#the exile arc had so many good scenes and quotes

[lushwithrats]

“Does the universe love me now”

[usernamesuggestionsarefunny]

Possibly unpopular opinion (Or perhaps not idk): I love what they have done with Zuko and Ozai's relationship in the live action Netflix Avatar show.

In the cartoon we never get the ~vibes~ that Zuko has a complicated relationship with his father, only that it is abusive and one-sided in the sense only Zuko craves Ozai's approval, while Ozai straight up hates him, wants him dead or has no problem with him dying (Why doesn't he kill him if he has Azula? We don't know, plot has to happen, he sent Zuko to find the avatar in order to get rid of him, probably, or actually canon idk or remember), clearly prefers Azula to him as successor, etc, etc, etc (+ later the comics literally overkilled this trend "she was born lucky while..." omg stfu). Zuko is basically the perfect character to prove the fire nation is not all evil (Oh look, they hate him too, he is inherently their victim too from the very beginning).

So when Zuko switches sides in the cartoon, what I see as an adult rewatching is someone giving up on luxory, physical safety and... that is pretty much it. Sure it is a big deal to give up on those things to do what is right (Few would) and still awesome that he did the right thing in the end, but if you really think about it, he is not giving up that much, he is not giving up anything truly valuable to him. Respect? Honor? Sure he is said to have received it back after Azula "killed" Aang, but we never truly see it. For all intents and purposes his sister has that and wayyy more of it. His father's love and acceptance? Never had it, so he didn't truly "loose it" when he spoke up for those soldiers, got the scar and was banished, it is not really shown to have suddenly popped into existence when he was said to have killed the avatar. He literally had nothing in the fire nation, literally nothing. This could only make "doing the right thing" a lot easier for him, and for the adult audience (At least for me), his arc is just him realizing what is almost irritatingly obvious for us: That no one in the fire nation truly loves and respects him so might as well switch sides (Basically if we weren't also shown that Zuko is compassionate and does care about the horrible things the fire nation is doing, Ember Island Players would have gotten a bit of truth in it).

Now, in the live action, where do I even start? It has been so good so far when it comes to Ozai and Zuko. That man, if he hated Zuko in a cartoonishly evil way almost from birth, he sure doesn't show it. Don't get me wrong, he is just as abusive (Creepily so in many scenes, made me feel so protective of Zuko and Azula), but he is also shown to "care" about Zuko as in having some hope left that he can mold him into another powerful genocidal mini me. Is Azula winning by far? Ofc, she is still the prodigy, I am sure I am going to see flashbacks of favoritism later on. But Ozai doesn't yet seem to favor her in a way that makes Zuko's craving for his approval (Or even Ozai's hope in him as heir) hopeless. It seems, from his scenes with Azula, that Ozai foments the rivalry and competition between the two siblings not only because he personally thinks Azula is the best (Which he also might in this version), but also as a way of control through fear (Especially for prodigy Azula), and to make them (Especially comparatively weaker Zuko) "better", something this version of Ozai appears to think is possible EVEN when he banishes Zuko. Now, he might have done this "to get rid of him" as in the original, but in the live action he seems super open to and genuinely believe the idea that the exile could make Zuko stronger and better, not to mention worthy of the throne if he succeeds. Ozai treats Zuko like the heir despite favoring Azula is all I am saying. Zuko's actions are therefore almost impossible, yes, but not hopeless or even naive. And if this trend of Ozai's respect and "love" (Super on quotes) being achievable continues, Zuko's eventual turn to the good side will be much more powerful. He will have to give up much more after spending a summer with his abusive parent love bombing him for "killing" the avatar. Zuko's choice will be solely based on his findings about the horrors the fire nation has committed and not wanting to be the cause of more suffering even though he could have it all. Even though it was his fate to be his father's "mini me"-> Something terrifyingly likely and not so quickly discarded by the narrative itself as it was in the animated series.

I think the best part about this subtle change in the father-son dynamic (If it was the intention of the writers, I am aware it could have been unintended) is that the scar tm was a direct result of Zuko's compassion for those soldiers and not just the excuse Ozai used to banish him or "final straw" because he preferred Azula sooo much more, as it is pretty much implied later on in the animated series and comics by focusing so much on how much of a perfect victim Zuko was pretty much from birth. The addition of the 41st surviving because of Zuko was also pretty nice, and so is Zuko's relationship with them, he will need fire nation allies when he gets to the throne and this is a good start, something the animated series never touched upon much.

I am on episode 6 btw so my opinion might change. I will edit this post if that is the case. BUT my thoughts on these first scenes doesn't change, they are good imho

EDIT (And spoilers): I just watched Zhao’s revelation where he tells Zuko that Ozai would never let him return and he just wanted to use him to motivate Azula. It does change things and invalidates most of what I said, but taking out just this one scene, as I said, the Ozai-Zuko dynamic is great in this show, and also, Zhao is obviously not the most reliable source, because he was allied to Azula and obviously wanted to hurt Zuko, as he was losing the fight with him. There is also the fact that Azula wasn't watching Ozai and Zuko when Ozai told his son that he was being banished and that it was in part so he could get stronger etc, that was all for Zuko and had little way of serving as motivation for Azula (Unlike the scenes where Ozai praises Zuko in front of her, those could have totally been him bullshitting his daughter to motivate her to work even harder). So all in all this scene doesn't ruin the overall impression I had of the Ozai-Zuko father-son dynamic in the life action show. In fact, it could be taken to confirm one of my impressions which was that Ozai likes pitying his children against each other to push them harder.

EDIT 2: Ozai's reaction to Zuko's possible death is further proof imo that his “test” was very much real (even if almost impossible) and everything I said earlier still stands. He wouldn't mind that much if he died, it would just prove his “weakness”, and he is very pleased with Azula, but he didn't look happy or even indifferent when he learned the news.

[ghosts-and-blue-sweaters]

Character ask!

Tommy! (I'm about 93% sure he's a character in DSMP 😬)

1, 2, 3, 7, 14, 20, 27, 30

Oh yes, he’s definitely a character :D He’s actually probably the most main character in DSMP 😅

My first impression of them

I don’t think I liked him very much 😅

I thought he was too much, and too loud and made too many rowdy jokes, and was just… a lot. It took me a bit to warm up to the guy.

When I think I truly started to like them (or dislike them, if you've sent me a character I don't like)

I can’t really place the exact moment I started liking him, because I think it was more of a gradual thing; slowly, the more I watched him and learned about him and watched his story progress, I found myself… coming around :) He started to grow on me.

Now I think he’s really funny, and he makes me smile a bunch, and he’s also super caring and loves so hard and is overall a sweet guy (who is still very loud and very Much and makes rowdy jokes, but I’ve grown to appreciate him for it XD)

A song that reminds me of them

!!!

SO MANY

Trouble by Matthew S Nelson

Role Models by AJR

Living My Best Life by Paper Kings

(I have a whole hekkin 30 hour playlist ajsgaksga)

A quote of them that you remember

Tommy has a lot of great quotes, actually :) He’s a very good talker.

“I’m not a broken record. If anything, I’m a sturdy record.”

“He’s like Toy Story, but vigorously more offensive.”

“In Pogtopia, you weren’t… kind.”

“I don’t like who I am when I’m around you, Dream.”

“I’m so rich that I’m poor. I flip my hair back and say that.”

Best storyline they had

OOOOH

I really liked the whole Thing he had going on with Wilbur (crime boys my beloveds) and I also adore the friendship he had with Ghostbur.

But honestly, Exile might be my favorite arc he had. It was sad and hard to watch but so good.

A weird headcanon

Ehehehe >:)

He’s got a scar running across his middle finger (he likes that one)

If they could meet a character from another show/movie/etc, who would be the most fun for them to meet?

Gosh, there’s so many possibilities-

I kinda want him to meet Peter Parker from Spiderman XD

The funniest scene they had?

DUDE SO MANY!!!

Gosh… maybe during pre-L’manburg days, when he was doing that drug business with Wilbur alsgaksgkaf that was pretty funny XD

[whyiswarriorcats]

Warrior Cats Discussion/Idea #1- Evil Medicine Cat character

This is the first 'Discussion/idea' post of many that could come in the future! For this post, I'd like to discuss a possible role and character idea that I would like to see in future books: What if there was an antagonistic medicine cat?

Throughout the Warrior's arcs, there has always been a antagonistic character that poses a threat to the safety of the clans and its members. I've always wondered: what if one of these characters served as a medicine cat?

Now, I'm going to go over how I believe a villainous medicine cat could work and how they could pose as a dangerous threat to the clans. To start, let's look into their role and what powers they hold in their position: (quoted from the Warrior Cats Wiki) 'Medicine Cats are members of the clan who treat diseases and injuries.. They receive and interpret omens and prophecies from Starclan. They are highly respected by all the clans.'

Medicine cats are well respected by all of the clans, they also hold important knowledge, such as: their leaders' nine lives, receiving important prophecies and omens about the future of the clans through Starclan, etc. What if this was exploited by a cat with malicious intentions? A medicine cat receives directions and guidance from Starclan, helping their clan in the right direction. Being a highly respected member of the clan, this cat could possibly make false claims and 'guidance' from Starclan to manipulate their leader and other cats to their pleasing. This guidance is usually given through 'prophecies' or 'omens'. These are usually given to medicine cats to foretell or warn them about a situation or event in the future. Now, let's say this cat 'received' one of these and told their leader about what they now know. This sign could be ' interpreted' as: attacking another clan; exiling a cat; sending the clan or an individual to their possible demise, etc. Or quite possibly, have the role of the clan leader also to themselves if it was 'Starclan's wisdom and what they had decided'? This cat could be highly manipulative and dangerously so.

In their respected position, these cats would easily be believed compared to a warrior in the clan due to their strong connection with Starclan and trust amongst their clanmates. As medicine cats look after their clanmates' injuries and sickness-why would this cat possibly need to be questioned if all they do is look out for the good of their clan and interpret messages from their ancestors?

Another thing that medicine cats are responsible for and have access to is the clan's herb supplies. Medicine cats are highly trained in medicine and herbs and have expansive knowledge of herbs and treatments. What if this cat brought in lethal herbs such as death berries or other deadly herbs to use against a cat or possibly another clan? They would have far more knowledge about these herbs than other cats and could they cover it up quite easily too? If there were to be a Villain medicine cat character in the near future, a concept that I have thought up of is what if they could possibly get their 'guidance' and prophecies/omens from the Dark Forest? Another scenario could be that a Dark forest cat could be pulling the strings behind the scenes and manipulating this medicine cat into doing bad deeds or they could be working together to plot something sinister against the clans.

I've always loved the idea of an antagonistic Medicine Cat character and I really hope we can see it in future books. I doubt that we'll get one soon, but there is always a slim possibility that there will be such a character and I can't wait to see that and read about it! I'd love to hear your opinions on this too!

-Mod Breezepelt

(Image Credits: Warrior Cats the Ultimate Guide- 'The Moonpol'.)

[drake-the-incubus]

/rp

EDIT: Added a read more, the post had been originally written on mobile

For context, unless stated otherwise for the most part, this is the roleplay dynamic.

Ayyy, been seeing some Dream SMP takes on Tommyinnit’s character development that are pretty uh, piss poor. I want to point some obvious things out to people. Especially following the Technoblade/Tommyinnit team disbanding.

Techno isn’t right. Techno was certainly not in the right there, and Tommy didn’t do anything that regressed his character either, his entire character came to a development.

Let’s Start by pointing out that Wilbur has posted their Dungeons and Dragons Alignments, where Techno is Lawful Neutral and Tommy is Chaotic good. (For sake of the post, Tubbo is Lawful Good.)

So I’m going to break down exactly what was going on there and how it developed the characters.

If we go by Technoblade first, I’m seeing a lot of people say he’s better than Dream- he is- and therefore Tommy shouldn’t have left. Which is true, Techno is better than Dream, but he’s just like Wilbur. Watching from Technoblade’s POV, you notice that he starts carrying a book of the To-Do List he intends to do with Tommy. Outlining that he wants to destroy L’Manburg and tried, at almost every chance he got, to convince Tommy to do so.

Tommy said no, he didn’t want to destroy L’manburg, because he cared for it. He outright said no, he JUST wanted his discs back.

Techno concedes, saying Tommy doesn’t have to participate, only after failing to convince him many times.

Techno the entire time, tried to convince Tommy that Tubbo wasn’t his friend, that Tubbo obviously doesn’t care for him. (Not true, as Tubbo literally mourned him and thought he was dead and it destroyed him.) Which is EXACTLY what Wilbur did.

