#thematically and logistically it doesn't work

[sukimas]

what's with all the seliph/ishtar stuff on the internet recently. if you give intelligent systems ideas for the remake i'll find you

[marinecorvid]

like ive been poking at ashes2ashes since my freshmen year of high school and like 95% of the stuff i've written about it is unusable or highly dated (by virtue of being very young when i was working on it). on one hand i have been reminded about stuff i will and could reuse, which is nice. on the other hand i see old dialogue and i hide my face in my hands

[extensionallydefined]

Okay, so, I need to talk about the relationship between Persona 5's ending and Persona 5 royal's ending, because I think it isn't discussed enough how one puts into question the themes of the other and in doing so it elevates everything that came before.

Spoilers are coming, you've been warned.

The main thing that's given me an outlet to think about this is a few quotes from the Phantom Thieves when they're in the Velvet Room after being Thanos-snapped by Yaldabaoth. Specifically these quotes:

Ann: "I... I never want anyone to have to go through what I did!"

Yusuke: "Just as art is meant to break boundaries, people should be saved even if they frown upon it. I won't allow the justice I believe in to be shaken any further!"

Ryuji: "We're doin' this to make sure people don't go through the same crap we did. It doesn't matter if they think we're just or not. We gotta do what we believe in!"

Futaba: "I can't let people suffer like this, even if I don't know them personally"

They mention some core ideas: 1. They want to prevent people's suffering because of the suffering they've felt. 2. They must do this regardless of if people want it, because they think it's the right thing to do. 3. Their justice is worth fighting for by virtue of being what they believe in.

Does this seem familiar? Maybe makes you think of a certain therapist who shows up in Royal?

I think Takuto Maruki serves a decent amount of purposes narratively and thematically, but one of the most genius things about him is that he serves as a foil to both the Phantom Thieves and Akechi, and in being that foil, he is, deep down, following the principles that the Phantom Thieves fought for - In the end, it was largely Joker who inspired him to fight for his reality.

Maruki fights for a reality where suffering straight up doesn't exist, because he doesn't want anyone to feel the suffering he's had to endure. Maruki wants the Phantom Thieves and Akechi to never feel suffering anymore, regardless of their stance on the matter. He is "saving" them regardless of their wishes, and will fight them to keep the reality he wants. He thinks the world is unfair, so his "justice" is to make a perfect world for everyone - and that's what makes it worth fighting for, because that's what he believes.

Maruki's rationale to fight against the Phantom Thieves and Akechi is (partly) the same reasoning that the Phantom Thieves use to regain their motivation to fight the Holy Grail/Yaldabaoth.

So, narratively, Maruki serves as a mirror that's telling things not to be told for the Phantom Thieves to look into and to see the ugly parts of their own way of acting. Can they really fight Maruki, knowing that he is just acting how they did?

I see people sometimes refusing Maruki's reality because it "wouldn't actually work" or "it's imperfect". But as far as I'm aware, it's imperfect because it hasn't been completed yet - I think the game is a lot more interesting under the pretense that Maruki truly has the power to erase all suffering, once his reality is complete, past the deadline. I also see the argument, and even the game uses it, that Maruki's world "isn't reality". But did we listen well to Morgana's speech before he disappeared in the Yaldabaoth arc? The world itself is made up of cognition, reality is born from the points of view of everyone. Maruki *can* change reality, and the real question of the game is not about the logistics or "ontological dignity" of his reality, but rather - Do you want a world where all your wishes are granted and no suffering exists?

In the end, the game shows the Phantom Thieves that "sticking to their justice" will make them fight against people with similar ideals as theirs. It's funny, in a way, how Akechi was the one fully willing to fight Maruki from the start. His rebellion has always been more individualistic in nature than the Phantom Thieves' - he wanted revenge for himself, then redemption for himself and now he wants a reality where he isn't under anyone's control anymore. To him, Shido's country, Yaldabaoth's ruin and Maruki's world are all the same - Maruki just has a nicer, more therapy-speaky way of presenting his proposal, and sees people as his equals rather than as insolent masses, but his goal is the same. They're all worlds that shackle you for the "greater good". And in the end, Maruki, and Royal, force the P5 gang to become more like Akechi - to value their individuality in the face of the public's "justice".

To fight for what you believe in you will face people with the same determination as you. They will be your equals in many, many ways. In the end, you can only stick to your guns and hope that what you believe in is worth more than what they believe in.

I have a lot more to write about these topics but I'll leave it there. Maybe about the relationship between Maruki's reality and individuality next? That could be fun ^^

Btw - Special thanks to @thedaythatwas for inspiring me to write up stuff about Persona 5 Royal!

[johnskleats]

Hear me out: Katara with scarred hands.

There are a thousand metas about why this would work narratively, aesthetically, and thematically.

I'm here to talk about that logistically.

