thief, the exiled prince, and a lonely druid girl to save the dying kingdom from this web of lies".

Supernova Initiative

🎇WIP Intro: (here) 🎇

Genre: space opera, adventure, exploration, laboratory whump, heist, thriller/mystery

Style: Episodic book series with an overarching plot (each chapter/group of chapters equivalent to an episode in a TV series)

Tags: #wip supernova initiative #supernova initiative

Short Summary/About: "A young intergalactic thief and his crew are captured after a heist gone wrong and forced to accept a strange deal - complete a mission for the Junction, retrieve important missing files, and get their freedom back. All the while that is happening, Jack Tithus, the protagonist, finds himself trapped as a test subject to an immoral, and elusive, man known as the Director."

Enchanted Illusions

💀 WIP Intro: (here)💀

Genre: Victorian fantasy, adventure, mystery, gothic fantasy, dark fantasy, crime-solving

Style: Possibly a trilogy

Tags: #wip enchanted illusions, #enchanted illusions

Short Summary/About: "On a magical setting inspired by Victorian times, a group of strangers and outcasts must work together to thwart a powerful secret organization and stop a murder spree that could lead to another civil war between myths and humans."

Of Starlight and Beasts

✨⚔️WIP Intro: (here)⚔️✨

Genre: medieval fantasy, epic fantasy, adventure/quest, dark fairytale, sword and sorcery, prophecies

Style: Book Series

Tags: #wip of starlight and beasts, #enchanted illusions

Short Summary/About: "A young knight in training and an amnesiac star mage embark on a quest to prevent an ancient prophecy from coming to fruition as a vengeful sorceress queen's army marches relentlessly onto their land with the intent to destroy all their kingdom has built."

The Last Wrath

🔥⚔️WIP Intro: to be made...⚔️🔥

Genre: dark fantasy, warfare, political intrigue, espionage, adventure/quest, medieval fantasy, whump

Style: Book Series (currently on hiatus)

Tags: #wip the last wrath, #the last wrath

Short Summary/About: "In a land torn by an ancient war between two sides of a continent, a mageborn girl finds herself trapped amid the bloodshed after her past comes back to haunt her and her family. Now, stopping the war may be the only chance she still has to survive."

Tales of Wilted Flowers

🥀WIP Intro: to be made...🪻

Genre: RPG-inspired fantasy, high fantasy, adventure, fairytale, epic quest, heist story, whump, light fantasy

Style: Trilogy (currently on hiatus)

Tags: #wip tales of wilted flowers #tales of wilted flowers

Short Summary/About - "A group of youths rejected and betrayed by society in many different ways come together due to unexpected circumstances and must rely on each other to prevent the kingdom's corrupt Head Sorcerer and the King from reviving an ancient evil."

Realms of Loss

🍂WIP Intro: (here)🍂

Genre: dark fantasy, warfare, medieval fantasy, high fantasy, ancient times fantasy, Viking-inspired, prophecies & curses

Style: Book Series (currently on hiatus)

Tags: #wip realms of loss #realms of loss

Short Summary/About - "In a continent destroyed by the fall of the Old Gods, and trapped in an endless toil for survival, a cocky young prince discovers his role in an ancient prophecy after his brother, the King, is murdered and assassins come for him too. Running away into the forsaken land beyond the walls of his kingdom, he'll have to learn to be a leader and save his people as a dead, murderous God awakens."

Mutant Inquiries/Open Secret Files

🤖 WIP Intro: to be made..🤖

Genre: superhero, cyberpunk, futuristic, dystopian, science fiction, urban fantasy

Style: Episodic Series, still in development

Tags: #wip mutant inquiries #wip open secret files #mutant inquiries #open secret files

Short Summary/About: "In a dystopian, high-tech future, a group of mutant teenagers become vigilantes and crime fighters to rebel against the oppressive government regime and survive their crime-ridden city."

I have a few other smaller-scale WIPs I occasionally, less frequently work on, such as Lies Untold and Jade Ruins, but those up above are the main ones that I wish to publish. I've also got a big, secret extra WIP I'm working on for fun and will share it with you guys soon!

[expanding-hyrule]

A Link to the Stars by @coffebits (Art & Story) & @abbyz-elda (Writing)

Scifi AU | Teen | AO3 & Tumblr | Ongoing

Synopsis: The planet of Hyrule has known peace for decades. Princess Zelda, heir to the throne, has gotten to watch her best friend and general of the Hylian army, Link, explore neighboring planets, lead diplomatic missions, and defend their planet against possible attacks for years. But when a strange moon appears in the Hylian skies, shining with hostile light, Zelda is the first to volunteer to investigate. Link and his right hand man, Ganondorf, enlist their services alongside her. As the team begins to study the strange moon, they soon discover that it is filled not only with fearsome monsters, but an ancient evil that seems to call to the spirits of each one of them. Will they be able to neutralize the threat to protect Hyrule, or will the presence of the moon unleash a curse that has lain in wait for generations?

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The collaboration everyone should be paying attention to! Coffebits and abbygrace77 work together to weave the tale of a Hyrule far into the future, where the threats once posed to Hyrule are lost legends and ancient history. The art and character designs are beautiful, and the story is thrilling from the start! I'm anxiously awaiting every update! - pelicanpig

A Link to the Stars is a LoZ Science-Fiction-story. Link, Zelda, and Gandorf live on the planet Hyrule—Zelda as the Princess, Link as the General of the army, and Ganondorf as his second in command. Their lives are turned upside down when a strange moon appears over Hyrule. The more they investigate the more it seems like something dangerous is going on that threatens the whole planet. While the events send Zelda and Link on a journey to explore the heritage of an ancient Hero, Ganondorf is suddenly confronted with his Gerudo heritage when he becomes a candidate to compete for the crown of the Gerudo over night. Link and Zelda grow closer (again) on the trip but they disconnect with Ganondorf, who struggles to navigate his new life. That his inner monologue suddenly has a very different ring to it, just like someone is whispering into his ear, doesn't help the situation. The story is based on art coffeebits creates for this AU and Abby and coffeebits work closely together to ensure the fic is as accurate as it can get. The plot around the strange moon and the events its appearance set in motion is the driving force of the story and the characters develop alongside the plot. It's interesting to see how they react so differently to the stress they're put under and how their feelings for each other influence their actions. While I'm enjoying the slow burn between Link and Zelda, I think an equally interesting part of the story is how Ganondorf tries to resist the pull of the power that is calling him. Abby does a good job of giving all three characters their own journey and a spot in the limelight. - ZeldaElmo