This is an isolation tactic. Techno used ANY means necessary to try and recruit Tommy. Because his character doesn’t care about interpersonal relationships so long as he gets his goal- possibly excluding Phil. His entire character sticks to one set of Morals and set of laws he’s self imposed. (Canonically refusing to truly give up violence).

1. Governments are bad.

2. Governments must be destroyed.

3. The means justify the ends so long as it destroys the government.

Technoblade’s character gets a lot of sympathy, which is cool, but I want to point out while he personally was felt betrayed, he never was.

Techno from the start, was anti-government. Willing to destroy it all so long as another country was never rebuilt. That was his only condition.

Except he KNEW everyone else wanted L’manburg back, that’s what the fight was about. It was very transparent that everyone else was working for L’manburg back.

The three people who wanted it destroyed? Wilbur, Dream and Techno.

Techno wasn’t betrayed, he chose to ignore the goals of his allies until it came time that everyone took back L’manburg. He ignored knowledge that was given to him plenty of times, by Tommy himself even. They wanted L’manburg back. Techno talks of betrayal, but when Tommy points out that Techno betrayed them, he falters and excuses himself.

Which brings Tubbo into the mix. Tubbo was an ally, and he was working with them, WILLINGLY, to give information because he wanted to take down Schlatt and return L’manburg to how it was. He was trapped, scared and wanted help. In the festival, when Technoblade shoots him, THAT is a clear act of betrayal. Techno kills Tubbo, at Schlatt’s orders, betraying Tubbo and Tommy’s trust in him as he worked, clearly, for the other side, against their collective goals.

Techno claims the ends justify the means, and that he was under mild amounts of peer pressure. This is an example of his character. He doesn’t feel bad for hurting his ally, because they got something out of it. If it suits him, he WILL hurt his allies to get ahead in his goals, and he will say anything to justify it.

Tommy’s character cannot agree with this. He values friendship the most, and would give up his goals for his friends, as a true Chaotic Good, he values his friends and the people around him, over any law or morals, and would break his laws and morals for it.

He couldn’t understand Techno shooting Tubbo, because he wouldn’t. There wouldn’t be a force on the SMP that could make him shoot Tubbo in Techno’s place. They have too widely different views, where Tommy values friendship and people, Techno values ideals and goals.

So, we’re not even done and this is pretty long, let’s cover Tommy and the discs. The entire plot device for season one and two.

Tommy’s attention to the discs are goal oriented, to get back his discs no matter the costs, yeah? Except I feel like some of you have no idea where this goal came from. Tommy gave up the discs before, despite fighting for them desperately, so his friends could have L’manburg. He fought desperately, to have those discs back initially, as a war against Dream.

“Before this, before everyone, before L’manburg, it’s always been me and you, against Dream.” Tommy to Tubbo, before the Pogtopia vs Manburg war. (Might not be a true quote.)

This isn’t just a cute little moment, Tommy CARES for Tubbo deeply, they’re some of the closest friends on the SMP. He fought Techno because Techno killed Tubbo. It was personal for him, that is his best friend and he would do anything for him.

Tommy does, do anything for Tubbo, promising that no matter what, it will be the both of them. That they will always be together. This isn’t showing his hero complex, this isn’t a show of some inherent flaw. This is Tommy’s closest and most valuable interpersonal relationship. Chaotic Good Tommy values his friendships deeply.

So when Techno continuously tries to pressure Tommy into believing Tubbo and him aren’t friends, that Tubbo doesn’t care, and so they should hurt Tubbo to get the discs back, Tommy refuses. He refuses over and over again, claiming he trusts Tubbo will give back the disc.

Technoblade uses the framework Dream made, by the way, to accomplish this. He takes Tommy’s fragile mental state and uses that to his advantage. He does what Wilbur does, and almost succeeds. Tommy falters, believing momentarily that Tubbo doesn’t care. Something Dream was trying to convince him of in his isolation. Which isn’t true. Tubbo, upon learning Tommy is dead, is in disbelief and despair.

Let’s talk about the hostage situation for a moment. Tommy tells Tubbo off for not coming to his beach party, and that he was never visited, never received letters, and he was told the same thing from Tubbo as Wilbur said; “I wasn’t invited. I did send you things.”

The broken relationship we see? It’s falsely constructed by Dream. That bond exists still, fractured because someone came in with the intentions to break and destroy Tommy’s interpersonal relationships and manipulate him.

Tommy’s exile arc, was an abuse arc. Tommy was regularly abused by Dream. Techno profited off it, and used Tommy’s fragile mental state to try and achieve his goals, not even trusting Tommy until, in his fragile state, they both threaten Fundy. Techno sees this as commitment to the cause.

Tommy wanted his discs, Techno wanted L’Manburg destroyed.

So when the community house was destroyed, and we get that scene with Techno going with Tommy, they both have a moment. But I’ll address that in a second.

First, Tommy rushes in to defend himself, saying he didn’t destroy the community house. That he was innocent.

Tubbo doesn’t believe him. Why? Because Tommy does this. Tommy destroys things, he burned George’s house (taking the fall for Ranboo), he did plenty of things.

Tommy and Tubbo fight, and Tommy says, “the discs were worth more than you ever were”. This line, I’ve seen it interpreted many ways, one being he used to value the discs over Tubbo, and another being his values as a character.

It’s neither, by the way. It’s a heat of the moment comment, it shocks Tommy into silence, he instantly regrets it. He hates that he said it. Tommy’s goals, in that moment, change, based on his alignment. His goal doesn’t matter, if it’s hurting the people he cares for. It’s hurting Tubbo, it’s time to get rid of the goal.

In that instant, the discs do not matter. They mean nothing. Tommy doesn’t care for them. This is the moment that he GROWS as a character. Instead of obsessively wanting the discs and harming his friends for it, he is willing to let them go so he can foster his friendship. His arc, comes to an end. He doesn’t choose to be a hero again, that’s not what that is. No, he chooses his friend, the one he’s put so much faith and trust into, over something he has realized doesn’t mean more.

He tells Tubbo to give the disc to Dream, because he doesn’t care about them anymore, the sentimentality he has with them and Tubbo mean nothing if he loses Tubbo. Chaotic Good, he chooses the people over his goals and morals (which change on a whim).

Techno, who was using the discs to get Tommy to cooperate, who only recently thought Tom y and him were equals, is enraged because he can’t understand it. He can’t understand Tommy giving up his goal, because he couldn’t. His goals and ideals, they never went away in retirement, he was always wanting to destroy the government, he was planning it behind Phil’s back even. Everything he did was in preparation for a war. I think, even without the execution, Techno would have gone back to his ideals to destroy the government.

Which is why Techno, is angry. He feels betrayed, because once again, the outcome that was obvious happened, and someone stuck to their own words. Tommy would never harm Tubbo, and he wasn’t going to help Techno against L’Manburg.

But Tommy doesn’t do it maliciously against Techno, willing to even try and stay friends, showing he still cared for him. Tommy values his friends, including Techno in that moment.

What Techno sees is Tommy’s betrayal, Tommy broke their alliance because his goal is gone. “Help me get back the discs.” Tommy said when they made that deal. That no longer applies, Tommy was never intending on helping with the destruction of L’Manburg or the death of his friend.

Techno, once again, convinced himself that he would be assisted in his goal despite the vocal outcry against it.

So what does Techno do? He gets revenge. He teams up with Dream immediately.

That’s Techno’s character. Interpersonal bonds mean nothing if they get in the way of his goal, but he doesn’t go out of his way to purposefully destroy them. The MOMENT Tommy isn’t with him, Techno doesn’t have an issue with Dream or what he’s done.

Techno willingly teams up with Tommy’s abuser, because he gets his goal.

Tommy, who still cares for Techno is in shock at this. He sees Techno as a friend, like Tubbo. This hurts him.

Techno, later, even goes on to say he doesn’t care for friends so long as the people he’s with share his ideals, ending into the extreme of his alignment.

Techno has never been a good guy. He’s an antagonist of the SMP. Particularly, he’s not a villain, but antagonist. He’s an obstacle. Not via his person, but his goals.

And he wins, and he tells Tommy, “you never saw me as a person, only a weapon, you betrayed me twice now”.

Tommy, who has seen them as friends, after Techno broke their friendship off the first time with the withers, counters, “and what of Schlatt and what you did to Tubbo”.

Which Techno dismisses as, “in the past” and “it doesn’t matter”. To Techno, it’s not relevant how he treats others, his betrayal to other people doesn’t matter, just the perceived betrayal towards himself.

In the end, Techno is blinded by his beliefs. They controlled him to the extremes. To the point where he would burn any bridge made to keep them.

But Tommy? Tubbo? They gave up L’Manburg, to make their own little place. No vocal apologies were given, yes, and they should address that, but they gave up the country to be together as friends.

And for anyone wondering, Tommy and Tubbo are friends again, through action. Tommy, contrasting his words, gave the discs up to repair his friendship.

Techno, true to his word, destroyed the country and killed anyone who stood in his way. Even going out of his way sometimes to target Tubbo and Tommy.

In short, Techno was a second Wilbur to Tommy, and it shows that some people ignored the subtle manipulation attempts to achieve his goal. Is he as bad as Dream? No, not even close actually. But he’s as bad as Wilbur.

I also want to point something out on ages. Techno is canonically an adult. Tommy is a child, a kid. He’s a kid. The dynamic between them was skewed.

Techno saw a kid, in distress, and in a poor mental state, and tried to manipulate him.

When the kid figured out he didn’t want his goal anymore, he backed out. Techno punished him, by repeating what would be a huge source of trauma for him.

Techno tried to destroy L’Manburg, and succeeded. And he told Tommy that, “you could have just sat out”.

Tommy couldn’t. Because Tubbo is, and always will be, his closest friend. He values his bonds, but he promised Tubbo it was the two of them.

As Philza is the exception to Techno’s alignment, the promise to Tubbo is the exception to Tommy.

There was no betrayal, but a shift in goals and ideals from Tommy, which lead to Tommy and Technoblade no longer needing to be allies.

The narrative isn’t supposed to be black and white, that’s most of the characters. Techno being a big perpetrator of this. The narrative is a morally Grey area, where you can side with whoever you want.

That’s it, that’s the meta.

- Signed, A Techno and Tommy apologist

[skellizo]

IT’S TOMMYS ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY ON THE SERVER! So here is my promised appreciation post:

Tommy honestly did such a great fucking job with his character like it’s no secret that the majority of us consider the exile arc to be the best arc of the Dream SMP overall and he did that at fucking 16! He was able to portray and act out such, I would say, difficult topics and impressed the whole fucking audience with it’s accuracy showing that he cared so much about this (Dream was also so good in his role, they both did amazing jobs!). Let’s also not forget about the aftermath with c!Tommy still being confused about how he stood to c!Dream and his reaction to seeing Logstedshire during the bedrock bros.

THE FUCKING DISC WAR FINALE! Which was at least for me perfect and it still is among the top 5 of highest Viewership in the last 356 days which is so fucking impressive as well! Anyway back to the finale, it really was just beautiful it had it’s light-hearted joke-y moments but also his many very emotional moments, which all didn’t feel out of place. AND THE ENDING! When they finally (at least for then) just...won. There weren’t any strings at that time attached, they just won and the scene with Ghost-Wilbur *chefs kiss* PERFECT!

In season 3 even though he streamed a lot less, Tommys acting and storyline was still amazing to see and watch, like the week when he didn’t stream and we were all wondering how horrible he must be feeling and then we come back and he is just annoying c!Dream? Yes great start to a stream that will later turn very very dark. The aftermath of when he was resurrected with the being afraid of taking damage and then the Trauma confrontation Stream were some of my favourite moments if I am honest.

But even before exile cc!Tommy was already great with his acting like when c!Tommy gave over the discs for independence, when c!Wilbur spiraled and really just during the whole Pogtopia era and then on freaking November 16th, his reaction to c!Wilburs death, then him trying to stop c!Techno from spawning the Withers, just one good moment after the other.

Anyway but the gremlin child is not only great because of his acting and writing oh no! I have more appreciation :D

Tommy’s season 1 Videos made it a lot easier for someone to get in the Dream SMP during Season 1 & 2, like now you have to somehow find an efficient way to watch season 2 and the beginnings of Season 3 if you start now but trust me Tommys videos were a really good starting point and are still really good for season 1 perspective.

But the mod videos....my beloved. The mod videos are always so good and I just eagerly await them each time! We also got so many good moments from them like one that instantly comes to mind is Tommy using a fishing rod to pull Phil towards him only for Phil to fall into the Lava and them having to cheat because Phil has all there good items, or during the high jumping one where we had the grandma bit with Quackity jumping into “heaven”. Also the extra content of various dynamics we got. Like we don’t often get like Philza & Quackity content outside of the mod videos, same with George & Ranboo and we also got a lot of allium duo conetnt (which as an allium duo enthusiast is always a big win)!