I am the lucky recipient of a very inconveniently placed scar, about an inch by a half inch (1 x .5) sized, on the first joint of my index finger. I am an artist. I paint, I write, I sew, I bake.

This is one of the singular most inconvenient places to be scarred activity-wise, in my opinion.

It's super sensitive all the time, even though it's healed. The skin is so thin and there are so many nerves, that the scar being somehow even thinner, is awful from a sensory perspective. I try to grab something and it puts the slightest pressure on the scar? Pain. I flex my finger? Pain. I don't even know if I can describe it as "pain", it's just Sensation and there's A Lot of It. Too much.

Now, aesthetically, as someone who works with their hands, I didn't realize just how distressing having a large, visible scar on my hand would be. I can see it all the time because it wraps around. I'm driving? I can see my scar. I'm cooking? I can see it (and feel it). It's on the first finger I see when I'm holding something, and somehow, it feels like not my hand anymore. It looks wrong, it feels wrong, my hands look like <insert image of my previously unscarred artist hands, which were lovely to behold>.

Zuko gets the benefit of simply avoiding mirrors. If he chances to see his reflection, he gets reminded of just how not himself he looks. He can also see that in people's reactions to his face.

Katara's hand scars, though? She can see them herself. She can't not see them. If she wears gloves, it's not to hide the scars, it's because they're sensation x 100, and the only way to touch things and have it feel somewhat normal and not ouchies is to have some kind of barrier to disperse the pressure.

People see hand scars? It's "oh no, what happened?" It's "got a little brave with the pan, or the knife, huh?" It's "oof, that looks like that hurt," because commenting on peoples face scars is too personal, but making snide comments about hand scars is considered somehow a common area. "How long did it take to heal?" "I can't imagine having scars on my hands" "oh next time be more careful! to avoid hurting myself, I <insert lecture on fire/knife safety here, as though I didn't know those things before and still happened to injure myself because you run that risk every time you use a potentially dangerous thing>".

And my personal favorite, "what a shame, you always had such beautiful hands."

Sigh.

Anyway I hope this helps someone writing a fanfiction about hand scars Katara because woof, there's a lot more going on there beyond just parallels with Zuko. Sifu Hotman would have incredible sympathy for Katara, not just because he has scars too, but because in some ways, having scars he could always see himself might seem worse to him. When he's by himself, he might be able to forget, for a moment, that it's there.

Katara can wear gloves, but people are always going to demand to know why, or for her to take them off, or whatever, and there's never going to be a real way to pretend, even for a second, she isn't scarred. And if she doesn't wear gloves or wrap her hands for sensation's sake, she'll get to see them every time she does anything. And that sucks.

AND ANOTHER THING:

it is always dry and flaking. Always. It's soooo dry I have to moisturize it several times a day. It helps with pain and mobility. Byyye

[senlinyu]

Hello! I picked up “Manacled” for the first time after a friend from book club frantically downloaded it onto my phone. You’re fic has had a profound emotional impact on me, and I am in awe of how you are able to construct such emotionally compelling stories. “All You Want” was also absolutely amazing, and made me laugh and cry with all the feels.

I was wondering if you had any advice or info on how to construct such emotionally charged and compelling stories? Do you outline the emotional arcs of your character or play it by ear as you’re writing?

Also I’ve been going through your FAQs and learned you wrote most of “Manacled” on your phone. First of all, that is insane (in the best way possible) and super cool, but it also made me wonder how you make time for writing in general and how you fit it around your work schedule and other responsibilities? Has the field of your profession ever influenced your writing?

I absolutely love your work, and reading it has been a tremendous gift, thank you. 💕

Hmmm. Well for me a lot of my motivation in story writing is either thematic, like I have concept or large idea that I want the story to fulfill for me, or it's that I really love codependency but I really need to understand why it exists. I am very aro/ace in many respects, so for me, horniness/lust does not exist as a compelling reason for a romance, I need MOAR than that.

I love heart-stopping love, but I find myself often dissatisfied because the degree of obsession doesn't correlate with the character's backstory and internal motivations, so a lot of the time when I craft characters, a big question is "I want them to be [this intense], what kind of formative events would be necessary to make them that way?" And then I go construct a foundation that can get me there.

Tbh, my historic profession has been mostly logistical secretarial work because my mother did not believe in women's education. I did study the liberal arts at college but that wasn't until after she died, but I never went into any professional fields with it. I was a full-time stay at home mother when I started writing during nap-times, which was why I wrote on my phone because it was basically just whenever I had a couple minutes to spare, I'd add a few more lines.