Original sci-Fi retelling of the Legend of Zelda? Count me in! If you are a fan of Starship Troopers, Star Wars, Star Trek, and Legend of Zelda you will enjoy this fun exploration to the final frontier. By the books, General Link, headstrong Princess Zelda, and my favorite, sympathetic, conflicted Ganondorf. It has a little something for everyone - intrigue, adventure, romance, comedy. Put on your spacesuit, buckle up and get ready for launch. - Mistress Lrigtar

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You can find @coffebits at Instagram and @abbyz-elda at AO3 and Instagram.

[gffa]

Honestly, I felt touched by your answer to the other anon. It must be very tiresome to deal with shit like that for so long.

People are rage baiting, throwing ready-made arguments abt everything. From serious topics like politics to fans enjoying a movie. Respectful discussion doesn't exist.

I've seen an answer inside a thread that I think apllies: if someone says rude things online to a damn stranger, said stranger has no obligation of being polite back or to try to understand. People need to rethink how they interact online. And, in some cases, there's no solution, jerks will be jerks.

Sorry you have to deal with that. Be good out there.

Hi! Thank you for the very sweet message, I appreciate it. And goddddd I have so many things to say about the state of respectful discussion (and the lack of it) in Star Wars fandom, because I don't think I've met a fandom where it's so complicated to even just understand the boundaries of a given discussion. Like, okay, let's say I'm going to have a conversation with someone who is Jedi-critical and we want it to be a respectful discussion--what does that look like? Because I've had discussions that I thought were very civil and fruitful, but then later almost every time I would see the person comment something like "Jedi fans are so blind they can't admit the truth." on someone else's post, often about a subject that we'd discussed. So, what initially felt like a respectful discussion then becomes completely soured and another source of contention in the fandom imo. And then there's the consideration of, what constitutes respectful discussion to both parties--if I completely disagree with everything you say and state my views with confidence (frex "Attachment is not the same thing as love, because the Jedi are primarily influenced by Buddhists on this aspect and both word of god commentary and the canon source material itself are extremely consistent on this."), does the other person consider that disrespectful to them if they disagree? I don't consider it inherently disrespectful, so long as we're talking about the content of the canon and not about other real people, because, babe, you can just not agree. I'm not doing anything to stop you. But I've found a lot of people think I'm trying to force them to agree with me when, no, I'm just stating things on my own blog as things I view as facts. People are free to disagree with me, just as I disagree with them, but a lot of people often seem to think differently as far as I can tell. I've seen so many discussions where people are like, "Finally! A respectful discussion in Star Wars!" and it's like. 90% of them just agreeing with each other. Like, yeah, it's easy to have a "respectful discussion" when you largely overlap opinions. But would they be that considerate if the person didn't largely agree with them? Would they still consider it respectful if the other person maintained their disagreement? And then there's the thorny, "What do we even consider 'canon'?" because, for me, I'm not really that into the Legends continuity for example. It's a very cool continuity, there's so much there that I love, but my heart is with Lucas' continuity. Some people really don't accept anything from the Disney continuity. All of that is fine, but to have a discussion, you have to figure out if you're using supplementary material and where each of you is coming from. And if you mix-and-match, that's another thing you have to address, because not everyone does.

And this is all over some fictional made up stories! Politics is easy to see why it gets so contentious--real people's lives are really on the line, anyone who can calmly discuss life and death situations for a lot of people like they don't matter is someone I'm going to have a hard time understanding. But over Star Wars? Having to overcome all of the above and pour a ton of energy into being compassionate when you've been burned so many times, all because of a fictional space story?? A lot of times it just doesn't seem worth it when there are better uses for our time and it's not like anyone's life is on the line here. (Like writing up a reference guide or silly Jedi Temple Life headcanons! So much more productive feeling!) So when someone comes into my inbox with bad faith commentary, I can only set down my boundaries and refuse to dance with them on the subject they're trying to needle me with. If they want a real discussion, they can pull up their big person's undies and approach me with good faith. Ultimately, I'm more interested in talking about how we treat each other and thinking that maybe that can provide some progress, rather than arguing about the same things we've done forever, because people are going to settle where they will, so many of us just aren't moving because we've done the homework, spent our time in the mines, and come to the conclusions we have after a lot of thought about it. Discussions where you're trying to move someone who doesn't want to be moved don't feel fruitful to me, I need a different purpose to engage and I'm doing my best to convey that that's where my boundary is, to people who come into my inbox. Genuinely good faith discussions are welcome, but you're going to have to pour a lot of compassion into it, because I'm going to be pouring a lot of compassion into a good faith discussion, too, otherwise I don't see it going anywhere. And people who try are going to get the same response they always get. I'll try to be gentle as I can about it, but seriously. Eight years of this. Extend me some grace, you guys, okay? 😂

[sparkliest-bard-bracket]

Congratulations to ✨FREDDIE MERCURY✨ for being crowned the ✨SPARKLIEST BARD✨ in all the land!!!!

🎶HE. IS. THE CHAMPION. 🎶

Over the course of this bracket, he has faced off against many worthy bards, including an inter-dimensional storyteller, multiple irl musical artists, an immortal musically talented war criminal, and a muppet, and he proved himself to be the most sparkliest of them all.