Now though one of my favourite Tuesday traditions....the VLOGS! First of all they alway come out for me, for around the time I get home, so I’m always really excited to finally get home on tuesdays. But they are so much fun...like remember when Phil just said that he had to check in with Life insurance for some of that stuff and we were all wondering like “huh? What has the child planned that you would need life insurance?” And then the first vlog was them jumping out of a freaking plane?? Good times, good times. I couldn’t even really say which one was my favourite, I would probably say Rollercoaster one or the jumping out of a plane one (just because we had alone the waiting time where Tubbo was just suffering, there went suspicious smoke off in the near distance and the guides (?) were just messing with them the whole time). But yeah they are always great and really fun to watch and genuinely one of my favourite comfort videos.

Anyway tl;dr: Tommy is a huge inspiration and genuinely so fucking talented and smart. You can really see that he cares for how his content is made and how it is perceived by the audience, he has done such a great job with his character on the Dream SMP, acting and co-writing one of the most heartbreaking and true to reality storylines on the whole freaking server and also portraying Trauma not only with the “easy” sides but also the more “ugly” sides, the lashing out for example. So yeah he has such a bright fucking future and I am genuinely excited to see it.

To quote Wilbur Soot: “The world’s not ready for Tommy. He will do incredible things”

[mc-critical]

Hello, I just found your blog and I like it very much, it’s very interesting to read!!!. My question is : what is your opinion on Ahmed and Kosem’s relationship? Do you think he truly loves her? What do you think about him seeing other women? And what do you think about his relationship with these women (Mahfiruz, Katerina, Gulbahar and Yasemin).

Thank you for liking my stuff!

I think that, just like Süleiman, Ahmet loves Kösem in his own way. It's not as toxic or problematic or often questionable writing-wise as Süleiman's love for Hürrem, but it still has both its ups and downs that make it interesting to explore.

Ahmet and Kösem is perhaps the love story where the writers made the most effort to mask the possible worse aspects of. It could even be considered actually romantic at points, with their amazing first scenes in the gardens and the amazing chemistry of Ekin Koç and Anastasia Tsilimpou, the beginning sense of wonder and "mystery" it started out with.... when she first met him, Anastasia didn't know he was the sultan and put all her trust in him - a certainly good first impression. Ahmet himself is also very far from Süleiman's direct endeavors and tests of loyalty, he tries his best to be respectful in his own way, despite that he fails to do that a bunch of times. That's why it's easy to miss the darker aspects of the relationship at first and it could be perceived as probably the only thing in the franchise that is remotely close to a "fairytale" of sorts.

However, when the curtains start to fall slowly, but surely, we come to realize that while, say, Hürrem learns to want what Süleiman wants, to be fully loyal to him and to cave to his demands just like he often caves to her own, Ahmet and Kösem as characters have entirely different values and needs throughout their whole relationship. The fact that Ahmet wanted Anastasia because of a picture, without him having ever met her, is incredibly telling: he has created an ideal of her in his own head from the start and he wants to consistently maintain it. When he's with her, it's as if he's living his own dream, his own perfect world that has place only for him and that young girl. (that's why the garden is so symbolic: Ahmet calls it a place of solitude, only for himself almost immediately after the audience is introduced to it; also that line from him: "The world is on one side, Kösem - on the other." - quoting by memory again, but the meaning is the same) Their world views gained from their past and present environments begin to clash from the moment she finds out he's a Sultan - she wants to desperately go back to her family, both because all of them are still alive and her free spirit that cannot bear to live in this golden cage. Ahmet doesn't let her go also because he lacks the understanding of this desire: he has grown in the strict Ottoman system and having people like Anastasia stay in the harem forever is something he finds perfectly natural; for him it's unthinkable to stand against it. But despite of that "minor offense", Ahmet's idea of Anastasia's "purity" and "perfection" was working for awhile, with her seeming to meet his expectations and slowly warm up to him. But the real truth is way stronger than your own made-up lies. Anastasia's pleas to let her go only get stronger until they reach their climax with her attempt to escape. And you know what? If it weren't for her contrived, yet convenient excuse to come back to him, he would've lost her. Helplessly, in a blink of an eye, he would've lost her, due to what she sees as sheer ignorance from his part. And when she gains her own bit of agency later in the season and becomes Kösem, when she develops and realizes the actual stakes of the game, beginning to play it herself due to survival by default and the will for revenge, Ahmet's "perfect picture" breaks apart and that apparently hurt him so much, he stayed mad at her for quite some time. This wasn't the person he knew and loved anymore, this was an entirely new, reborn woman. He didn't seem to love and respect her for the virtues she actually possessed, but for those that he had imagined her to always have in his head. That is another, more "subtle" level of toxicity than with Hürrem and Süleiman, but it's still toxicity, that's why this relationship is far from healthy and the "beautiful, but quirky" dynamic it sets the impression of.

Kösem's view of Ahmet is very interesting and complex, writing-wise. I actually don't think she grew to love him as much. The place she forcibly got in made her feel very limited by him mostly, since he was the reason she was here in the first place and he was calling the shots in terms of her future (whether she would visit her family or not?). What made her become a bit affectionate wasn't fully him himself, but rather the oh-so-prominent theme of adaption in the harem. She wanted to escape so desperately, but there were so many happenings and situations during the time she was in the harem that just demanded for her to get used to everything. So when Iskender gave her the chance to escape, she as become used to the harem's environment so much, she felt unsure of herself outside of it. Her return was out of necessity rather than love and even her standing up to the people when Ahmet was sick was done out of necessity, too (like I elaborated in another ask about Kösem). I'm not saying that she didn't feel any affection whatsoever, but the affection she felt for him was easy to let go of (E25: "Today I didn't marry only Sultan Ahmet, I married the country!"), because I don't think Ahmet did his best efforts to understand her and I don't think Kösem felt completely comfortable around him, all that contrasted with Kemankeş in S02, who according to her, understands her better than anyone ever could.

Ahmet loves Kösem, because even after his perfect picture with her was broken and his anger and denial and refusal to accept it passed, he did try to make things better. What I loved most about his dynamic with Kösem, is his open honesty with her that continued till the end. There have been scenes where they seemed like true companions, especially their beginning one in E21 with all the kids gathered around them. I loved that despite of his mistakes, he did try to set things right. There was this sudden protectiveness that activated in him when Kösem told him the truth about the death of his father and why she acted the way she did and that could mean she now became something of a "cinnamon roll he just protect" and that is certainly a flawed mindset to have in many aspects, but that showed he could actually care for her beyond his idealistic perspective of her.

Am I okay with Ahmet having other women? Honestly, I'm glad that MCK lowered the concubine arcs to a minimum and with the way they did it, it doesn't offend me as much. I would even love some of them to be more developed for a change, because they did turn out to be solely drama tools, thanks to their lesser episodes and MCK's different themes as a whole, that basically did their purpose and left, instead of stretch out and outstay their welcome and that is just the other extreme in a bad disguise.

I won't talk about the relationship he had with his other women as much, because they just aren't fleshed out. I would've liked to see more of Ahmet and Mahfiruze: I believe he was way more decent with her than say, Süleiman was with Mahidevran, and their scenes weren't half bad. Too bad that would've demanded Mahfiruze herself to be fleshed out more as a character and the writers to give her more of a place in the narrative. Katerina was present only for an episode (or was it two episodes?) and we don't have as much conclusions to drive here. We only have his mild infatuation with her and... that's it? We have no idea what Katerina actually felt or how their dynamic would play out in the long run. We can only speculate. Gülbahar, by contrast, also had the least screentime of all his women who have comparatively minimal screentime, but her exploration in S02 helps us gain a better idea of how it went between them. I have the impression that she was the least favourite concubine of Ahmet's, ever. She did succeed to get pregnant and have a child, but it probably was a one and done thing and she didn't seem to get any other grasp of manly affection since then. Which is why, along with them taking away Bayezid from her by exiling her, she was so focused on scheming for one particular goal and this became what defined her. But then again, that is still a speculation in my part. Now, with Yasemin we have much more on-screen chemistry and interaction: that relationship felt very similar with what Süleiman thought of Firuze - infatuation, massive infatuation, but still not love, because just like Firuze, Yasemin also gave him poison and we don't know how much the poison affected his psyche, along with the sickness it brought upon him. These relationships have the opposite problem MC's concubine arcs had: these women were all unfavored or favored very temporarily in the span of an episode or two, which made them very stale and lacking in material.

Lastly, while MCK in its entirety, isn't very big on love stories, Kösem and Ahmet's relationship still had an evolution throughout S01, even if that evolution was more "condensed" than the others similar to it. It still remains the most fleshed out love story in the show, along with Kösem and Kemankeş's, and it was a very important part of the story that helped shape much of the narrative that succeeds it.

[systematicmasspoisoning]

Traitor Tubbo

I've seen so many excellent theories as to who the traitor is and I would like to throw my hat into the ring. I see several possible options. Depending on how this is received, this could be part one of a few. Reminder, this is all speculation. I'm analyzing a character here, not the streamer themselves, and in reality no one, especially not these teens and 20-something role players, are genuinely intending to be malicious or calculated. This is a game. But they're playing it, and my heartstrings, so damn well.

My top theory for the traitor? Tubbo.

Traitor Tubbo is definitely a fan favorite, and I'm probably a bit biased. I watch his streams most often and perhaps am overthinking things. But here's my supporting evidence: I think Tubbo has the most motivation because it's been established that Tubbo is underapprecited and underestimated. He's assumed to a yes-man, Tommy's right hand man. Schlatt specifically made him Secretary of State because he knew it would be a kick in the gut to Tommy.

But everyone also knows that shit gets done when Tubbo is on the server. This kid is dedicated. Guess thats what quarantine does to a Minecrafter. He planned the fesitval, helped streamline Pogtopia's potatoes, is an expert in redstone, is draining the ocean and making allies with the Badlands (BBH, Awesamdude, Antfrost, a few others).

Jschlatt said in his speech at the Festival that Tubbo gets things done (only to kill the kid like 10 minutes later :sadface:) and Wilbur said, later, that the planned Manberg Hotel probably won't be built now that Tubbo is (supposedly) on Pogtopia's side. I see parallels to Eret's traitor arc: he was the deus ex machina who saved them in Season 1 from being arrested for drugs, built their walls overnight and was given little credit for it. Wilbur still says to this day, "The walls I built to protect us."

Underappreciation fuels betrayal on this server. And Eret was smart. Overpowered, almost, from all his grinding (some of which he did with Tubbo, for hours on end.) He knew the revolution was 'never meant to be,' that L'Manberg was the losing side. He betrayed for power and kingship. Tubbo has different motivations - he doesn't advocate for violence, so he's said, and he just wants people to get along. He doesn't want a war. So what might he do for peace?

We all know, if we watch old SMP Earth clips and his Among Us streams that he is big brained. He's sometimes malicious and mischievous when he wants to be, as attested by his recent stair pranks. So him being the peaceful, owo baby boi side character isn't necessarily fact. It's a bit. A role, along the lines of Tubee and Big Law. He's much more.

Speaking of the stair prank, so funny, but had the potential to be cruel, too. Anyways, he clearly said that he was watching Tommy's stream, and saw Tommy die to the stairs. Then he pops on the server later and acts clueless to what went down, though he knew, mentioned in his stream earlier that day, that something important was going to happen that day. He turns up while they're discussing traitors, is quick to take control of the conversation and point out that the traitor is likely Wilbur (for being 'technically' on Dream's side, the side of chaos.) Fuel is added to the flames of confusion and infighting.

Playing dumb is one of Tubbo's most popular bits. It farms awes, as Tommy says. People underestimate him and assume he has no reason to lie. Tommy so easily believed him when Tubbo said he had the discs. In the Dream Betrayal stream, Tommy confronts Dream about the location of the discs with Tubbo in the call. The misunderstanding is cleared up. They don't question Tubbo's earlier statements. They also don't question it when Tubbo mentions he has blackmail on Dream. I have no idea what that might be, we can speculate on that all day. But when it comes to the discs, I think Tubbo lost a bargaining chip there. His lie was very thin. But we know he's good at lying (when its actually important) and thinking quick on his feet so I feel like there must be some motivation behind it. I don't know how, but I think the discs will definitely play a part in the coming war.