[coquelicoq]

justice of toren collecting songs and one esk/breq constantly humming/singing them is such a good detail and ann leckie does so much with it. an incomplete list:

justice of toren's eager collection of songs is part and parcel of its violent destruction of cultures: these songs are cultural artifacts that it only learns because of its presence on those worlds during their conquest, and in many cases breq is the only one to remember them because their people have died out due to that violence. JoT preserves cultural artifacts for its own use at the same time it directly contributes to the need for that preservation in the first place.

the matter-of-fact way in which this is narrated to us gives us information about JoT's stance on respect and imperialism - that is, contrasted with other characters who look down on the conquered cultures, JoT does actually seem to appreciate their value. and yet it communicates to us no sense of remorse over its role in their genocide.

singing can be a communal activity. this allows us to feel the difference between one esk's multiple bodies singing together in harmony/in a round vs. breq singing alone. this has emotional weight, is an evocative image, and illustrates quite nicely some of the logistic considerations of having one vs. multiple bodies.

the constant humming/singing is extremely notable and idiosyncratic according to other characters, which is a dangerous combination for someone who's supposed to be undercover, so it adds a lil bit of fun suspense for us.

the fact that no one ever figures out breq's identity despite this giveaway tells us something about the other characters' attitudes towards artificial intelligences (though see below about seivarden).

the fact that it's so idiosyncratic also tells us something about the ability of individual AIs to have personalities that distinguish them from other AIs, and the fact that one esk sings constantly but two esk doesn't tells us something about the ability of different ancillary decades that are all part of the same AI to have distinguishing characteristics. this is very relevant to, and illustrative of, the series' thematic throughlines around identity, personality, continuity, etc.

the fact that breq personally has a bad voice also serves multiple purposes. because breq and seivarden both believe that the medic could have chosen a body with a good voice if she had wanted to, we can infer something about how ancillary bodies work, how much the AI (and, by extension, its medics) knows about the individual capabilities of those bodies while they're in suspension, and what kinds of things the AI can and can't control once it has unfrozen and taken over a body.

we can also draw conclusions about the medic that chose that body and about intracrew relations on that ship.

breq's bad voice creates moments of humor and irony in the narrative, such as when breq's constant singing - aka the most obvious clue that she is one esk - is precisely what makes seivarden so sure that breq can't be one esk, because no esk medic would use a body with a bad voice for an ancillary.

constant singing/humming imposes itself on the shared soundscape, meaning other people can't easily avoid it and it has the potential to annoy them, especially if the voice itself has annoying qualities. the reactions of other characters to the frequency and/or quality of this verbal tic tells us something about the level of affection those characters have for one esk or breq.

because singing involves words, the meaning of the lyrics being sung can be used to advance the plot, communicate things about specific characters, create irony in juxtaposition with what's happening on the page, etc.

i especially like what's done with the lyric "it all goes around". it's woven throughout the story in such a way as to manifest its own meaning (the repetition of "it all goes around" is, itself, an example of something going around). by repeating the lyric, breq is the one making it true, and i would argue that her repetition of this particular lyric about things orbiting other things contributes to, and/or is a sign of, her growing understanding of the necessity/reality of interdependence and her place in that framework/her role in constructing it, or in other words, the extent of her own agency and the rights and obligations it confers upon her.

because the singing/humming is a constant, background, automatic action, it only ceases when breq is experiencing a strong emotion. from this we are able to infer things about the emotional state of our famously-omits-details-about-her-emotional-state narrator based on other characters' comments about whether or not she is currently doing this thing.

we also aren't even aware that breq is doing it constantly until another character says so. on a narrative level, this serves the dual purpose of making sure we know about how much she hums AND of reminding us that she's not telling us everything.

the humming is not mentioned constantly even though it is happening constantly - this helps us forget in between mentions that it's going on while also simultaneously reinforcing just how constant it must be, so constant that to mention it every time it happens would be like narrating every time she breathes in or out. whenever someone brings it up, we are reminded anew that something has been happening all along that we forgot about. this means that ann leckie is able, by leaving information out, to hammer home to us how much we are not being told.

through this one character trait, ann leckie efficiently and elegantly communicates not just aspects of character but also of setting, plot, tone, theme, and narrative. there's no extraneous exposition just to tell us about the song collection or singing; everything that tells us about it is serving other functions in the narrative as well. the ways in which she manifests this one character trait in the universe and in the narrative contribute to and exemplify both the story itself and the method of its telling.

[ckret2]

The way I see it, I've got two potential promising avenues:

I can work the word "goldilocks" into a pun, like "Goldilocked Up" or something—that's a dumb title but it shows you what I mean. That would also help the title fit Gravity Falls naming conventions, they LOVE pun titles, and I'm always happy to make the fic feel a little more canon-ish.

(Shoutout 2 the asker who sent "Under Goldilock And Key," I don't think it quite feels enough like the fic i'm writing but You've Got The Spirit)

So, with a pun, that opens up any phrase that includes the word "lock" or "gold" to be riffed off of ("Fool's Goldilocks," "Goldilocked and Loaded," etc etc y'all know how to make puns.) Considering doors that can't be opened are a big thing in the fic, there's SOME kind of potential with (goldi)locks and doors

OR, i can make an allusion to the Goldilocks principle—the idea that for something to work (in biology, in economics, in psychology, lots of fields), conditions have to be "just right" in between two possible extremes. The most prominent use of the Goldilocks principle is the Goldilocks Zone, which is the narrow criteria for earthlike planets that can support life (not too hot, not too cold; not too big, not to small, etc). I think i can work something with that, BUT i'd need to find a way to thematically work it into the fic. I think it's possible. Something something portal project, something something goldilocks zone of possible universes he can target?