Excellent singing, excellent piano playing, excellent songwriting, excellent fashion sense, and overall ~glamour~, Freddie Mercury has it all. Here are some of my favorite of Freddie's bardly moments, and feel free to reblog and add your own to celebrate our Bardly Champion!:

And to honor Freddie Mercury's wonderful legacy, I present my favorite Bohemian Rhapsody video ever -- he didn't even need to be alive to have a concert!:

And while we celebrate and throw a Queen-themed party for our Champion of Bards, do not forget to give a round of applause to all of the incredible bards who participated in this bardly showdown!! You can find all of their names and fandoms, along with the full completed bracket under the cut :D

That's all from me for now, folks!! I may make a poll for 3rd place if people are interested, and if people are very enthusiastic, I might make a round 2: fictional characters only! Lemme know if you'd be interested in either of those things, and thank you oh so much for your support through this whole bracket, and have a wonderful day all you fantastic bards and bard fans!!!

Complete Bracket in image format:

And the names and fandoms of all of our bards from the whole bracket!:

Jareth the Goblin King (Labyrinth)

David Bowie (Real Life)

Thom Merrilin (Wheel of Time)

Gurney Halleck (Dune)

The Bard/Kiwi (Wandersong)

Daeron (The Silmarillion)

Callie Cuttlefish (Splatoon)

Finrod (The Silmarillion)

Apollo/Lester Papadopoulos (The Trials of Apollo)

Apollo (Greek Mythology)

Bill Cypher (Gravity Falls)

Chong (Avatar: The Last Airbender)

Max Rebo (Star Wars)

Edgin Darvis (Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves)

Dimentio (Super Paper Mario)

Will Scarlet (Robin Hood)

Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem (The Muppets)

Link (The Legend of Zelda)

Katalina (Tabletop Time)

Starling Birdsong (Realm of the Elderlings)

Orpheus (Greek Mythology)

“Weird Al” Yankovic (Real Life)

Dave BruBot/The Major Player (Toontown: Corporate Clash)

Carrie Wilson (Julie and the Phantoms)

Kvothe (The Kingkiller Chronicle)

Elan (Order of the Stick)

Raz'ul, Son of Daz'ul (BomBARDed)

Edward Chris von Muir (Final Fantasy IV)

Binary Bard (Poptropica)

Christian (Moulin Rouge)

The Bard (Shovel Knight)

Fflewddur Fflam (The Chronicles of Prydain)

Man with the Harmonica (Once Upon a Time in the West)

Kyoami/The Fool (Ran/King Lear)

Diedrich Knickerbocker (Headless: A Sleepy Hollow Story)

Hannah Montana (Hannah Montana)

Bard the Bowman (The Hobbit)

Leliana (Dragon Age)

Sprig Plantar (Amphibia)

Lucifer Morningstar (Lucifer)

Neil Banging Out the Tunes (Tumblr)

The Muses (Disney Hercules)

Robinton (Pern)

Thistle/Sissel (Delicious in Dungeon)

Loquatius Seelie (Critical Role)

Cicero (Skyrim)

Michael Jackson (Real Life)

Oli/TheOrionSound (Empires SMP)

Megamind (Megamind)

The Onceler (The Lorax)

Mettaton (Undertale)

Gamzee Makara (Homestuck)

William Shakespeare (Real Life)

William Shakespeare (Something Rotten)

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Classicaloid)

William Shamspeare (Ace Attorney)

Marceline the Vampire Queen (Adventure Time)

Brook (One Piece)

Gerard Way (Real Life)

Sea Hawk (She-Ra and the Princess of Power)

Snufkin (Moomin)

Frank Sinatra (Real Life)

Lias "Cliff" Bluestone (Discworld)

Rick Astley (Real Life)

Alan-a-Dale (Robin Hood)

Essi Daven (The Witcher)

Lúthien Tinúviel (The Silmarillion)

Stefen (The Heralds of Valdemar)

Roman Sanders (Sanders Sides)

Remus Sanders (Sanders Sides)

Bard (Crypt of the Necrodancer)

Kass (Legend of Zelda/Breath of the Wild)

Steven Universe (Steven Universe)

Glenn Close (Dungeons & Daddies)

Miss Piggy (The Muppets)

Nydas Okiro (Critical Role)

Charlie Pace (Lost)

Dob the Half-Orc Bard (Oxventure)

Kitagra (Kings of the Wyld)

Kaylie Shorthalt (Critical Role)

Father Gabriel (The Mission)

Gabrielle the Battling Bard (Xena: The Warrior Princess)

Haer'Dalis (Baldur's Gate)

Tsukasa Tenma (Project Sekai: Colorful Stage!)

Tom Bombadil (The Lord of the Rings)

Sylvando (Dragon Quest 11)

Steve McKenzie/Jester (Galavant)

Gieve (The Heroic Legend of Arslan)

Jaskier/Dandelion (The Witcher)

Kubo (Kubo and the Two Strings)

Guiliastes/Gui (1/2 Prince)

Rocky (Lackadaisy)

Asmodean (Wheel of Time)

Neil Cicierega/Lemon Demon (Real Life)

Kermit the Bard (Tales of Tinkerdee)

The Pied Piper (The Pied Piper of Hamelin)

Venti (Genshin Impact)

Sir Robin's Minstrels (Monty Python and the Holy Grail)

Oscar Wilde (Rusty Quill Gaming)

Franz Liszt (Classicaloid)

Eddie Munson (Stranger Things)

Puss in Boots (Shrek)

Freddie Mercury (Real Life)

Hoid/Wit (Cosmere)

Noise (Roleslaying with Roman)

The Amazing Devil (Real Life)

Klavier Gavin (Ace Attorney)

Rickety Stitch (Rickety Stitch and the Gelatinous Goo)

Ron Stampler (Dungeons & Daddies)

Thancred Waters (Final Fantasy XIV)

Raine Whispers (The Owl House)

Jack Black (Real Life)

Scanlan Shorthalt (Critical Role)

Éile (The Witcher: Blood Origin)

Hap Gladheart (Realm of the Elderlings)

Alastair Nobledrifter (Saving Throw - DnD Podcast)