That same stream, with Dream's betrayal, Wilbur even foreshadowed Traitor Tubbo. He was making a list of their allies on the wall in Pogtopia and, despite his chat screaming at him to include Tubbo, he leaves the kid off the list and dismisses chat's worries. I'm being a little dramatic here, but can you imagine Tubbo coming across that? Seeing himself, once again, left out of the loop, off the list of people they can trust, possibly considered unimportant now that he's filled his role as a spy and had his arc seemingly completed? Back to being a yes man, a footnote in L'manberg's history, the sidekick to the protagonist, a foil who is killed off to fuel the protagonists' need for revenge.

Except, in Minecraft, you don't really die. You're respawned. Tubbo didn't die when he was executed on the day of the festival; a celebration he planned, was proud of, so excited to take part of that he used a dyslexic font to write his speech.

Some notes about the festival.

1. His excitement. He was looking forward to it. I say let him be excited, that's not necessarily suspicious - he worked damn hard on it.

2. But, I have thought about his difficulty choosing a side. He showed interest in blowing up L'Manberg, but then turns on a dime when Tommy says it's bad, and then comes up with a diplomatic response of "I trust your better judgment, Wilbur " There was the added element of peer pressure from Wilbur and Tommy, granted, talking over him and assuming his viewpoint. He's not always a yes man, he stands up to himself with Tommy constantly, but the scene with him on the roof with Tommy and Wilbur shows how little he is kept in the loop. (Him understanding peer pressure likely led to him forgiving Techno so easily. But I also wonder, and others have too, if he forgave Techno.... too easily.)

3. This isn't so much of a point but something that keeps the writer in me up late at night. He was very grateful when Schlatt praised him, probably something he didn't hear often under Wilbur's rule.

4. He said the phrase. In spite of him not advocating for violence, he said the phrase that would trigger an explosion. The choice was in his hands. That is assuming he got Wilbur's DM telling him what to do, but Tubbo had been told by Wilbur to check his DMs and they had been exchanging whispers frequently throughout the stream, Tubbo taking orders from Wilbur to hurry things along. On that note, why a DM? Why didn't he give Tubbo the order through a whisper thru minecraft where we could see the wording? Likely because they use their DMs to push along major plot points and discuss serious matters. This wasn't just an order from Wilbur, the character, this was an order from the streamer who has the most role playing experience and has admitted to being the puppetmaster behind a lot of Tommy and Tubbo's major actions. Tubbo, who has always tried to advocate for peace, supposedly was told a trigger phrase that would blow the place up, and he said it. It was so out of character for him, that I was surprised, and Wilbur was surprised too, from how Tubbo scrambled. So, I don't know - did Tubbo know it was a trigger phrase? What did the DM say?

There was clearly a lot of miscommunication and weird things that day so all of this is speculation. However, from Tubbo' side of the stream, you can see the deliberation when he finished the speech. The pause. The silence, like he was finished, but then Schlatt reminded him (not the real quote) "Anything else?" And then. Tubbo took the leap. To us, the uninformed audience, it seemed he was willing, in that moment, to allow the chaos.

He was given a role of power, and it backfired on him so quick after, but I would like to rewind to the moment Wilbur decided to give Tubbo a deciding role. I knew Tubbo would be playing a big part this season, cause the boy deserves it, but Wilbur putting that decision in the hands of Tubbo? Wow. *Chef's kiss* Wil's reasoning was, if Tubbo wanted to prove he wasn't a yes man, he'd make the decision NOT to pull the trigger.

But Wilbur also said that Schlatt approved of the speech and would know if Tubbo deviated, putting Tubbo at risk of being caught. He was caught anyway, obviously, but there was a moment there... where Schlatt was giving Tubbo a choice, too. To say the phrase that would prove he was a traitor. Like...Schlatt knew what was planned, and wanted to see what Tubbo would decide. Maybe it was a trigger phrase for something else, not just the bombs.

Point is. Tubbo, technically, saved the day. He was, in physical form, the button. He was the deciding factor for great destruction. He said the phrase, but instead of Manberg being blown, Schlatt moved quickly to trap Tubbo and start a bit that would STOP WILBUR IN HIS TRACKS. The button was never fully pressed. Tubbo's Traitor/Spy Arc was halted, and a diverging plot formed, one where Tubbo is exiled too, trusted again by Pogtopia, and the land isn't blown to smithereens.

As Wilbur has said time and time again, when you introduce a weapon in a story, it has to go off at some point. Traitor Tubbo has been on our minds since the day he was left behind in Manberg and given a position, (once again, might I add, as a right hand man, a loyal lackey. Never the lead.) Has that arc met its completing? Did it go off with a bang?

One possible theory is that, well, no. This has all been premeditated. Not scripted fully, but I feel as though there are strings being pulled by a master who knows how to tell a story.

When he was asked to be a spy, Tubbo's position was nearly revealed time and time again but it was Schlatt who decided he was too bored to continue walking down the tunnels. It was Schlatt who easily accepted Tubbo's blatant lie that he was pregnant and allowed for so much betrayal under his nose.

What I'm saying here is that Schlatt is, in fanfic terms, soft for Tubbo. In a less fluffy way, what I'm suggesting (which has been suggested before) is that Tubbo wasn't a double agent. He was a triple agent.

I've read a lot of fucking books, and when you're a triple agent and one side is getting suspicious of you, what's the greatest length you can go to to prove your loyalty to someone? Die for them. Organize your execution. Throw yourself on top of a bomb.

But like I said. You don't die in Minecraft.

(While I'm on the subject, does anyone find it interesting how Tubbo focused on messaging only Wilbur while Technoblade was on stage, whispering 'i thought he woulded hurt me?' and the like. Wouldn't you, if you were being executed, contact your best friend to get you out of there? Or the clearly stalling 'ally' holding a crossbow to your head? But it wasn't Tommy or Techno that Tubbo needed to convince of his innocence. Its Wilbur who was sus of him.)

I digress. Tubbo didn't die, but he execution=exile and he's living full time with Pogtopia. He's proven his loyalty. When Tubbo is asked if he's a traitor, his best friend quickly jumps to his support and says, something to the effect of, "Schlatt killed him! He couldn't be a traitor!" Suspicion is thrown off him.

He wasn't even there when Dream revealed there was a traitor. He. Played. Dumb.

Meanwhile, streaming on his own, Tubbo is seeking out tridents and OP bows, working on Redstone traps, refusing to get netherite for Tommy, going so far as to trap his friend's house under the guise of a prank, and appearing in TeamSpeak calls to listen in while Tommy was mining gold with Dream (around the time Tommy was pressuring the green bastard to reveal who the traitor is.)

Tubbo has also been building a reputation as someone with bad wifi and a constantly crashing game, so he can conveniently leave situations and not help out when he doesn't wanna. Sidebar: I have to wonder if Tubbo will even stream the day of the war. Schlatt doesn't stream, and neither did the Dream Team when they were villains. It builds up tension and the audience wonders about their motivations. Granted, Eret did stream so his betrayal was a huge surprise, but recently Tubbo has, quite often, made a point of struggling with bad wifi and a game that seems to crash when he's not the one streaming. It wouldn't be too suspicious for him to claim technical difficulties so he can slide under the radar and not have snitches and stream snipers tracing his steps. This is a stretch, but it would be Big Brained to meta game the war.

I've watched a lot of Tubbo's streams lately. It's probably not healthy, and I'm probably connecting dots that aren't there.

But here is my prediction(s) for next week.

Dream said, jokingly, the traitor is Tommy. Despite Tommy's adamance, it may just be possible. He just doesn't know about it yet. Maybe Tubbo talks Tommy into betraying Wilbur. (Wilbur, specifically, and not necessarily their cause, which is not to be exiled and have a not-blown-up L'manberg.) Tommy has said he couldn't be the traitor because he wouldn't betray Tubbo (followed by "Wilbur, too...well...he is a little crazy lately" and you can hear Tubbo in the background making noises of agreement.)

But if betraying Tubbo was no longer a worry? I think, for Tubbo, and for the discs, Tommy would negotiate new terms with Dream. Another end to the war. Another peace treaty. Let's be real, once Tommy switches sides, Pogtopia will crumble. Him and Tubbo are the linchpins.

To continue, Dream supposedly has a contract with Schlatt, and in the stream today, he was leaving banners with a big red X on different properties, like in Tommy's house. Marking territory. He made a point of doing it while Tommy was streaming, following the kid around into the nether and giving shields with the giant red X to supposedly Pogtopian allies (Awesamdude, George.)

Wilbur told Quackity in the Dream Betrayal stream that he worries that Dream's deal with Schlatt is to rescind Manberg's independence. To give power back to Dream. To get Tommy's allyship, Dream may propose instating Tommy as president. Those are Wilbur's predictions. They're not far off the mark. Or maybe I'm just as paranoid as him lol.

I think Dream is trying to manipulate Tommy, but what will the terms be? Presidency? Or Freedom?

I'm not sure that Tommy wants to be president. He likes to play around and while he's shown he can be good at coordination and leadership, (for example, the recent MCC thing where he taught Quackity how to play and they kicked ass,) Wilbur is quite right. Tommy shouldn't be president. Narratively, we all know the server would become....chaos. Okay, that might be kind of fun and he's got good ideas.. I like the kid, and he's grown so much, but he's not "mature enough." Not like Tubbo is, according to Wilbur himself (this is referencing the Stays in The Pit battle). Dream has also said, in the eboy collaboration, that the only Dream SMP player in the video whose stood a chance was Tubbo.

Tubbo has said he doesn't want to be president either, but shit gets done when Tubbo is on. Nature is preserved, giant builds are coordinated, events planned (with cute little digital invites sent to players). The few times that Tubbo has shared his opinion about drama on the server (there's a moment before the Pit that he gives a good speech) he's shown sound logic, great empathy, a willingness to compromise, to have fun and strengthen their community.

There's an old saying, that those who seek power shouldn't have it, and those who don't want the power are the ones who deserve it. If peace wants to be preserved on the SMP, maybe Tubbo should be president, and Tommy should see what it's like to be the right hand man. Or maybe, they will simply run off to a distant jungle base and leave the war to the adults.

My point is, Tubbo is Chekov's gun. Tubbo is the button that hasn't been pushed yet. He may be the deciding factor to change the tide of the war, by changing Tommy's loyalties. Tubbo might not be fully loyal to Schlatt, I could be totally off about the triple agent thing, but he's certainly not loyal to Wilbur. To Dream? We'll have to see. From what we've been shown so far, his loyalty is to himself and to Tommy, and in the end, its usually him and Tommy against the world.

If I'm wrong, I'm wrong. It's fun to speculate. He's just a kid, a smart one granted, and he's having fun; he isn't evil. Unless Evil Tubbo is the next huge arc, the villain of Season 3???? God I would love that. Go feral kiddo.

There are other streamers who are equally over looked and unappreciated and have just as much motivation to be the traitor. Niki is a strong contender, have ya'll heard about the letter she wrote to a mysterious 'friend?' Or, or, what if Philza gets whitelisted? What if there's no shocking traitor at all, just Dream trying to cause division in Pogtopia? What if it's us, the viewers, who were the traitors all along for being dirty snitches? (@rainbowtransform, great theory.)

I'm sure I'll be surprised no matter what the outcome is. But nothing would please me more than to see Tubbo get the spotlight he deserves.

Let me know your thoughts?

[meteor752]

So...I just watched The Rise of Skywalker

And it was...a movie

Now, if you don’t want it spoiled, then don’t click keep reading, because I will immediately start after that.

Got it?

Good

Now that that’s out of the way

THERE IS A CANON LESBIAN COUPLE IN STAR WARS AND THEY SHARED A KISS, I AM DEAD

Sorry I just had to get that out of my system

I am not a movie critic, and for the most part I just enjoy a movie unless it bores me. But I have been saying that I will do this review, and I will, so I will just go over important part by important part.

Good?

Good.

The first scene

This is, hands down, my favorite scene in the movie. The way they introduced Palpatine and that we never really see his face in the scene is really menacing, but still oddly hilarious.

I mean, the man is hanging there quoting himself. He later literally said do it!! I’m surprised he didn’t start to tell the story of Darth plagueise the wise.

Plus, the fact that Kylo doesn’t want to join Palpatine and become his apprentice, but just kill him, is really cool to me. It shows a little different side of his character, that he wants to be his own and not just the next Vader.

Also, after Palpatine saying “I created Snoke”, there’s a blink and you’ll miss it moment of a deformed looking Snoke in a cubicle, so that’s that character's backstory. He was a failed clone all along!

Poe, Finn, Chewie & the Spy

The start of this scene is just pure fluff between our dear space husbands and their mom’s, husband's dog.

The revelation of the spy was cool, but I kinda immediately guessed that it would be either Hux or Phasma.

I really liked the chase scene, plus the banter between the characters. Character interaction is a thing I love in franchises, and this movie does a good job with it

Master Leia

I LIVE FOR LEIA TRAINING REY TO BE A JEDI

The Rey training scene though was...unnecessary, dunno why it was there.