(Plus, @thedemonsurfer pointed out that Bill being in the shack is sort of a Goldilocks zone for his redemption arc: not secure enough that he can default to all his usual defense mechanisms but not so insecure that he's constantly lashing out. Which is brilliant, I'd been trying to find some way to slap the goldilocks principle onto his current situation but couldn't figure out what two extremes he was in between.)

If I wanna go with a Goldilocks principle/Goldilocks Zone allusion, I've got a whole lot of fic left to write, I have time to make it seem like an actual theme I did on purpose. If I can find a way to tie it into the repeated Plato's Cave+Flatland+cosmic horror allusions I'm using, I've struck gold lmfao. (Something something a safe midpoint between the darkness of ignorance and the blinding light of full madness-inducing knowledge?)

My mind's spat out the idea "Wasting Away Again in the Goldilocks Zone," I don't think I'm sold on it yet.

Song allusion's to a guy trying to act carefree and chill in a vacation town as he gradually realizes he's the source of his own problems, which is true of the story and is gonna be even more true once he has enough freedom to properly pretend he's carefree and chill; Bill is a fan of margaritas; he definitely feels like he's wasting away; it mixes quirky fun summer vacationy vibes with subjects of cosmic significance; it firmly avoids the Goldilocks fairy tale OR calling Bill "Goldilocks, which is great; and it definitely don't sound like any other fic titles out there.

But on the other hand it's longer than I'd prefer; it's gonna be harder to remember for anyone who DOESN'T know the song allusion, plus anyone who doesn't know the allusion won't have any idea what the title means; I literally forgot until I checked 15 minutes ago that the line is "wasting away again in margaritaville" instead of just "wasting away in margaritaville" and apparently there's common confusion about whether it's "wasting" or "wasted," so there's multiple avenues via which it would be really easy to get the title wrong.

But like, it's a B- title. In spite of its logistical flaws, I actually like the sound of it. I think it's moving in the right direction. Leaning on the "Goldilocks zone" concept has potential.

[a-star-that-burns-brightly]

I forgot if you made a post answering this or not But if the culprit isn't Ace or Eden, then who do you think it could be?

Hello, Soraspirit! Honestly, that's a hard question for me to really answer because in all honesty I really don't think it could be anyone other than them. I guess in terms of logistics, Arturo is probably the third most likely candidate to be Arei's culprit. He doesn't have an alibi for the morning, he is very capable of listening in on Arei and Eden's conversation and forging the note (and though not exactly evidence...Arturo would totally write in cursive, c'mon.), and he has a very clear motive to kill (the death of his sister getting out would probably result in the career he has worked so hard for to crumble beneath his feet) and an even clearer motive to kill Arei specifically (she basically vague threatened to let that secret out herself). Not to mention if he does give the quintessential "post-trial trauma dump", I can see this being a good place for his character to end off at, and it could even be thematically resonant with the themes of the past that have been present in this chapter. A man so afraid of his dirty laundry being aired out and for his career that he's been building since the age of 12 to crumble beneath him that he commits an atrocity to maintain it, and ends up facing execution due to his own hubris and desperation that led him to become the worst person he could possibly be. Is it the most exciting answer? Probably not. But in terms of the facts that we do have, if anyone in this cast is a third party, my prediction is Arturo.

[the-cryptographer]

was talking to a friend about the fact that AI outperforms doctors in making diagnoses and tbh completely unsurprising given the fact that doctors are increasingly expected to diagnose patients in twenty minute checkup windows. because i'm sure there are a lot of things a doctor could do better than AI in a world where hospital staff and patients were both being valued. a doctor fully integrated into the community they are treating who has time for hour long visits where they can more freely take time to diagnose and discuss a patient's lifestyle concerns, goals, and the logistics of meeting said goals can do a lot of things that AI cannot. but for a plethora of reasons doctors are increasingly not doing that - they're doing twenty minute checkups with the intention of diagnosis. and if that's the only value doctors intend to provide and the only value others in turn are demanding of doctors, of course AI can do it faster and more accurately than they can. of course it can.