Maglor (The Silmarillion)

Bill & Ted (Bill & Ted)

DJ Cadence (Club Penguin)

Imp Y Celyn (Discworld)

Bard Otter (The Last Dragonlord)

Yara of Nowhere, the Wandering Bard (A Practical Guide to Evil)

Dorian Storm (Critical Role)

Maria von Trapp (The Sound of Music)

Demyx (Kingdom Hearts)

Hisirdoux "Douxie" Casperan (Tales of Arcadia: Wizards)

Bilbo Baggins (The Hobbit)

BMO (Adventure Time)

[krisslegacy]

not a lot just forever (chapter four)

based on the song by adrianne lenker

“and I roll them once or twice can't get much better not a lot, just forever"

characters - theron shan x q'rea kriss (original female barsen'thor)

summary - a nightmare, and words of comfort

word count - 678

warnings - pregnancy, ptsd, waking up from a nightmare

A/N - no beta we die like men please check this out on ao3, and so sorry for being MIA with my fics im on the grind now! i've been at film school :P

AO3

“Hey, look at me, breath.”

Theron’s words sustained her better than the Force as he held her up, gently stroking up and down her spine.

Her heart still pounded in her skull, thrumming through her bones and ringing in her ears. She couldn't help but clench her teeth and press her hands against the sides of her head.

35 years old, and the nightmares didn’t slow down. Q’rea’s future still haunted her.

She pulled air between her teeth, producing an eerie hissing sound before she exhaled. With the release of air, she let herself float on the steady stream of the Force, the rhythm and comfort of her husband’s words. The abyss of darkness slowly eased out of her head, returning to the deepest parts of her soul, hidden away.

Sweat clamored the sheets together, creating an uncomfortable sensation to Q’rea’s skin. Her ligaments and tendons popped and stretched as she extended her legs, easing herself onto her back to desolately stare at the ceiling (which had become a favorite activity over the years)

(Well, before her marriage)

Absently, her hand drifted to the small rise in her stomach. Just the notion of her nightmares returning made her throat dry. The bond she’d formed with the fetus already suggested high levels of Force sensitivity, and what if… what if this child was just as affected with their mother’s dreams as she was?

“Is it happening again?” Theron’s voice returned to her attention.

Swallowing her fear, Q’rea nodded. “Theron…”

He effectively shushed her, immediately taking his wife into his arms. “Together, we face all of this together.”

Silence.

“You promised,” he whispered.

Slowly, she turned to face Theron, pressing her forehead against his. A shock-wave filled with such tender love and warmth rolled through her body as she held his face in her hands. In that moment, she was reminded of the lengths she’d go to keep him safe, the injuries she’d bear so nothing could come between them. It had taken 11 years to finally be his, and though Umbara was a hurt she’d carry with her for the rest of her days, she’d rip the whole galaxy apart for him.

That was attachment, that is what Q’rea had feared her whole life. Only now, she wasn’t afraid of it anymore, running in the dark from something she’d never seen or felt. She embraced it now. Love made her stronger, and the Jedi had been wrong to turn away from it.

Revan’s words 13 years ago made her change her mind on Yavin IV. Her nightmares in carbonite only reinforced it.

“You don’t need the Force to know how much I love you, Theron Shan,” Q’rea finally said as their noses brushed, “and you certainly don’t need it to know I’m telling the truth. We will always do this together.”

Her heart nearly beat out of her chest when he reached to push a strand of brown hair out of her face. The faintest smile painted his lips. “Of course I don’t, I’ve known you far too long not to.” “I’m just not sure I can control this myself.” Q’rea sighed. Her hand dropped to his chest, pushing Theron over onto his back as she rolled on top of him. The groan that escaped his throat didn’t miss her at all. “I’ll talk to Sana-rae about it, how ‘bout that?”

Theron pulled his wife to his chest. “Fine-”

“Theron, did you feel that?”

He raised his eyebrow. “What?”

“That…kick.” Q’rea was quiet now, a voice filled with an excitement so rare nowadays. “Against your stomach, from me?”

Q’rea’s smile was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen, and never would he be sick of it. Even the musical giggles that levitated from her soul made him tingle with bliss.

“Well, no mistake now.”

“You don’t think the early morning vomiting told you that?” Theron stroked her hair.

“Quite, old man. You’re lucky you can’t get pregnant.”

Husband, wife, and a child the size of an orange laughed until the Odessen sun rose.

[mystarwarsthoughts]

My Star Wars Bucket List

So a lot of people have a “bucket list,” a list of things they want to do or accomplish before they die (kick the bucket, lol). I sort of have one for life in general, but more importantly, I have a Star Wars bucket list. Star Warsy things I’d like to do or accomplish before I die. In no particular order, here are the things I’d love to do in the world of Star Wars: Star Wars Celebration. Having…

[steveallenwriting]

Chapter 28: Old Wounds

Fessaen barely made it out of the building before she broke into a run. She had no intention of running the full 10 klicks to her destination, but she was also aware enough that if she hijacked a speeder directly in front of the building she had just conducted a meeting in, it would attract unwanted attention. She was three blocks away from the Klilor building before she started looking for a…

[popculturebuffet]

Belated MLK Day Special: Our Friend Martin AKA Martin Luther King: Time Jesus (Commission for WeirdKev27)

Hello all you happy people and a happy very belated MLK day to you all. What happened was the slot only opened up for this review on the day itself and it took me a while to watch it but frankly any day is good for honoring Martin Luther King. And today we're honoring the good doctor, hero, legend, and man of peace with a look at a bizzare educational film that attempts to do the same. It... it certainly tried.

Our Friend Martin comes to us from 1999 and from 90's animation and home video giant DiC. I don't have much more: the film was shown in classrooms as my friend cory has vauge memories of it and was nominated for the outstanding animated program emmy, but wikipedia didn't have much more. It does have an absolutely STACKED cast: LaVar Burton, Jaleel White, Ed Asner, Angela Basset, Whoopi Goldberg, Samuel L. Jackson, James Earl Jones, Ashly Judd, Susan Sarandon, John Travolta, Adam Wylie and current at the time of this writing Behind the Bastards subject Oprah Winfrey. Most of these are small rolls, a scene a piece, but it's still impressive and heartwarming just how many big names showed up for this.