Rey’s always been a kinda on-off character for me. I like her when she’s loose and chill instead of a “badass”. In this movie...I mean she has her moments, but for the most part I didn’t want her there

C-3PO, R2-D2 & BB-8

The fact that BB-9e wasn’t in this movie is a crime

I like Threepio, like most other fans, but he’s just like always been...there for me. In this movie though, holy shit did he shine!

To be quite honest, he was probably one of my favorite characters in it, just because he kept that lightheartedness in an otherwise angsty movie, with some occasional fluff.

What I really like about him is that they made this his movie! Artoo and BB-8 were barely in it, and when they were they didn’t do much, so Threepio could really shine! Literally, he’s made of gold. The latest eight movies he’s basically been bullied by every character on screen, no one really seems to like him (Poe did it in this movie, so it’s still a thing) but they gave him a lot of screentime and I like that!

I don’t like BB-8. He’s mostly there to sell toys, and I get that that’s what Star Wars is all about these days, but don’t make it obvious!! Cough, cough PORG!!!!

Artoo was underused as kriff in this movie. He did basically nothing, despite being one of the franchises most popular characters. My favorite moment in the movie however is when Wiped Threepio And Artoo reunite, and he actually sound HURT when Threepio doesn’t recognize him!! He calls him his best friend okay!?!?

Lando

!!!!

His introduction was so fricking cute! Chewie just went to hug him instantly, because that poor fluffy boy has lost enough!!

Threepio going to explain who he is, and Rey just going “We know who he is!” Is so heartwarming, like he’s a war hero! People idolize him that’s so cute!!!

Knights of Ren

Will get more into them in another section, but look really cool but really underused

Stormpilot, Jedipilot, Stormjedi & Stormjedipilot

Let’s get this over with

All three of the first ships are evident in this movie.

Rey and Poe arguing about BB-8 and The Falcon at the start of the movie...is basically all we get for Jedipilot but what’d you expect?

Poe making Finn general, their banter throughout the movie, the little very unnecessary fight they had, the reunion at the end of the movie-

THIS

Rey: So what were you going to tell me?

Finn: We’ll take it later

Poe: What, you mean when Poe’s not here?

YOU JEALOUS BRO???

Finn wanting to tell Rey something was most likely confessing some feeling for her, but then they survived and yeah, and it was fucking dropped?! Did JJ just forget about that???

Plus, I’ve never noticed this before, but Finn yells Rey’s name a lot.

The reunion hug between the three of them at the end of the movie is what kinda made me like Stormjedipilot. Poe and Rey holding their hands over Finn’s back while he buries his head into their shoulders, like yeah I like that.

Chewie’s “death”

I, to be honest, kinda wanted Chewbacca to die a little here. It would have made Kylo’s turn so much more compelling.

So it is my personal headcanon that Kylo did not know that Chewie wasn’t on that ship, and for a few minutes he actually thought that he, Uncle Chewie, had died. Because I couldn’t be the only one who saw a bit of pain on his face.

Kijimi

I first did not like Zorii, mostly because I thought she and Poe would have had a “relationship”.

Though, when Rey held a lightsaber against her throat, and she just impressively said “Not that it matters, but I like you.”

Gal, you GAAAAY

And also that twice, twice, Poe asks if they should kiss and she dismisses both tries, that I like. Good job movie, god job.

During the raid, you can hear female Stormtroopers, and I think that’s really cool. We’re in movie nine and first now does there exist female Stormtroopers that isn’t Phasma!!

Threepio’s wipe is sad and I liked it, but I feel that they made it a little too sad, considering it was afterwards mostly played as a joke and then they gave him his memories back

Hux the spy

Again, Chewie should have remained dead, but whatever.

I have no problem with Hux as the spy, I was just sitting in the theater mumbling ‘Fulcrum’ while my brother was looking at me weirdly, but what I don’t like is what they did with it.

For Hux just to be shot by some General we’ve never met before is just the equivalent of a letdown, especially since so many people like his characters. Including me, he’s one of the best parts of the Sequels!!

Rey Palpatine

Just so everyone knows, I saw this coming. I mean sure, I still liked the Qui’ra theory more, but when Palps started talking about how he knew who the girl was, then I was just like okay she’s a Palpatine.

What I don’t like is how they don’t talk at all of how this came to be. Like, I don’t even know which one of Rey’s parents who’s Palps child. Who the hell did he fuck?!?!

So yeah, whatever twist, bad execution.

Endor’s Stormtroopers

THIS SCENE IS A PERFECT EXAMPLE OF WHY I DON’T LIKE REY

They often do this in movies. Heroes have to do something, they can’t do anything at that moment so they have to wait, main Hero does it anyways.

IT’S ANNOYING AS HELL

Finn and the Ex Stormtrooper I can't remember the name of’s bonding moment was cute, but I just kept thinking to myself “Are they siblings? Because it wouldn’t be the first time this has happened,”

Finn getting mad at Poe is weird as shit and I don’t like it.

Dark Rey vs Rey

Huge letdown didn’t like it next

Rey vs Kylo, final battle

It was...fine, I guess. I like that Rey fucking stabbed him, that was cool.

Leia dying to redeem Kylo was dumb! I get that they needed to kill her off in a natural way and not just off-screen but come on!

Plus, if you would ask me, Kylo didn’t need a redemption arc. I think he should have died. As a bad guy.

Han Solo And Lightsaber Toss

Han Solo talking to Kylo was cool, though how does it work?? Was it a vision? Luke manipulations the force? Kylo only saw what he wanted to see?

That Kylo just tossed his lightsaber was symbolic and stuff, but a really stupid decision from his part. How are you gonna protect yourself now, huh? THE FORCE?!?!

Rey going into Exile

THIS SCENE WAS FUNNY AS SHIT!!

Just, Rey, thinking that every Jedi goes into exile, when they don’t feel like dealing with it anymore, and she’s fucking right!!! Yoda, Obi-Wan And Luke would be proud!!!!

Luke’s force ghost also has nearly identical hair to Anakin, which is adorable. Dunno how many that noticed that, since the people I’ve talked with about the movie didn’t, but that was literally all I could think about.

Knight Leia

When Rey picked up her lightsaber, my brother beside me was like “That’s Luke’s green one!” And I got mad because that’s not his lightsaber design at all. Know your facts bro!

That Leia was a Jedi is understandable, I mean was Luke not going to train her? But I’ve always seen her that she could use the force, but didn’t use a lightsaber because she’s badass.

I kinda also wanted her blade to be purple? I think it would have fit her much better, as she is probably the most balanced Jedi we’ve had for a while and she’s got a lot of anger that little Skywalker, but blue works fine I guess. Better than green.

Star Wars Endgame

I liked this scene, it was cool, Artoo got something to do, and Finn and Rose riding those horse thingies is an inside joke between those two at this point, convince me otherwise.

Lando And Chewie arriving though, and the First Order stating that they are “just people”, was really beautiful. Cool scene all and all.

Rey and Palpatine

Palps is still quoting himself! He fucking said “Do It” JJ knows what’s up!!

One thing that I’ve been trying to figure out since I saw the movie was what the hell was Palps’ goal? He said for Rey to strike him down (Said the same to Luke, is he suicidal??) and then he would become? Apart? Of her? What?

I’m sorry, but that doesn’t make any sense.

Kylo vs Knights of Ren

So these are Kylo’s guys, right? His inquisitors, per say.

Except these used to be Jedi, his clanmates, his friends.

So why the kriff did they all turn against him like that?? AND WHY DID HE JUST FIGHT THEM BLINDLY DUDE THESE WERE YOUR FRIENDS!!

If I could have changed anything in this movie that has nothing to do with ships, then it would be that at least ONE of the knights would have supported Kylo and not just blindly turned against him.

Though I must say, Rey giving Kylo Luke’s lightsaber through their bond, was pretty badass.

Palpatine steals Kylo and Rey’s bond

The. Fuck.

WHAT KIND OF FORCE POWER IS THAT?!?!

IF YOU CAN JUST STEAL A JEDI’S FORCE BOND, WHY DIDN’T YOU DO THAT WITH ANAKIN AND OBI-WAN PALPS?!?!? HUH?!?!?!

But for real, stupid decision, could have gone without it.

Jedi Rey vs Sith Palps

It was cool, a cool moment, I sat excitedly and whispered to my brother all the voices I recognized, I think Ahsoka could be heard??

...

I looked it up and yeah her voice is there, which means that she’s dead R.I.P Snips.

One of the better scenes of the movie, though I think it’s cheating because of nostalgia and love for these characters.

(I LOOKED UP WHICH THE VOICES WERE, AND WE’VE GOT FRICKING AAYLA SECURA, LUMINARA UNDULI, ADI GALLIA AND KANAN JARRUS!!!)

Reylo

*Sigh*

Ya know, I really hoped this wouldn’t happen. I almost wanted to skip this, and really make all the Reylo fans mad.

But I have to talk about this.

This kiss, should not have happened.

Now if you are a Reylo shipper, that’s good for you, I ship way stranger things than that, but to actually make it canon?!?!

Kylo having a crush or something for Rey? Sure, I can understand that’s he’s pretty much obsessed at this point. But for Rey, badass Rey who is pretty lesbian, to have feelings for Kylo? THIS IS NOT A HEALTHY RELATIONSHIP PEOPLE!!

And that they made a toxic relationship canon, but not a gay one, really says something about Star Wars doesn’t it.

Death of Kylo

I laughed out loud during this scene. Not joking, people around me were annoyed. And that his clothes didn’t disappear? Is Kylo a naked force ghost? Did he do that for Rey?

Wait

Don’t answer.

Happy Rebels

The Lesbian couple that kissed was obviously queerbaiting, and you should never praise that, but that is probably all we will get Gays, so let’s just take it and cry on the inside.

Is that Stormtrooper gal Lando’s daughter? Because my brother whispered that to me, and I got those vibes too. Or is she way older than what she looks like and we were supposed to see her as a love interest?

The hug was cute.

Rey Skywalker

I will never accept this as canon ever.

To see the moisture farm again was nice, I liked that.

And for Rey to finally have her own lightsaber, and a yellow one too (I read a fanfic where she had a yellow one, was that like pre-seen??).

But the Skywalker thing...eh.

I would have found it cute if she’d said Rey Palpatine, as if she’d embraced her origin and decided that the name Palpatine isn’t just to be afflicted with the emperor, but also with her, the last Jedi.

Also, did she go into exile? Because damn, those Jedi do that a lot!

All in all, I liked this movie! I wasn’t bored a single bit while watching it, as there was always something going on, and I like when that happens. I don’t think that had happened since Empire with a Star Wars movie.

It isn’t in my top three, but it’s up there, and better than The Last Jedi.

Though I must say, they did take some things from Return of the Jedi and put it in this movie, specifically the ending.

Though I must say, and don’t hate me for this, it was better than Return of the Jedi okay bye

[glompcat]

Time War 3 thoughts under the read more

Hostiles by David Llewellyn

How many Time Lords died in that trap over the millennia?

How many of the hundreds of TARDISes in the station belonged to others who stumbled upon Trellick and her nightmare existence in the middle of the Time War?

lolol at Trellick asking Romana and Narvin to ID themselves and then not believing them once they did.

This audio also made me think that it is very possible one of the reasons we hardly ever see or hear from Time Tots is because Time Lords are not very good at dealing with being asked “Why?”

Loved how obvious and overt Narvin finding the chameleon arch was. It made me hyper-aware of the fact he had one on him for the entire rest of the box set.

Ugh thinking about Romana’s instance that they had to help Trellick because she was a fellow Time Lord, and her dedication to her based on that alone makes the end of this box set hurt EVEN MORE

I really loved the atmosphere of this story, Qatal endlessly hunting them through the ship, when all he really wants is to keep Trellick with him forever and always, when all she wants is to get the fuck away.

Romana and Narvin swinging on vines on an old and wrecked Time Lord station full of overgrown plants is honestly a pretty amazing image?

Nevernor by Lou Morgan

I REALLY loved this story.

This one also made me so so so glad I was listening to this box set while going on a hike through the woods, omg, talk about the perfect atmosphere for listening to this

We didn’t get enough scenes of Romana working on the Type 50 TARDIS she and Narvin were exiled in, but those we did get were amazing?

I was SO HAPPY to hear her use she/her pronouns when talking about the Type 50?

Also that she was so clearly working on the TARDIS as a way to avoid conversation topics with Narvin she didn’t want to get into?

lolololololol at Narvin never understanding the super special spy test they have at the Time Lord academy.