and to bring this back to fandom things. of course it upsets me that people are feeding fics to AI and see what the program pops out. of course the idea of someone doing this with my fics makes me feel cheap and used and commodified and disposable. like the wrapper for a candy bar, instead of a human being who put in a lot of effort to collect their thoughts on the things they've studied and felt and experienced, and express it through an artistic medium they love and admire. but as much as it upsets me it doesn't *outrage* me, frankly, because that feeling is old news. kudos culture, personal entitlement, every time someone has gotten upset with me for writing a narrative with a conclusion that was not meant to - and never meant to - provide easily digestible escapist romantic wish fulfillment. and i am not discounting that i myself have probably contributed to making other artists in fandom feel this way too. but if all we are offering as artists, and all we are demanding from artists in turn, is inoffensive tropey emotional fulfillment of our two favourite blorbos kissing (or hugging, or kicking bad guy butt, or going to therapy and learning how to be a well-adjusted person without any of the actual upsetting work involved in that, or w/e). if exacting character analysis, the craft of creating an interrogating and thematically consistent narrative, or the bravery to create a headcanon that there is no basis for other your ability to write it convincingly - if none of that matters, then of course AI can write better and faster than I can. of course it can.

[strangerthings4theories]

Honestly, I truly believe, amongst all the other batshit theories that everyone has made about Season 4, that there was supposed to be more about the Russian prison in Kamchatka but for some reason, whether COVID-19 related or not, they couldn't do it.

You pointed out that the part of that prison we see in Season 3 doesn't match & never matches with the ones we see in see in Season 4.

All of this never comes back & there is no explanation why. And what we saw in Season 4 & what it made it out to be was so small compared to what we see here... I even find it hard to believe that even with the amount of power the Upside Down has, including it's creatures, it was able to take down an entire facility of that size especially since it seemed like the creatures where locked only in a specific place. (And again, given the rules of ST, there should have been a gate open in Russia for a long period of time, for what they were doing to work but this is never brought up at any point...)

Hopper couldn't have possibly been the American because we saw in Season 4 that he was somewhere else before getting to this specific base & he never goes to that specific part of the prison. It wouldn't make sense for him to be there, go somewhere else then come back. Plus we don't get any real reason why he wasn't given to the Demogorgon during that Season 3 scene.

Whether it was Billy or someone else, this just doesn't make any sense that there wasn't supposed to be more to it.

I'm choosing to be optimistic here but since we barely know how the Russians know about the UD & what they want to do with it, including the logistics of how they were able to pull off what they pulled off in S3, I'm thinking that we are going to go back to it in Season 5 because if not, this is the weirdest & most incoherent side plot in history.

No no you're totally right though. And I'm glad someone else feels this way.

The Russia plotline still doesn't make sense to me. Not in the slightest. I'd go so far as to say I'm not sure why the story even went to Russia. Absolutely nothing happened there to justify the setting. Hopper didn't need a Big Damn Hero moment because he's already had several, and everyone knew Hopper and Joyce would get together. There were no surprises, no revelations that made me think, "Omg this is why the story took us here." It was actually... um... pretty boring???

As someone who's gone over S1-3 with a fine toothed comb, that was a genuinely shocking thing to see. With every other plotline in the show, I've been able to say, "Oh this is what they were trying to accomplish with that." Not so with Russia. It's a mess that doesn't really achieve anything narratively or thematically.

And it just happens to be the plotline that, up until the last two episodes of S4, seemed to be prepping us for Billy's return.

Hell, even episode 8 went in that direction at first. When Hopper found the adolescent Demogorgon writhing in pain on an operating table, I legit freaked out! It was the perfect foreshadowing for him finding Billy - the teenage boy who's been written off as a monster, but actually deserves our compassion. Seriously, I couldn't have written it better.

And then we got... nothing? Nothing at all?

Lol nahhhhhh. Shit ain't right. I'd sooner believe they got screwed over because the pandemic took away their access to Dacre.

[atla-confessions]

I need to put this off of my chest. The idea of Dragon Rainbow Fire doesn't make any sense at all when we try to fit it into the workings of atla's world physically and spiritually. It was made to make Zuko special (specifically, more than Azula, because a large part of his character is his rivalry and competition with her) and I hope to God they drop it and don't bring it into future works because it ruins the logic of firebending. It falls into the category of Magic more than it does bending and if I recall correctly, the creators didn't want Bending to be thought of as Magic(they literally used Sokka as their mouthpiece in the first scene of the show to tell us that). I hate that they ruined their own logic and didn't provide any explanation to back up their point(because there isn't any).

I also want to add that the colors of the fire the dragons made were to be interpreted in a thematical sense for the characters (Aang and Zuko) and us the viewers, not in a literal sense despite the dragons actually creating those colored fires because that's something special to the dragon as firebenders not humans as firebenders!! The Qi that the dragons produce allows them to do that but the Qi humans produce make them capable of only making blue flames because scientifically, blue flames mean perfect combustion (pure energy produced through burning of Oxygen). When we translate this logic onto atla's world, it means that when dragons breathe air and produce fire, it comes out in many different color because that's how their Qi is when it's pure. It's a representation of the state of their Qi (highest state) and their spiritual existence(one with the world=fire is life=be balanced and all that). Following this logic, it makes sense for humans to only be able to produce blue fire(highest state of Qi emitted), and white fire(second highest state) because there's nothing after it, but, unlike the dragons who are spiritual and balanced all the time(original firebenders), humans aren't born balanced, hence they can enhance their Qi through other methods that don't involve a dance(training like Azula and Rangi did) and still have colored flames.