Our Friend Martin is a lot. It has a child's shirt being ripped off as a running gag in the same film as an entirely accurate look at the Birmingham Riot. It's a film that's geninely educational as I learned some stuff from this specail.. but also uses time travel and has Martin Luther King sacrifice himself to save the future. It's a film that despite being behind I still badly wanted to review as it's something you just kinda have to get out of your system. Something so singularly weird yet exactly what you'd expect of it's time. it's our friend martin and it' under the cut.

Our Friend Martin is the story of Miles, an enthusastic young boy who dearly loves baseball and is a huge Hank Aaron fan but is bad at school. What I like is that there's some nuance to it, as Miles later tells his teacher part of why he focuses on it is he figures there's no real out for black people besides being famous and thus isn't focusing.

He's also 12 so his mom threatens to take away baseball and his teacher admits the principal wants to hold him back if his grade keeps up. Miles knows what most kids, and this grown ass man tend to know about Martin Luther King: he was a good man, did a lot of great things for civil rights. I know a bit more, his orignization of the march on washington.. but the fact I don't know much more than a fictional 12 year old is fucking damming and something that shamed me as I watched this. I mean.. I should know more about a man who helped make the world far better and was taken far too soon than what I barely remember from school. Granted my missouri education whitewashed a lot of stuff about the civil war, so i'm not super surprised we didn't have a big deep dive into martin luther king and all the horrible shit racist assholes did to him.

Miles is played by Robert Ri'chard. As I learned thanks to the magic of wikipedia, the child cast here all went on to do stuff, and Ri'chard went on to be the love intrest in One on One, a sitcom I dearly remember for being great fun when it was on the N, starring Proud Family's Kyla Pratt and having a bitching theme song.

His mom isn't in the movie much but is played by film legend and 911 superstar Angela Basset, one of many big names here for about 5 seconds but doing a terrific job.

Miles has other problems too in this case Kyle, his bully who as is standard for 90's bullies, wants to beat on him because shut up, is mildly dumb, has a weird haircut and gets comically humilated. In most cases this would be tripping in a puddle or having a dog bite him or getting escorted out of a ballet school after chasing Alfalfa and Spanky in there. In this case he chases Miles to the bus every day where he gets on just in time and the crazy old buss driver shuts the door on his shirt and drives off. This does not as you'd guess lead to Kyle being drug along the road to school to think about what he did and possibly be scarred for life, but instead his shirt just gets ripped off.

Now this is already fucking weird. When descirbing this to my good friend Jess, her response was an understandable

But it gets weirder, as Kyle now needs a ride in the car from his chainsmoking dad. His chainsmoking dad is only in one scene smoking it up, berating his son for being a half shirted looser and because they could get John Trevolta for a cameo. Weirdly he does not return later when they come back and the future is a back to the future part 2 style hellhole. Yes we're going full biff tanen for this one.

So on top of this, not only does this bus driver rip shirts off, but he also nearly runs children over. A lot. To the point miles is used to it. His name is Wild Man Willis and he's voiced by Richard Kind though we don't hear him till he shows up in the biff tanen timeline. Now granted all but one white person in the Biff Tanen timeline is a violent racist but the fact Mad Dog nearly runs over a black child every day tells me that maybe he always was and this is just plausable deniablity. Not all that plausable mind you as "I hit a child with a bus because I can't publicly do hate crimes again yet" isn't a defense in 1999, but hey.

So yeah already we have attempted comedy and attempted manslaughter and while it won't get WEIRDER it certeainly comes close.

For now let's meet the rest of the main cast as they prepare for a field trip: First up is Randy, Miles Token White best friend with a questionable southren accent, played by future fast in the furious tokyo drift star Lucas Black, once again in a roll he just was not ready for. Tokyo Drift speaks with a horrible southren accent they shoudl've just abandoned as young mister black cannot keep it up. Randy is a skateboarding cool dude who unforutnately is in most of this movie. I do not blame his voice on BLack whow as a children at the time, but more on the voice directors for not getting a better performance or dropping the southren accent.

Filling out the class is Maria, played by Jessica Cruz of On my Block and Liv and Maddie fame, both shows I haven't watched but I will give credit where it's due for. Maria is poorly written as the brains. She's not stupidly written but she is a know at all type a who constantly downtalks the main cast and whines constantly. It's a case of me appreciating that they made the only latina member of the cast smart.. but then being annoyed that she's that sort of smart that grates. The kind of person who just ahs to waggle their brain in your face.

Teaching these annoying children is Mrs. Dale, a hippie teacher who is wise and kinda there and played by Ashley Judd. That's about it.

Now we've met our cardboard cutouts their taken to visit Dr. Martin Luther King's home, and meet the curator, Mrs. Peck.

Yup Whoopi Goldberg taking a break from the Enterprise and the View to help with time travel. Or maybe this is Guinan as she is hundreds of years old. Point is Whoopi Goldberg is helping children travel through time so we should get back to that. When shown MLK's childhood bedroom miles notices some sparks and decides to visit the roped off room.. and is let in when Whoopi notices he has the touch, winds the magic time watch and off we go.

First stop is Martin Luther King Age 12, whose playing some baseball. We get the usual "We've traveled back in time?!" stuff you expect, not realizing it, realizing this is young version of person, etc. You get it.

It's also one of the more effective segments as young martin is playing with some white kids... whose racist mom shows up, berates them for playing with the "colored" and tells Randy, whose also here, point blank if he keeps hanging out with black people "he'll hang from the same tree as them" I... I don't have a pithy reaction image for that this special went fucking hard and it won't be the last time. For all it's flaws and weirdness.. this specail dosen't sugarcoat racisim. It isn't as blunt as it could be, but it's still blunt enough to make it clear just how bad it was. While most kids films, especailly edutainment like this, woudlnt' shy from the racisim part, the mention of hangings and some of the later stuff is pretty damn blunt, as well as the whole biff tanen future.