I loved how avoidant Romana got about if she passed it or not after she explained the solution of that test to Narvin, especially with the additional commentary at the end about how in order to solve it you have to not care, after they essentially solve the test in the real world, and she just reminds Narvin that she “never said I PASSED the test!”

If the story before this one had a creepy and cool atmosphere, this one was just... well to quote Romana in the final story of this box set. “....wow. WOW!”

I really really loved this story. An intimate view of the ways the Time War affects and destroys those unconnected to it was a great direction to go in, especially with how often on the TV show we heard about the War destroying SO MANY species’ home worlds.

Mother Tongue by Helen Goldwyn

In retrospect, this was a really good way to set up for the story that follows it.

I could not handle hearing Leela’s mom

I especially could not handle hearing what were probably her final words to Leela before she died?

Seriously was not expecting that call back to her Companion Chronicle arc, where she told us about how her mother died.

The planet in this story was really damn cool.

I really loved the idea that there are entire worlds inside the Vortex, hidden from view

I also loved how Leela didn’t know anything of being a parent, so of course she was so horrible at it when she jumped through time, hurting Sholan more and more and never really understanding how and why what she was saying to him caused him pain?

When she started wondering how/why Sholan turned into the Lord Warrior that he did, and he then reminded her of the words she would say to him whenever she jumped back? It was really really good.

I loved how it showed the ways that good people can think they are saying one thing, intend their words to help, but especially when it comes to a relationship like that between a parent and child, they can wind up actually doing real harm and damage.

I also loved how any last affection Leela might have had left for the Time Lords was totally destroyed.

Unity by David Llewellyn

There are just a few things about this story I would change, that stuck out for me like a sore thumb the whole time because aside from these things I was DELIGHTED by just about everything else going on (like I can’t with how many things in this story I ADORED but also how !!!!!! I am about the end because !!!!!!!). Anyway the things I did not like:

Why did they never directly say that Leela and Veega were in a relationship?

Leela and Veega were so obviously married and raising Rayo together, I don’t get why they wouldn’t just say that?

The framing of Leela being made to decide between leaving with Romana and Narvin or stay with Veega and Rayo was particularly obvious on the Leela-and-Veega-are-married front and I REALLY still do not get why this wasn’t just said out loud?

Narvin was so willing to help this family out with feeding the chickens and the like, he so obviously wanted to show that hey maybe he too could adapt to Leela’s new domestic life?

With Romana at the end pretending that the chameleon arch turned her into Veega, she was essentially saying that the clean slate she felt was too good for her would be to become a human woman Leela loved.

Like obviously I read the story as Leela and Veega being married even if it wasn’t explicitly stated, it just makes too much sense, but I am really REALLY frustrated that it never was confirmed as maintext, it was just... so clearly already what was going on, and I don’t get what the story gained by not going there?

Anyway I uh... well...

Either Romana is dead after being shot by Daleks at point blank range (and oh no it hurt so much to hear her call herself Unit 117 and then for the Daleks to use her name, and for her to say out loud that she loves Leela and Narvin, for those to be her final words - a declaration of her love for them, giving her life to keep them safe) ....orrrrrr she regenerated somehow after they shot her and Tre would of course do exactly what Romana feared she was always capable of and sell Unity out to the War Council, possibly buying herself back into Gallifrey’s good graces in the process ....orrrrrr there was some sort of deus ex machina that will be revealed in Time War 4.

Also, if she does survive, what a gift to fanfiction in general it is to make it overtly clear that Romana did have a chameleon arch on her person during the Time War (even if Romana II was incapable of actually activating it as she felt she wasn’t deserving of getting to become someone else).

Seriously I have no idea how to deal with that ending because as much as I was sure Romana was going to die, I wasn’t expecting it to go down like that and well... there was no confirmation or anything like that, just the sound of the Daleks shooting at her? IDK I AT LEAST THOUGHT THEY’D HAVE HER REGENERATE!?!?!?!?!?

(The interviews are full of jokes about what bad aim the villains in these things always have, and how many times all of these characters have seemingly died and then returned... so I am holding on to hope she isn’t actually really dead)

Whoops no had to edit to add some of my fave parts of this audio

I was so scared to start this audio because I knew Romana was going to kick it, but was smiling within moments as THEY FOUND LEELA

Romana’s super gay reaction to watching Leela fight!!!

I NEED TO KNOW MORE ABOUT THE TIME NARVIN CONFUSED AN EXHAUST PORT AND A SEWAGE PIPE

Narvin. Feeding. Chickens.

Narvin quoting Ace before heading into battle <3

Gosh but this episode was an emotional roller coaster

It was fascinating how Romana’s view of whether or not the Doctor would ever get involved in the war shifted so drastically after she traveled through it herself and saw how it is affecting everyone and anyone

How many times over is Leela a widow now? Actually, does that boyfriend she wanted to have kids with in the Fourth Doctor Adventures, who the Master killed, count? Does the weird borrowed life where she was already a widow in Mother Tongue count? Does losing Romana count?

Narvin and Leela leaving at the end with Leela’s step-son, their travels together are sure to be a lot (Narvin exiled and traveling with TWO humans, one of course being Leela who he is in love with and the other her teenage kid whose other mom just died who Narvin only just met? In the aftermath of Romana’s assumed death?)

ROMANA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

D: D: D: D: 

Romana’s final conversation with Leela was spent pretending she didn’t know her and yelling at her to go away D:

[harpermcintyredeservesbetter]

So, in an effort to compartmentalize my feelings about next week’s episode, I have written down all my theories about characters who could possibly die in the finale. Don’t read if you don’t want to think about any of the tagged characters dying. Theories under the cut. Will be edited to add more points as I rewatch over the weekend. 

Madi Dies

Let’s start out with my subjective opinion for this one; Madi feels like a one-season-only character. Literally every time I see her I think of Maya. Maya was on the side of good, yeah, but she was basically flat and two-dimensional. She wasn’t much beyond a love interest and occasional plot device. There was no reasonable way for her plot to continue on beyond season two. Madi seems to be the same way. Madi has been used as a plot device to give Clarke a motive to become completely ruthless. And beyond that, I don’t see how the writers would extend Madi’s arc past this season at the moment. 

“Commanders die.” Lexa and her death have been brought up too many times for comfort. Also, the uncomfortable parallels between Lexa and Madi might be foreshadowing?  

Possible Scenario #1: Madi goes into battle as the commander with Wonkru’s army and dies. Will be done if the writers really wanna break Clarke. 

Possible Scenario #2: Madi is left behind to lead what is left of Wonkru. Probably more likely as the finale is supposed to be “hopeful” and wouldn’t cause Clarke nearly as much pain as Madi dying. 

Abby Dies

Abby has hit rock bottom, then somehow dug twenty feet deeper. The Redemption By Death ™ trope is quite likely because so far this season Abby has been responsible for not only cannibalism and forced cannibalism, but she has also abused a daughter figure for drugs and advised her biological daughter to abuse her daughter in a misguided attempt to keep her safe. Literally watched two men get eaten alive and did not care as long as she got her pills. I know there’s probably more but we’ll just leave it at that for now. 

Paige was left off a cast list for season six. 

I’m really struggling with how she might die next episode though. My current guess a role reversal from the season two finale, with McCreary killing Abby to hurt Clarke. 

Echo Dies

When has this show let Bellamy have a happy romance, ever? Literally the only girl on the show to ever sleep with Bellamy and survive is Raven. 

Tasya got promoted to series regular, despite playing a relatively minor character before season five. This feels very much like how they promoted Zach McGowan to series regular in season four only to kill off Roan ten episodes in. 

Echo has been in a dangerous position all season between being a spy and being exiled. Not outside the realm of possibility that either of those things might get her killed.

Tasya was left off a cast list for season six. 

JRoth has been trying very hard to get the audience to like Echo. (And failing, jeez he really sucks at PR) Perhaps because he wants her death to be more heartbreaking?

Honestly there’s so many different ways I can see her dying I’m not going to list them.

Murphy Dies

Murphy’s arc this season has literally revolved around him becoming a better man both for himself and Emori, which screams Redemption By Death  ™ to me.

Richard was left off a cast list for season six.

Richard said his advice to Murphy this season was to “duck.”

There’s a picture BTS picture of Richard with his stunt double and both have neck wounds. 

Bob said the finale would be the perfect series finale, and I’ve always thought they’d kill off Murphy in/right before the finale because of the whole survivor/cockroach thing. 

Would be the perfect (heartbreaking) end to the whole Memori break up/make up drama, so I assume if he does die Emori will be with him in the final moments. Right now I have three (very specific) different theories about the scenario:

Scenario #1: Murphy is injured and can’t make it to the ship. He begs Emori to leave him and she does (”Survivor’s move”) . We hear/see McCreary’s people and the scene changes. It’s assumed he dies. 

Scenario #2: Murphy is injured and can’t make it to the ship. He begs Emori to leave but she says behind with him (Probably a “your home is with me” parallel?).  We hear/see McCreary’s people and the scene changes. It’s assumed they die. 

Scenario #3 also known as dear-God-don't-crucify-me-for-this-one:  Murphy is injured and can’t make it to the ship. He begs Emori to leave. We hear/see McCreary’s people. Emori mercy kills him a la Flarke to prevent McCreary’s people from being able to torture him. (I’m really scared for this one because it feels like it’s been too long since we’ve had a mercy killing)

HOWEVER, on the opposite side, it seems way to obvious to put his death in the promo, especially for a show that doesn’t usually spoil major character’s deaths like that. So I don’t know.

Monty and Harper Die 

Look I’m putting them in as one entry because they really haven’t had any plotlines outside each other this season. I feel like it’s neither or both atm. 

Also “die” is a loose term here right now because I don’t think they’ll necessarily die, but I do think they’ll get left behind. There has been too much foreshadowing for them not to be. Obviously I don’t want to see them go, but honestly, I’ll be really confused if they aren’t.

Starting with all the dialogue clues: 

Monty straight up says he doesn’t want to leave space; both are tired of fighting. 

Either in 5x01 or 5x03 either Shaw or Diyoza quote Matthew 5:5 aka “Blessed be the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” Monty and Harper are literally the only two characters left on this show that can remotely be considered “meek.” 

“Let’s show them how to live.”

“Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden.”

Monty’s line about deserving the valley if they have to fight to get it. 

To be continued as I go back and rewatch the episodes because I know there are about 50 different lines that can be considered foreshadowing for this theory.

Also Emori has seemed to replace Monty as second-smartest-person-in-the-room-behind-Raven which, honestly, feels like one of the only reasons the writers have kept Monty alive as long as they have. 

Octavia Dies

I feel like this is the least likely right now, which is unfortunate because the writers put so much work into making Octavia a villain that it feels anti-climatic to give her a quick little redemption arc.

I’m not going to go to far into this one right now but this theory is pretty much in the same vein as Abby’s: fall from grace, poor life decisions, then Redemption By Death ™

Misc.

Eliza, Bob, and Henry Ian Cusick are all confirmed for season six. Pretty sure Lindsey is too. 

There has been A LOT of character development put into Shaw and Diyoza. So either they’re continuing on to next season or the writers finally learned how to right compelling side characters. (See also: My one-season theory under Madi) Also, Eligius 3 seems like a future plot point, I’m pretty sure CW censors don’t allow for them to kill a woman as heavily pregnant as Diyoza, and Shaw seems to fall under Plot Usefulness ™ as he is the only one who can fly the ship, which also seems important for the time being. 

I’m going to go ahead and say that Miller, Jackson, Niylah, Gaia, and Indra’s fates are all up in the air because right now it really feels like a 50/50 chance.

I’m pretty hopeful that Emori will survive, too, since she has gotten a lot of character development and a decent amount of plot relevance this season. 

McCreary is definitely not carrying on to next season. 

[wazafam]

Zuko from Avatar: The Last Airbender is one of the most well-loved characters by fans because he has one of the best arcs from the series. While redemption arcs are common in stories, especially fantasy and sci-fi, not all franchises pull it off well. Zukos’ redemption arc, by contrast, was well-written and believable, and because he’s such a multifaceted character, there are many life lessons to learn from him.

RELATED: Avatar: The Last Airbender – The 10 Best Things Zuko Ever Did

Zuko has to go on a rather painful journey of self-discovery about himself, his family, and right and wrong. This path isn’t an easy one, but he does learn a lot along the way.

10 To question what you’ve been taught and decide for yourself

One interesting thing about Zuko’s story that isn’t always talked about enough is how he was raised in the Fire Nation, especially as the prince, to believe that the Fire Nation was right.

Through propaganda and twisting themselves as the heroes, Zuko through the Fire Nations’ control of the world was good. He had to see for himself that this wasn’t the case, and it’s a good reminder to always be critical of the things that are taught and not be limited by a narrow perspective.