In short, it's not and shouldn't be possible for humans to produce the colored fire of the dragons because they're physically and spiritually different from the dragons. They can only produce the colored fire that their spiritual and physical being is able to, and they don't have to be balanced (spiritually) to do that. Due to this, the sudden modification of atla's fictional world to uplift the character of Zuko doesn't make any local sense when put into atla's world working and logistics.

X

[ragnarssons]

Do you think Kataang will still happen in the LA? That EW cover of the four of them where Kiawentiio drapes herself over Dallas has me worried.

So. I'll be honest here, I wouldn't worry too much if I were you. It's apparent that the writers only thought about adapting Book 1 so far, and have been prepared, if needed, to have Book 1 be treated as a story of its own. So I think we might have some very small hints here and there, but nothing that will be clear. And for most of book 1 (at the exception of the Blue Spirit episode), Zuko will be an antagonist to the Gaang, and Kiawentiio has already spoken up several times about how her big moment with Zuko is "Katara kicking Zuko's ass at the North pole". Now, if the show works and does get renewed? It'd take years to develop stuff and age would basically become a non-issue at this point. I don't want to worry about that, because no matter what, we'll always have the source material, aka the cartoon, where Kataang are a thing and that is set in stone, it's never gonna disappear and it's gonna be featured in ATLA studio's future projects. I do think not writing Kataang into the LA would be missing out on a huge bunch of symbolism and heartfelt moments, and big dimensions of the characters of Katara and Aang as individuals. I do think at best we'll have Kataang, at "worst" we'll have nothing, for whatever logistical reason, them just not wanting to touch That Shipwar with a stick or whatever. But I'll never believe that "fandoms" could ever sway or force writers (or producers for that matter) to change characters' direction so drastically (unless they're petty, like Jason Rothenberg, but I don't even consider him a writer anymore anyway). I think ZTs could make a petition with 5million signatures demanding ZT in the show, it wouldn't happen if the writers don't want it and don't think it thematically matches their story and characters (and spoiler, it doesn't match ATLA, since it never happened in the cartoon). Really, I just do not want to engage in this LA adaptation thinking about ships (guess I'm getting too old for that lol... also they're children so it makes me take a step-back, like in Stranger Things where I used to - because I won't watch anymore - just not care because they're basically babies). I live in an ideal world where people would finally appreciate ATLA's central symbolic relationship, and that is Zuko and Aang (but thanks to the Shipwar(tm) they're always pitted against each other, which is the most ridiculous thing possible I'm just gonna get upset if I keep going ffs). That's why I'm so pumped about the producers having made Dallas and Gordon have chemistry reads, because it's the heart of the show, really, how these two are constantly bound together by destiny, hope and "soul" (reincarnations, previous lives etc). To me, them testing chemistry between these two actors, makes me believe they understood the assignment (that, and Albert Kim saying that APPA is Aang's best-friend and is basically just vital to Aang). I'd advise people not to read too much into photoshoots tho, they're photoshoots. Kiawentiio and Dallas Liu are friends, let's not overinterpret "marketing" stuff, because it's just marketing, not the story, yknow? 🤷‍♀️

[basedkikuenjoyer]

Never Mind the Bollocks, This One's About the Robot

Does...does Bonney just make everything a named attack? You can guess from the title what we'll be focusing on the most here from Chapter 1092. I could start by pointing out a lot of things as this quiet thread weaves ever more and more into the foreground. Seeing more of a known scene through Akainu/Bonney. Kizaru and his forlorn attitude towards duty demanding the elimination of those he has a bond with. Here's one that'll waggle your eyes, isn't Kuma right now quite reminiscent of Cindry?

At this point, we've seen enough to know at least one thing is true. One of One Piece's little tricks is every arc has a thread that's more about setting up the next. Okiku is Wano's. You know what I say; the conspicuous absence from the Ryokugyu fight and ending on Rakugo Rocky's unreliable narration after the type of story we told with her opens the door to more than that. But forget about that...Robonosuke.

So that was the original pitch right? We didn't see closure on Kiku and a lot of things because she is still on the ship this whole time and has been quietly coordinating with the Grand Fleet, a sensible niche for a new quartermaster. One it's not time to write off yet, a lot of things could still happen. The ship getting tossed is a good chance to play with that. We did lose our stated plan which was a necessary step, and I'll remind you now how easily that came about very recently. Vegaforce-01 went down. But something else happened. Luckily, we have a spare though I don't think this one can fly. This...this is where we now have to heavily consider another idea. One we've poked at before.