Next they join a teen martin on a train, finding out about segregation first hand. Danny Glover is the train conductor. That's.. not the best use of your Danny Glover film. They do make better use of their other stars for this bit: Jaleel White plays teen martin very well and I appricate having a diffrent performer for each time period. I"m already a fan of Jaleel as a voice actor, and i'd say he's my faviorite of the martins, injecting some energy into him. James Earl Jones plays Martin's father Reverened King, who the boys meet as they join MLK for supper and I like emphasising that his father made rounds, visting the sick and those who can't leave the home for prayer and such, imparting WHY MLK was like this: he had a good role model who taught him to look out for people. It's simple, sure, but it works and makes me want to learn more about the good reverened, which is what an educational film should do: teach you but also make you want to learn MORE about the thing. To make you enjoy the subject.

Next up is the Mongomery Bus Boycott, the famous one inspired by the rosa parks incident and something I had heard of because who hasn'.. and this is where the film once again goes hard. After the film's usual repitive round of our heroes trying to get martin to remember them, it happens almost every time and never stops being annoying and it's clear he dosen't from timeline to timeline, Martin gets some horrifying news from his friend Turner, played by Samuel L. Jackson himself who unlike a lot of the cameos in this film, actually gets a decent chunk of time to do stuff. Martin's house has been bombed

I had not heard of this and frankly this should be taught in more classes: The reverend's house is bombed. It woudln't even be the last time as the Birmigham Riots we'll get to next were caused by a bombing in a hotel room Doctor King had stayed at and the bombing of his brother Dexter's house. It's not at all suprising there were attempts on the good doctor's life before the one that sadly succeeded. It dosen't make it any less horrific as his wife , played by Behind the Bastards Subject Oprah Winfrey, Coretta is in deep fear.. and his friend Turner wants blood. It's understandable frustration: all Martin did was the right thing, boycotting the busses for equal rights.. and he was attacked for it. And it's telling his response isn't to join them in the attack (If hammily called by Jackson calling for people to use "guns and bricks") but for peace like Ghandi. IT's overwrought sure but I get the message: we are not them. The sad part is sometimes.. that just dosen't work. I respect dr king, he was a truly wonderful man who fought with peace despite how much he went through, how many hoses were turned on him how much time he spent in jail he persisted. I respet him. I wish peace always worked. I really did and I wish the world he dreamnt of would exist... but even if I don't agree that peace is the only option... I can agree that it should be the main one, and that he's one of the most courageous, kind and brave people i've ever known for fighting for it so damn hard, for fighting for what everyone should've had all along.

So to hammer this in our heroes are transported to the Birmingham Riot of 1963, something I dove into on wikipedia and was.. ugly. The short version is that Civil Rights Protestors were targeted and after bombings on Dr King's brother and an attempt on his life the people took to the streets and riots broke out, not unfairly given .. everything. What the special cuts is that John F Kennedy decided to quell the riots.. after all the violence against black people essentially sending the national guard to beat up black people rightfully upset that racists attempted to murder people just doing the right thing and had already taken several firehoses to the face from Bulll Connor, racist politican bafflingly voiced by Frank Welker here.

It's.. a bizzare experince to be sure. I don't doubt frank as a voice actor, he's one of the best in the buisness. He's scooby fucking doo, nuff said. And he has played villians, most famously president megatron

But it's very werid to hear one of his staple voices coming out of historical monster bull connor. He's a pitch or two from Megatron turning the fire hose on protestors. It's .. a lot.

The rest is fantastically done.. a horrifying panoply of dogs, fire hoses and bottles broken as violence spirals and our heroes are just.. lost in it. Their not hurt because edutainment, but I apricate the effort. It's a truly horrifying scene.

So it's back to the present and while he's genuinely learned some stuff Miles main takeaway is "time travel is rad" and "Martin Luther King is my friend now" so he plans to go back with randy tommorow.

The next day in class we get one of the weaker scenes. After a quick check that yup Kyle lost his shirt again and escaped death once again, our heroes chime in on a discussion of MLK and narrate over a video shown historical facts about King's arrest by bull connor, his being held and how after days of hearing nothing his wife called JFK who while a piece of shit about the riots, let's not mince words, did the right thing here and put pressure to get the good doctor released. IT's interesting stuff but I question both why this wasn't another stop on their time journey. Was it because King woudl've been absent if theyd idn't visit the jail itself? I dunno. It's weird.

Speaking of weird we have the weird way a lot of historical footage is used.. with a lot of color filters over grainy old footage. It looks weird isn't great and is mostly there to paper over where they didn't have the budget to animate something.

During the footage miles and co are spotted by Maria. Suspcious she tails them to the king house.. and brings Kevin because.....

So Miles and skrateboard get let back in while Whoopi Goldberg warns them about alterting witht he fabric of time. With a vauge warning instead of saying "Don't change the past dumbass". She lets Maria and Kevin in because why not send more dumbass children through time, and they end up in the room and end up traveling to the march on washington.

Kevin looses his shirt, again and he and miles prepare to throw hands but are stopped by Dr King. He was played by Levar Burton in the previous flashback and now by King's son Dexter, who does a great job especailly for someone who dosen't voice act regularly. The kids encounter their teacher as a younger woman, a bit I love, and Miles buys kevin a shit to bury the hatchet. The running gag comes full circle.

So we get the I Have a dream Speech.. which is done via archival footage but is still as stirring as ever and is the only time the use of historical stock footage works. The man's audio himself is the only way this really coudl've gone and while i'ms ure his son could've recited the speech well, and by heart, it feels right to use Martin's own words.