9 It’s okay to let go of toxic family members

While Zuko’s family is quite extreme, many people in the real world have troubles and issues with their own families. Zuko’s arc reminds fans that they don’t have to be like family members and that can make different choices than they do.

It is good to break free of bad cycles. Zuko also shows viewers that it’s okay to break ties with toxic family members, even parents, and to embrace the family and friends that truly care for them. He sees he doesn't have to be bad like Ozai or Azula.

8 To not dwell in guilt

Zuko does a lot of rather bad things, especially in the first season of the series. While he might be making choices based on his own pain and trauma, it doesn’t excuse his actions. So, when he has his breakthrough and sees the truth of himself and the Fire Nation, he has a lot of guilt.

While this guilt can be helpful to an extent, he also illustrates that it’s something that shouldn't be held onto forever.

7 Your Past doesn’t have to define you

Zuko, just like many of the other characters in The Last Airbender, goes through a lot of tragic things at a young age. His father burns him and exiles him, and his mother is banished because she has to step in to save Zuko from being killed by Ozai.

RELATED: Zuko’s 10 Most Intriguing Quotes From Avatar: The Last Airbender

His trauma is real, but while it’s not easy to heal from, Zuko shows that it’s possible. While he has to take responsibility for his own actions, he doesn't have to let the bad things that have happened to him rule him.

6 Becoming a better person isn’t easy, but it’s worth it

One of the great things about Zuko’s redemption arc is that he had to earn it. While sometimes these kinds of stories don’t make the former villain suffer any consequences, Zuko does have to go through some tough times to learn how to be better.

He ends up nearly losing his relationship with Iroh, but of course, Iroh is forgiving, because of his actions. Zuko's own body struggles to handle the conflict within himself in a metaphorical sequence, but he's lighter when he gets through the battle.

5 The importance of swallowing your pride

Zuko might not be nearly as prideful and egotistical as Ozai and Azula, but he does have a prideful streak and can be hotheaded.

However, he has to learn how to let go of this and also own up to his own actions when he goes to Team Avatar and offers his assistance. While that wouldn’t have been an easy thing to do, it was brave and necessary.

4 The best leaders are compassionate

While Zuko might have learned how to rule with fear and control from his family, he becomes a very different kind of Fire Lord. Because of this, he’s able to work with Ang to heal the damage that the Fire Nation did during the war.

RELATED: Avatar: 5 Times The Gaang Won (& 5 Times They Lost)

While fans don’t see much of Zuko actually ruling, they do see glimpses of this in The Legend of Korra. It’s clear that Zuko has learned that true leadership comes from being compassionate and seeking equality.

3 That anger will only poison you

Zuko is someone who deals with a lot of inner turmoil and a lot of anger. And, in a way, it’s easy to see why he’s so mad. He’s dealing with emotional pain and the trauma his family inflicted on him is very bad, but all of these emotions come out in anger. However, as Iroh teaches him, holding onto that anger for too long and not using it productively just hurts Zuko.

Mainly, Zuko is angry at himself, and he soon sees that this is only eating him up inside.

2 Forgiving yourself is the hardest, but most important, thing

Similar to the idea of letting go of anger, Zuko has to learn to forgive himself. He actually finds it much easier to forgive others who have wronged him and let go of that than he finds forgiving himself.

It can often be extremely difficult to accept wrongdoings and find forgiveness, but Zuko shows that it is possible to do so. While Zuko did do some awful things, he was young and hurt, and he learned to love himself anyway.

1 How to make amends

The great thing about Zuko’s arc and the fact that he arrives at forgiving himself and becoming a better person is that he does all this through making amends first.

Those that are hurt aren't justified in hurting other people. Zuko has to make amends with many people he has hurt such as Aang, Katara, and Iroh, and it’s only after taking responsibility and trying to make things right that Zuko is able to forgive himself, too.

NEXT: Avatar: The Last Airbender – Zuko’s 10 Most Badass Scenes, Ranked

Avatar: The Last Airbender: 10 Life Lessons Fans Can Learn From Zuko from https://ift.tt/3wuJahk

[carterhaughs]

TLJ Analysis (SPOILERS!)

I absolutely loved The Last Jedi. It deepened my understanding of all the characters involved in a way the first movie didn’t, while at the same time making me appreciate the first film more. This film also felt like more of a standalone feature rather than just an installment in a series, which is always a good thing. The Force Awakens functioned mostly as a prelude or an overture of sorts, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but makes for a weaker film. 

I walked away from The Force Awakens liking all the characters but not really feeling like any of them had a particularly strong character arc other than Finn and Kylo. This film remedied that, and then some, adding the wonderful Rose Tico into the mix as well. Looking back on my analysis of Rey in the first film and the things I wanted for the second film, The Last Jedi pretty much checked off the whole list and delivered on all of it, big time:

The spiritual and psychological element of the Force is very important to me and we almost don’t get enough of it in this movie - although I think a lot of that has to do with this being the introduction of these characters, and I think that Daisy and Adam did a really good job with what was included.

All that being said, I needed more quiet moments with Rey because any Force-sensitive character is best-written with a hefty side of introspection. I needed to see more quiet moments in the film in general - slower moving scenes that focused solely on characterization. Nowadays, we don’t get a lot of those in action-adventure franchise movies, and J.J. Abrams rarely includes them in his films, which is his biggest weakness as a director imo. Moments like Han seeing Luke in Rey’s innocent, unbridled wonder when she sees the Resistance base planet covered in trees and says she didn’t think there was so much green in the universe. Rian Johnson, a director-writer, is very good at such moments (as in his film Looper), and I’m counting on him to include many in the next two films, which he is writing (and one of which he’s directing as well).

Also, can I just say that I love being right? I think you all already knew that but I do so love being right. I haven’t talked much about Kylo Ren on this blog bc he’s such a polarizing subject and my hands were full enough dealing with the nastier side of the Rogue One fandom without weighing in on Kylo, but I’m going to quote myself here - this is from my initial analysis right after watching The Force Awakens for the first time (I also analyzed all the other main characters in this post, if you’re interested in reading my takes on them as well) - then, as now, the conflict in him was fully evident:

I was fascinated by Adam Driver’s soulful, wrathful, deeply disturbing portrayal of our new conflicted Dark Sider. He’s embarassed by the very fact that he’s human - he turns away when Hux enters Snoke’s hologram throne room thingy like he can’t bear for anyone to see his actual face. He’d rather be a concept than a flesh and blood human with feelings and we don’t know what drove him to this. Leia absolves Han and herself of guilt, saying it’s Snoke who seduced him to the Dark Side and that Ben had too much of Vader in him. This is confusing to me, as the last thing Vader says to Luke is to tell Leia that Luke was right about there being good in him. Until we know more, I’m going to interpret this as Anakin’s acute vulnerability to the extremes of the Force (because of the whole Chosen One business) being something Ben is susceptible to as well. Snoke did something and Ben ended up killing Luke’s new Jedi Order - bad shit had to have gone down and I want that explored, stat. He’s not a completely soulless monster yet, but if no one intervenes, he soon will be.

Snoke’s final test for him was to kill his father, and he passed that test with tears in his eyes (of anger? of sadistic joy? of love? of all three and other emotions beside?). But his eyes aren’t Sith eyes yet so perhaps there’s further yet for him to fall. He says Rey would be “disappointed” if Han was her real father, but we never hear him speak a word about Leia, and I need his relationship with his parents prior to his fall, as well as his fall itself, to be described. He’s lonely, I think - he asks Rey to allow him to teach her, genuinely desperate to connect with her in spite of his jealousy of Anakin’s lightsaber choosing her. He’s filled with self-loathing (for more reasons than I can fathom - for his perceived emotional weakness, his actual physical weakness, his multiple failures in his pursuit of Rey, and so on) and punches his own wounds as if that will make them go away. I feel like I’ll have more to say about him after another viewing, because Adam’s subtle acting says so much that repeated viewings are a must for thorough analysis.

Now, the Imperials/First Order members are much more intriguing in this film than they were in the original trilogy. They aren’t cynical and above it all, or just trying to get by. They’re true believers.

Ok, see what I mean about being right? Bc damn, was I ever right. Conflict and the balance channeled thereby make up the grey areas of the Force where Rey and Kylo were finally able to meet and connect.

Luke’s arc about failure in this film moved me to tears and among the few issues I had with the film were that we didn’t get to see him continue to teach Rey beyond this film - Mark Hamill was fantastic and the scene between Luke and Force Ghost Yoda was my favorite in the film and resonated with me deeply - the truth of failure as a potent teacher and the role of the master to nurture the student to grow beyond their reach. 

I also wanted more lore from this film - more about the connections between past and present via the ancient Jedi but maybe that would have been too esoteric for general audiences. I’ve been spoiled by Knights of the Old Republic, a video game series in the old Star Wars canon that this film certainly has drawn on (that much is most obviously evident in Kylo Ren’s character design and now in the Force Bond lore and connection between Rey and Kylo - if you are interested in my meta on Revan and Bastila, and then Atton and the Exile and Kreia, you can read all that here and here, respectively).  

In any case, I am raring to go see it again and can’t wait to dive into fic and meta for this film - and as I did with Rogue One, am very much looking forward to contributing my own.

[gotgifsandmusings]

GoT 7x06 Musings

My initial reaction to “Beyond the Wall”

Apparently this is the episode that is pulling the wool off of everyone’s eyes. Not the one where Sansa married Ramsay for revenge and got raped. Not the one where Shireen was burned alive because of flurries preventing Stannis from marching 20 feet. Not the one where Marg was arrested for perjury and threatened to be paraded naked except that was a fake-out and the king (unbeknownst to the Lord Commander of the Kingsguard) had formed an alliance with the Faith that didn’t already totally exist and therefore the largest army in the land was rendered useless or unwilling to free the heir of Highgarden…

You know I can keep going. I’ll take it, and yes, the teleportation was its most egregious because we KNOW how much time passed in-verse while the raven and dragons were traveling. But still, this isn’t a new level of bad, no more than Barbaro and Jessica Henwick teleporting onto a ship to murder their cousin—for justice!

Though on the other hand, there was almost nothing I could see as even being objectively enjoyable about this episode, other than one moment of some decent CGI. The battle itself was surprisingly short, and so obviously contrived that we couldn’t pretend it was a “stunning war theater” like we could last year, even if last year the context also made no goddamn sense.

Alright, time to stop delaying and actually talk about this, though of course I’ll point you to Jess’s fabulous review first if you haven’t already read it.

Winterhell

Jess breaks down the horror of Arya’s stupid Ned-slow-clapping-at-her-landing-a-bullseye story better than I can. Arya didn’t do what was required of girls growing up, and that was a source of frustration

But no, here she’s some third-wave feminist who realizes how bad the system is.

Speaking of that bad system, way to sew you dumb asshole, Sansa. What, do you think people need CLOTHES or something?

No seriously, I can’t take the toxically masculine assumptions about empowerment anymore. This entire thing is such a sexist premise, Arya shaming Sansa for navigating in a socially acceptable way

WHICH IS THE WHOLE POINT OF SANSA’S ARC. SHE FIGURES OUT HOW TO WEAPONIZE THE SYSTEM TO HER BENEFIT AND DOES IT WITHOUT AROUSING THE SLIGHTEST SUSPICION

The letter thing is ridiculous too. Not even mentioning how Winterhell burned down so that’d probably be destroyed, this should not be that much of a conflict, nor should it have the potential to undo Sansa.

As Jess pointed out, Ned played along with the Lannisters too, because THAT’S WHAT YOU DO. Is he a traitor?

Then Sansa runs to Littlefinger even though we know she doesn’t trust him.

This is where the “they’re playing LF” honeypot stems from I think, but there’s no indication that Arya and Sansa aren’t reacting to each other alone, earnestly. Do they think Littlefinger planted some kind of audio bug on Sansa or something?

LF then brings up Brienne, which is followed by the scene of Sansa ordering Brienne to Cheryl’s Landing on her behalf for the already-scheduled meeting (even though Operation Bag-A-Wight is still going on), and being an asshole about it

The only sense I can make of this is that LF wants Brienne dead, or Arya dead, and is trying to urge a fight between them since we know they enjoy that? Which I guess would just help narrow down the field of non-LF allies to Sansa

Then *maybe* Sansa is sending Brienne away for her own protection, a la through rocks in Nymeria’s face??

Except there’s NO INDICATION OF THIS. Sansa’s rationale for why she’s sending a proxy to Cheryl’s Landing checks out, especially given Jon being MIA for the North (lol)

To cap off the game of “let’s hate each other to fuck with LF in private” Sansa then finds Arya’s messenger bag of Halloween masks

and no, sorry, Sansa’s terror is played as genuine, and thank the gods she gets yet another abuser, this time a member of her family! Yay!!