This shouldn't be too hard of a thread to follow. We've already raised the idea that we've seen Egghead Island before. It has the right placement to have been where Oden met Toki, which would be pre-lab. Let's assume that's true for a moment. Why was Toki there in the first place? According to Vegapunk, that robot has been here for 200 years since its assault on Mariejois. It isn't crazy to think that's why VP wanted to set up his lab here, but that was post-Toki.

One of the most consistent thoughts we've always had about Okiku's peculiarities is how well they could go hand-in-hand with the potential her actual idol was the 800-year-old woman. Toki was a huge card to put on the table and never really utilize, even moreso when you have a cryptic but major new face in the present who can carry on a separate will and keeps hanging out in the background doing a whole lot of typical "new recruit" type things.

We certainly imply Robonosuke here awoke due to the drums of liberation...but that doesn't jive. This is the third time Luffy's gone G5. At least second if you don't count the quick bit with Bonney. Egghead just did the misleading stinger. We've already floated the idea that maybe instead of the ship our newbie who quietly slipped away has been solo questing on an island that could have tangential personal significance. Putting us back at another moment where you could actually pull the trigger very easily from here, assuming you deal with a couple of logistical problems. The plan to fly away being so spur of the moment and instantly dashed works better with "oh yeah, we forgot..." at least. Remember the cloud cover skipping over the night gives us for justifying almost anything.

What if Luffy had the right idea with Robonosuke? You just needed to know his name. That relationship with Toki would make Kiku one of the absolute best candidates to believably know exactly what she found and how to use it. A scrap heap sounds like the exact right place thematically for her to do so.

Weird thing about factoring in Toki is that she could really pop up a lot of places in history. We don't really know much about her past, she took to the life of a Daimyo's wife quite well. There's also the idea Oden's journal is our main source about her. Toki just flat-out could have been a part of why Robonosuke ended up on this island or any number of things.

[pb-dot]

Film Friday: The Last Jedi

Oooooooooooh boy. I would say I have a complicated relationship with Star Wars as a franchise, but from what I hear from other fans I've discussed this with, that's normal and, on some level, inevitable. Star Wars is sometimes good, sometimes bad, and almost always a mix of the two. It's a part of the formula at this point, every bit as much as light sabers and obscure space religion magic. That said, there is one Star Wars movie that holds a special place in my heart, and I want to talk about it and what it did to the franchise, or at least tried to do before the Franchise Management people over at the house of mouse got scared and released a feature-length breaking maneuver of a film, but that's just something that happens some times. Let's get on with The Last Jedi.

As so often is the case in second installments, the war isn't quite going the rebellion's way, and at the start of the movie our heroes are caught in a chase to save what little of the rebellion remains. In an attempt to turn the tides, Rey seeks out the council of legendary Jedi Luke Skywalker, while Finn, Poe and newly recruited mainliner Rose Tico attempt to find a way to circumvent the First Order's tracking to beat the chase.

Of course, things don't turn out quite that way. Luke is quite reluctant to get back into the "anything to do with the force"-business, and Finn, Rose and Poe find more than trouble navigating conflicting loyalties and First Order Infrastructure. It's a very "part two in the triology" kind of thing as our heroes fail, are tempted by both craven panic and the dark side, and learn the kind of lesson that, while necessary, doesn't feel all that good.

To briefly sum up the parts I don't like as much about this movie: the pacing is a bit janky, and while I think the Canto Bight sequence is good thematically, it does feel like it prolongs a part of the plot that could be better served with less space travel. It's also a bit frustrating that a major driver of the Canto Bight/pursuit plot is two pivotal supporting characters not telling the main characters things. Sure, it can be justified, but it feels frustrating to sit through on the second watch-through. Also I can't quite decide if the movie tries to set up Finn with Rose, or if we're supposed to be as baffled about that development as Finn apparently is?

Ok, now with those annoyances out of the way, WOW does this movie do some great stuff. The Rey/Luke subplot alone has so much dynamite about mentoring, learning, and growing past mistakes. Luke has spent the last... what, 10, 20 years trying to be forgotten because he doesn't consider himself worthy of being a legendary hero, having failed Ben Solo/Kylo Ren so thoroughly. Through Rey's earnest, and insistent, enthusiasm for his legend he comes to realize that whether he wants to acknowledge it or not, the consequences of his actions are out there, and if he really wants to make amends, he has to confront these consequences. It's one hell of a storyline and development to play out, and Mark Hamil does some career-best work in putting it out there.

There isn't really a good place to put this bit into the structure I wrote, but as I went through to edit this thing I remembered that I forgot to talk about the Holdo Manuever. This bit is apparently a bit controversial among the Military Logistics Of The Galaxy Far Far Away-crowd, but I fucking love it. For one, it's a twist I didn't see coming that also works just about perfectly even on re-watches, and secondly, just look at the thing. This action setpiece was nothing short of awe-inspiring. Letting physics, at least as much of physics as one can count on when dealing with FTL, do the heavy lifting in a pivotal moment feels like an inspiring choice, and again, look at it!