The kids are inspired and return and Miles is ready for more adventures.. till he finds out the awful truth... Martin Luther King was assassinated. And here's where I feel the film slips up: while the idea of this last act isn't horrible.. I question why it was necessary. The film's already nearly an hour long, it's more than long enough to fill up a class period or tv schedule. Why did we need Miles to go back in time to save Martin Luther king but destroy the present? It dosen't really add much... we get from the various flashbacks how important martin is, and Miles hearing the I have a dream speech in person feels like a better climax. Or if you have to touch on his assination have him be too late and instead go to the funeral. Or talk to martin shortly before and have MLK comfort him. THere were other methods

but instead miles grabs 12 year old martin.. whcih itself is just.. why? I get it was th efirst he met but woudln't it make more sense to grab him BEFORE he died? As a result time is destroyed and everyone else looses their memory.

So after ominously hinting at it all review, let's talk about the Biff Tanen Timeline. With MLK disappearing at age 12 miles is living in a beaten down apartment, MLK"s childhood home is rubble, and Randy's now Racist Randy, while Miles stupidly goes to his school and gets shooed out by the racist principal played by Ed Asner in a wasted part. Also maria can no longer speak english which... kay.

I'm... very mixed on this. I do like some touches like Randy being racist, showing had things just been slightly diffrent he woudln't be the kind annoying dullard we know but a racist asshole. And I may fucking hate randy but Racist Randy is even worse. Kevin would largely be the same but without his shirt based face turn from the sacred timeline.

My two big issues are

Miles is a fucking dumbass the whole segment and while I get not all fictional kids are going to be Marcy Wu levels of genre savy and spot the tropes, it's too blindingly obvious for him to not get, let alone for Martin alone to figure out.

While the present would be worse, which yes is possible, if MLK never existed, it feels insulting to all the other brave men and women (And probably a few nbs) in the civil rights movement, men and women who I wish I knew more names of and feel like researching more after this entirely due to this section of the film, to insuiate NO PROGRESS would be made without him. I get it, this is a late 90's edutainment specail. It's not going to be subtle. But MLK, while one of the biggest faces of civil rights was not the only one who fought for them. History would not be the same, things would've taken longer to set on the right course. It would not be good.. but I refuse to belivie all those involved would've done nothing. That Malcom X would've done nothing had MLK not existed. That's bullshit. It dosen't mean things wouldn't be much worse, or that Randy might be racist or what have you, but it wouldn't be the same as it was in the 60s. For all the fuckery we have now, I have to belivie humanity's better than that.

So Martin realizes he has to go back and die and become time jesus. Miles begs him not to.. but Martin returns and so does all of time. The actors play it very well and the moment is done shockingly well. As for why he can't just go back in time and save MLK... it's because the creators realized having Whoopi Goldberg explain MLK Has to die because time reasons goes against the message just the time. She also has ripple effect proof memory so she lived through all the horrors of the biff tanen timeline are left glued to her memory.

Miles is left sad though, if happy his friends are back to normal, but takes a good message: that we still do what we can and the work continues. Granted the work in this case.. is painting a mural of mlk while a bunch of acid washed clips of king are filtered in and a very 90s cover of ain't no mountain high enough plays

There are not enough drugs in the world to explain this ending, and i'm not on enough of those drugs to explain this ending. So with that inspiring acid trip done, our heroes stare at their handiwork as the movie ends.

Our Friend Martin means well. It does teach a lot about Dr King and to it's credit got me intrested in the man's life on a deeper level. Part of it is wanting the full story without the editing down for children, but i'm still intrested in something I shoudl've studied long ago and that counts.

This special's still trapped in the confines of it's time, being incredibly 90s and thus not having the budget something like this really deserved or the time it needed. This specail REALLY needed to be a full movie to get the full impact of things and truly use it's cast, but they barely had the budget for 40 minutes, and would've been better served shaving it slightly. We didn't need the biff tanen timeline or the montage at the end.

Our Friend Martin is a decent special, easy for me to poke fun at, fun too, but I can't deny that unlike a lot of other edutainment specials it does the best it can for it's time to be honest about it's message and about the horrific times MLK lived in and a good reminder of what the "good old days" many a jackass wants to go back to meant for the bulk of Americans. I can mock Martin Luther King being made into time jesus all I want, but I still give credit where it's due. This specail may be choppy, on the nose and with one timeline too many.. but it's heart was in the right place. Thanks for reading

[legends-expo]

We're thrilled to have Abel Peña join us for our 2025 Legends Expo show! He is best known for his "nonfiction fiction" articles that were published in Star Wars Insider, Star Wars Gamer, Hyperspace, and more. Peña also wrote the Knights of the Old Republic Campaign Guide, and has even translated some foreign Star Wars comics from Spanish and Italian into English. He developed a lot of the lore from the 2000s on, including the Mandalorian Mythosaur!

Legends Expo is a fan-run convention celebrating the books, comics, games, and other media that built the original Expanded Universe, and will be held on September 13 & 14, 2025 at the Burbank Marriott Convention Center.

Tickets available [here]

Photo: Seb_Stills (ig)

[movie-nite]

Building Blocks of Arcane Women: Mel Madarda

The League of Legends series "Arcane" depicts some of the most well written and built characters I have ever seen. It seems like almost everyone can agree that this series is absolutely beautiful with the storyline, but with this post I'm going to deep dive into just the writing and creation of the female characters alone.