SPOILER (if anyone cares) I’m starting to wonder if Sansa orders Arya to execute LF next week just to buy herself a little trust from her horrible sister, and not because they actually figure anything out

Just all around bad bad bad. Fuck sisterly affection. They were different and hated each other growing up, so therefore they’ll be antagonistic towards each other after reuniting, trauma and shared grief be damned

That said, I feel like Sansa listens to UBS. Yes! She is the reason they have the North! She shouldn’t march her face into Cheryl’s Landing! She should have her interests represented! Correct!

Bo had the above take. This killed me. I want the Bunny Hood next week.

Dragonstone

They’re playing a weird game of having to deal with all of Tyrion’s plans turning to shit, and yet also having to keep him the golden boy. It’s not really working

Is Deadpan supposed to be getting paranoid like Aerys now? But then she’s later portrayed as a straight-up Good Guy Hero later, so I have confusion

This conversation goes literally nowhere, and frankly…yeah, why bother dealing with the line of succession now? She holds Dragonstone and no one even wanted it. And Daario’s probably doing fine in Meereen

This could have been a good exploration into her sorrow over being the last Targ…sorta? Like, her just not wanting to deal with it. But the show has never dealt with it before, so it doesn’t really come across as anything rooted in characterization

Me too, Deadpan.

Beyond the Wall

My brain was unable to focus on half these conversations, so I’m going to go back and rewatch before podcasting. Like. It was all walking and talking.

Not even in the good way. In the fic-ask-prompt kind of way. “Jon and Beric in a coffee shop, go!”

To highlight I guess

Jon & Jorah: Jon offers Jorah Longclaw because being an exiled slaver was hard on him. Glad this never came up with Lyanna, the actual heir of the house

Tormond makes a bawdy joke about raping Gendry because sex is a good way to keep warm. Male victimization is a hoot

Gendry gets mad at the Brotherhood without Banners for literally selling him and almost killing him, but Sandor tells him to stop “winging” because his complaints about being sexually assaulted by Mel “could be worse”

The Hound & Tormond chat about nicknames for penises before Tormond #nohomos and talks about how hot Brienne is

Jon & Beric have both been dead, what’s up with that? Also Jon quotes his Night’s Watch vows that he broke to gain inspiration from then, and Beric says he doesn’t look like Ned. Uh…

Jorah thinks Thoros was AWESOME for the Pyke battle

Then a bear attacks and I’m put out of my misery. A wight bear. Whatever

Who the fuck are these red shirts?

Thoros almost dies, but doesn’t die, but then he dies overnight, so…okay.

The wights walk in an orderly single file.

We learn a new contrivance: wights all fall if the white walker that personally res’d them is killed. There’s so many ways this doesn’t work with what we’ve seen, not the least of which that there was ONE WIGHT who was still squirming around

A whole lot of effort for convincing Cheryl, btw, who has essentially no army at this point

Then the other wights hear this wight’s struggle? And Jon tells Gendry who has never seen snow before that he’s the fastest runner (how does he know this) and has to go send a bird to Deadpan to help them out

this is baldly ridiculous. Their only shot is if they all try to book it

Then they run across cracking ice to a little rock, and then are shielded from wights because of…cracked ice

DEAD THINGS IN THE WATER

Also, dead things go through the water later in the episode

In-verse time: Gendry runs towards Eastwatch as the sun is setting and gets there around dusk. Jon & Co. wait out one night and the attack begins when the sun is still shining. I’m putting this at about 22 hours passing. A low-ball could be 14.

Raven gets to Dragonstone, Dany flies beyond the Wall and bails them out

The battle itself was underwhelming, I thought. Just smashing random skeletons who now die with any weapon (what about FIRE like we learned in Season 1?)

Viserion’s death looked cool, and the sinking into the puddle reminded me of King Dodongo. Dunno if that’s a good thing or not, but there you have it.

However, why did Shogun aim for the far away flying dragon and not Drogon who was RIGHT THERE and full of the people trying to get away?

He literally had his buddy ready his javelin for him

Jon falling into a puddle was…what? Why did this happen? Was this for closure for Uncle Benjen? Was this so we could have a dramatic moment of Deadpan thinking he died? Was this just to have a reason for a shirtless Jon on the boat so she could see his stab wounds? What did this add??

Then the res’d Viserion was kind of cooler in concept than seeing it happen. Oh wow, let’s focus on his eye I WONDER WHAT WILL HAPPEN

Lol at the metal working wights with their big ass chains. Can they make mini-Needle necklaces for everyone too?

Also very not reading into any of this being from the books. I could see this happening in a way, I guess? But this context, especially with a javelin-throwing Night’s King can’t be the case.

I don’t even… At least the critical reviews are pouring in. This deserved it. So did the past three years’ worth of episodes, but still.

Top 3 Nitpicks (not glaring, gaping errors)

The invitation to a meeting in KL that couldn’t have been arranged yet

The clothing! No one was wearing a hood? Deadpan was traveling faster than a jet without ear warmers?

Jon not being dead of hypothermia (or his managing to climb out at all with his sodden furs and heavy boots)

[jadelotusflower]

May 2021 Roundup

Watching

Chess: The Musical - My second live theatre experience for the year, but this time with no seating restrictions. It certainly felt weird and uncomfortable to be packed into a full house again, even if everyone was wearing masks. I've never seen Chess performed, although I have watched the 2008 concert version many times. I enjoyed seeing it properly staged and sung live, even though I suspect there may have been some illness in the cast as there was issues of breath control and strained voices on occasion. Natalie Bassingthwaighte has a good pop/rock voice and she killed Nobody's Side but was just fine with the rest (including a patchy British accent). Paulini has the pipes as Svetlana, although I do wonder if she would have made a better choice for Florence. The other standout was Brittaine Shipway as The Arbiter, usually a male role but actually working much better gender flipped and having a powerful female character outside of the love triangle (and who spends almost the entire show onstage observing).

Mank (dir. David Fincher) - A love letter to old Hollywood through the eyes of Herman J Mankcovitz as he writes the screenplay for Citizen Kane and looks back on his days in the studio system. Some familiarity with that film is required, or at least the broad brushstrokes and the main players - William Randolph Hearst as the inspiration for Charles Foster Kane, the actress Marion Davies, and Welles himself (who looms as a shadow figure throughout most of the film, shot in shadow, or profile, or in costume until the climactic confrontation with Mank). Gary Oldman is somewhat miscast as Mank imo; he carries every one of his 65 years and is just not believable as a 43 year old Mank, affected with alcoholism and a broken leg though he is. Maybe it’s that Mank (as the film depicts him) is just not very interesting - we’ve seen the self destructive drunk with acerbic wit so many times there’s just nothing new in it and feels quite tiresome. He is however a fulcrum for the other more interesting characters to work around; the lens through which we see Hollywood in action. And there’s a lot going on - the ruthless duplicity of Louis B Mayer, the writers rooms at work, the rich and powerful dismissing the rise of Nazism, Hearst bankrolling a campaign against socialist Upton Sinclair. This video is worth watching dealing with some criticisms, particularly the depiction of historical events, Marion Davies, and authorship. The rest of the cast is however very good - Amanda Seyfried as Davies, Charles Dance as Hearst, Tom Burke as an uncanny Welles. It was also nice to see Robin Hood alum Sam Troughton as John Houseman!

Seyfried has been rightly praised and she is indeed the best part of the film (aside from the bizarre Brooklyn accent and the missed opportunity to give the role to an actual actress in her 40's), so much so I wish it had been entitled Marion and about her perspective of Hollywood. Because there’s still distance, we are viewing her from afar - the bird in the gilded cage - not privy to her inner world and that’s a shame, because she’s clearly the most interesting of the lot. It should come as no surprise that this film does not pass the Bechdel test, even though there clearly was An Attempt to boost the presence of the female characters. Other than Marion Davies, we have Lily Collins as the long suffering assistant Alexander, Tuppence Middleton as the long suffering wife Sarah, and Monika Gossmann as the enabling German housekeeper Freda. Variations on a theme, all revolving around and Mank and exerting little to no agency. There’s also, rather out of place, the silent women in the Paramount writers room, topless except for sparkly pasties. If it’s meant to be a comment on sexism of the time it fails, because it is just there, like window dressing, when female screenwriters did exist and are yet somehow completely absent. Also absent are the women who wielded power at the time - the gossip columnists Hedda Hopper and Louella Parsons who threaded the Hollywood needle much as screenwriters did. I enjoyed the film, it’s beautifully made and the time period lovingly depicted, down to the era-appropriate framing, camera lenses, music, and of course, filmed entirely in black and white. I guess I’m just less and less interested in these kinds of stories, or at least these stories told through the same old perspective. For a different take on the Welles/Mank collaboration, check out RKO 281 (that incidentally does feature both Hedda and Louella and is on youtube in its entirety). For more of the facts, The Battle Over Citizen Kane is also a very good documentary about Hearst’s attempts to kill the film. Marion Davies is also fictionalised (earlier in her career) in The Cat’s Meow, which I have not seen for many years but remember quite enjoying. Girls5Eva (season 1) - A girl group with one hit album in the 90's reunites after a rapper samples their biggest hit - this is a fun show satirising the artifice of 90's pop as well as the current music scene, with a great cast including singing greats Sara Bareilles and Renee Elise Goldsberry, and comediennes Busy Phillips and Paula Pell (who has at least ten years on the other girls, but they hang a lantern on it, and I appreciate her plot/character in no way revolved around her size). I really enjoyed it, and am still singing the ridiculous but catchy title song with big Spice Girls/B*witched energy.

Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist (season 2, episodes 5-13) - A meandering, hit and miss season overall - multiple characters introduced and given setup only to be shunted within a few episodes, plotlines picked up then pushed aside (Emily's post-partum depression that basically boiled down to "I'm on meds so I'm fine now" was particularly egregious) - I cut the show some slack because clearly covid interfered and caused a shortened season, which makes the latter half of the season exceptionally rushed. Alex Newell continues to be MVP, and his romance plot was honestly so much more compelling than Zoe's. I didn't really have a horse in the Simon/Max race, I liked both characters even if the OTP of the show was Zoe/Therapy, but while I'm happy the love triangle finally over, the speed of the back and forth really undermined the story. But I enjoyed the final twist and look forward to next season (hopefully it is renewed).

This is Us (season 5) - I don't expect much from this show other than soapy drama and emotional scenes engineered to make me cry, but is yet another reminder about why I shouldn't get attached to ships while shows are still airing. I have a soft spot for Smallville alum Justin Hartley, but Kevin's season of girlfriend's past is so damn tiresome. Maybe it's just that Madison has become my favourite character and I want the best for her, maybe it's the sloppy writing more interested in twists and turns than a compelling character arc. But hey, there's still the always excellent Sterling K Brown and Susan Kelechi Watson, and I continue to be impressed by Mandy Moore - I remember when she was a teen pop star breaking into acting and she's come so far, making all the right career choices (including pulling double duty as producer/choreographer over at Zoey's).

Reading

Mythos (Stephen Fry) - Fry's typically irreverent and witty take on the Classics (even though he is on occasion a bit twee), his focus mainly on the gods, their origin and exploits. I was a Greek mythology kid, absolutely obsessed with these stories although I never really graduated to a Greek mythology adult but rather a casual fan. It was nice to revisit this world, as many of them I had forgotten or had never known all the details (children's versions being understandably light on the rapes and grislier aspects). As Fry notes, these myths were not kindly to humanity and particularly women, which perhaps leads into the remainder of my Greek mythology reading month:

Circe (Madeline Millar)- A retelling of the Circle myth, the goddess best known for transforming Odysseus' men into pigs, and a book that I've finally got around to reading after many, many recommendations. While perhaps not all I was expecting, Millar's writing is lyrically beautiful and touches upon the nature of gods and humanity, parents and children, exile and freedom,and I enjoyed it very much.

The Penelopiad (Margaret Atwood) - Another retelling, this time from the pov of Penelope. I've wanted to read this since coming across a quote ("be like water") that I used for a fic, and the novel, while very short, is typical of Atwood's masterful writing style and love of multi-layered meta. Like Circe, this does not paint Odysseus in a good light, as Penelope reflects back on her life from the Underworld, her story interspersed by the Greek Chorus of the maids butchered on Odysseus' return to Ithaca, and the story is as much a vindication for the innocent maids as Penelope.

Writing

Nothing posted this month, but words written for Against the Dying of the Light (1111), The Lady of the Lake (1006), and Here I Go Again (1390). That makes a total of 3,507 for the month and 27,469 so far this year.