Mel is the "femme fatale" noble of Piltover's council who is seen using her noble status, beauty, and overall reputation in order to manipulate and convince others to side with her on various conflicts. She truly values Piltover and wants to see it prosper and thrive, and she is going to do everything in her power, and beyond it, to make it happen. The main factor that makes her such an empowering and overall inspiring character is agency, or the ability to change the course of events by making crucial choices and the exercise of that ability alone. Mel is a character who uses her ability to change her environment so she doesn't truly have to adapt. With most female characters who sit in a position of power in popular series, they don't frequently exercise their ability to change... well anything. A lot of the time, they get tossed around by the plot of the story or let men influence and impact every little decision or just let them make the decisions instead. Or, in the worst cases, they get killed off before they make a change. In Arcane however, Mel and pretty much every woman in the show has some sense of agency. All of their decisions make a pretty big impact on their communities, their families, and basically the societies of both Zaun and Piltover. In Mel's story, she has the final say in Hextech and where it expands and chooses to promote Hextech weapons and to use them for war, then for peace, and on top of all of that, she managed to push the council however she wants and wherever she needs to. The other council members are simply her pawns in some cases, allowing her to get what she needs done and get it done when she needs it. This can be seen the countless times she glares at other council members, causing them to also vote and raise their hands. This is due to her tremendous political power she has had since the beginning as well as the overwhelming control she has over other council members and a lot of that stems from the wealth that she has, despite being the least wealthy of the Madara family. Even with that, she is continuously looking to expand about her wealth and income. The thing is, she starts out in the same position of power that many other women do. Those other women however, end up losing their agency. They manage to fall into some ridiculous circumstance that magically makes them unable to make big decisions. Somehow, there are very common scenarios where this happens, like in Star Wars where Princess Leia somehow creates or gets involved in conflict that causes her to lose her power. Another scenario is when the power one woman has is taken by another woman, sort of like in Heathers where the dispute is between one naturally powerful woman like Heather Chandler and one woman having to work her way to the top like Veronica Sawyer or even Heather Duke. It's almost like there is a "limited supply" of agency when it comes to women in fiction. And lastly, the scenario where power and agency also get lost or taken, is whenever a man or a romantic interest get involved. Whether this weakens the woman or makes her more vulnerable, she still manages to lose her power (as seen in DC with Harley Quinn, who was one a respectable psychiatrist and human prior to her falling in love with the joker, who ended up making her submit to him and corrupted her and her values). Many viewers and fans were scared of this happening when there was signs of Jayce and Mel's relationship. People thought that Mel was magically going to let Jayce take the reigns, but no, it only empowered her more. She used that relationship as an opportunity to succeed and bring home the bread. Her connection to Jayce allowed her to convince other council members to side with her and work towards and with her goals and morals.

[omegansamurai]

I hate that these YouTube videos complain and moan about how the Netflix live-action Avatar: The Last Airbender was a 'failure'...I mean, if that was the case, then why had it been renewed for not one, but TWO seasons, huh?

And like...I doubt the Avatar Studios stuff is gonna be anything groundbreaking. I don't even think Avatar Studios' content will be any good. Really, it's like, why is this even a thing? Just leave the franchise alone, Bryke, and just let people who can write and make your story a lot more enjoyable (Netflix's Avatar).

It just reeks of desperation and Bryke trying to be relevant. Avatar is not the next Star Wars, I'm sorry. It's a Nick cartoon that should've been an epic four-season (maybe five seasons, who knows?) show, but it shrunk to three, to make a failed shitty trilogy movie that the first movie bombed at the box office, thanks to the creators 'SUPER WISE' decision of canceling the fourth season because they want that trilogy movie series, and honestly? That itself was a bad idea. Bryke tries too hard to make their product the next Star Wars(which I think they're fans of, which says a lot), and it painfully shows. They try too hard. REALLY hard.

Like with Legend of Korra, they try to be super edgy with their 'story' and 'characters', but they just miss the mark on what made ATLA great. I mean, they don't even care about how the bending looks anymore in Korra. Really, there's a reason why they put the final season online, and it was just a bad show. Don't deny it, everyone. I'm certain it would've been good...but it was executed poorly and made not only a mockery of the characters in that show but the OG characters of ATLA(especially Katara). Well, maybe Zuko is the only one who's doing alright...but that just reeks of sexism doesn't it? Toph is all alone in the Swamp, and Katara is...not who she is...always sad about Aang's death...like get it together girl, you're mother-effin KATARA. Get with it!

And another thing, what more is there to tell? What is the next series even going to be? The Avatars are cut off after Korra, right? So...what now? And if you put the setting in some lame-ass futuristic steampunk or cyberpunk world and have bending in it, then...well, that's not really Avatar, is it? It's just its own thing at this point. And really, I don't want any new characters...I never wanted Korra's characters either if the writing they have for them was that bad.

I just think this whole Avatar Studios is just...again, desperation. Like why not reboot it or just...tell the same story, but with a different setting?

Sorry, lost track.

What I'm trying to say is, is that people act like the Netflix live-action of Avatar: The Last Airbender supposedly 'failed', which isn't the case. Y'all are just butthurt about how your 'perfect show' got 'tainted' by big corporations, and honestly, that's far from it. The people behind this live-action were very committed, and the actors were very respectful of their roles. The BTS looked like everyone was having a good time. And here you have idiots going on about how the live-action sucks because...what, Aang talks too much? No sexism from Sokka? Katara didn't act all rage-filled or whatever? I can get the criticisms, but still, I enjoyed it. I liked it. I want to see more.

It's just that this stupid fandom likes to put down the live-action because the cartoon is supposed to be this or that and it doesn't have this...when honestly, it's its own thing, but it's still Avatar! Let it be its own thing! You got the cartoon, now look at this NEW Avatar: The Last Airbender by Netflix! Look at the way they portray the characters, look at the direction they're going, look how they world-build, just look at it! It's almost like fanfiction, and really, isn't that what Avatar is? Fanfiction? It may be a cartoon show, but it's still fiction. They're not real people. We can do whatever we want with them. We're just borrowing their characters, story, and world.

This whole thing is an adaptation. So it's not your cartoon...but it's still Avatar.

I know I'm just rambling at this point, but I'm just kind of tired of seeing thumbnails on YouTube of people bringing down the live-action Avatar. I genuinely enjoyed it, and yes, while it may have some things to work on, the people behind the show will listen to their criticisms and work on that. But again, I still liked it.

Just know one thing...Bryke would've made the live-action of Avatar a whole lot worse if they were in control. I really do believe that. And as for Avatar Studios...I give it a year before it goes bankrupt. I know that's a little harsh, but I just know that the animated Avatar movie is going to be disappointing. ^^;