This movie's also I think the most sensible of the Star Wars movies when it comes to the internal politics of the villain faction, in that the interplay between familiar autocratic forms of leadership, fascism to be precise, and the obscure space magic mysticism of the Force makes for some tasty plot threads. For one, Snoke is so secure that he, alone, will be the first dark side user to not be utterly fucked over by his sole apprentice on account of his mind reading ability that he seemingly ignores the possibility of Kylo Ren learning about the concept of meta-cognition, and gets chopped all the way in half for his hubris. One of the easiest way to get couped, after all, is to believe it could never happen to you for X Y or Z reason.

And then there's Hux. Ah, the fashy wet beast of a man that is Admiral Hugs. His is a thankless job, screaming about nonspecific degeneracy and nonspecific order and getting just absolutely bodied by the dark force users of the First Order on any and all occasions. Granted, the man is the military leader of a wannabe empire whose main business is military, but that doesn't matter much. Poe dunks on him, Kylo and Snoke treat him like a puppet at best, and even when the death of Snoke might suggest a promotion, oop, no, guess what, Kylo Ren's still there and while he doesn't proclaim himself Master or anything, he certainly makes a compelling argument for him succeeding the throne of Supreme Leader. Sucks to suck, Hugs, shouldn't have subscribed to an ideology based on strength alone.

Rey's attempt at navigating the force and her identity is also fascinating to watch. The mystery of who she is exactly is an interesting driving force to the whole character arc. While I concede the point that this is in part because Lineage and Pedigree is like catnip to Star Wars fans to a worrying degree, it's also just compelling. Part of finding out who you are is, after all, a part of finding out where you came from, and in the ways you are different and similar to that origin is as good of a guide as any. With that said, it was an immense relief to me that Rey wasn't related to anyone important in the Star Wars Lore, if only because it opens up her plot so much. If she falls to the Dark Side it's because she falls to the dark side, not because she's a sapling from a line of part Force-homonculi like the Skywalkers, or like a quarter Darth Andeddu on her Mother's Side or whatever. Granted, Rey From Nowhere in particular was retconned in the following movie, and I'll GET to that. In the context of this movie at time of release though, it felt like a breath of fresh air.

It felt like an attempt to start something new. Maybe not every important character in the world is related to every other important character. Maybe the galaxy far far away is more vivid and exciting than it ever could be playing out some kind of extended Arthurian family saga. Maybe the first order is a threat not so much because they want to kill our Skywalkers, but because they're a massive conquering beast flattening culture and exploiting those they consider lesser, which is to say everyone. Maybe the stable boy is force sensitive. Maybe that'll matter, maybe that'll just be a little coda demonstrating that The Force isn't strictly a Palpatine/Skywalker family secret.

Speaking of though, let's talk about Kylo Ren some. I love Kylo Ren as a villain. He clearly styled himself on his grandpappy Anakin Skywalker, and the fact that the result is such a store brand thematic mockery is just perfect. Darth Vader didn't dress up like that because it was cool (at least in the Watsonian sense, in the Doylist sense he very much did), he's covered in all of that armor because it's his life support system. His unnerving hissing breath is his respirator chugging along. He is incredibly powerful in the force, yes, but his body is a mess, and it's a tribute to his strength in the Force that it's not a thing you notice as he takes you apart. Vader's armor is more than his armor, it's his prison, keeping him alive, bound to the Empire and the Dark Side in more ways than one. Kylo's armor looks that way because it's meant to evoke Darth Vader. Kylo doesn't need it, he just thinks it lets him be more like his grandfather. He's cosplaying, in practice, and no level of sulky angy boy antics can come close to projecting the sheer weight of Anakin's fallen splendor, which of course, only makes Kylo angrier. This is a compelling mirror to Rey in this movie IMO. Rey does not have Kylo's legacy, which makes her free in a way Kylo could never be, although Rey would probably switch in a heartbeat if she had the chance.

It's this kind of entangled conflict that makes the Rey-Kylo interplay so fascinating. Rey believes in the good in Kylo because That's What The Hero Does, but Kylo is so tied up in being Taster's Choice Darth Vader that she just doesn't get through the aura of angsty rage that surrounds him. They're not quite enemies, but far from friends, thus my choice of word "entangled." It's a pretty fun dynamic to see, and it leads to what I think is one of the better fight scenes of the sequel trilogy where Rey and Kylo are, however briefly, allies of convenience and fight through Snoke's Throne Guard. It's a rad fight because we haven't gotten too many "light sabers vs multiple semi-worthy opponents" in the main series, and because it's just so cool to see non-allies on the same side.

I suppose I have postponed talking about this movie's legacy as long as I can. It's not a task I cherish for two reasons, one, I find the current fandom focus on legacy utterly exhausting, and two, I feel this movie in particular was done dirty by its sequel, to the degree where I didn't even want to touch Star Wars for quite some time after it released.

In short, I would argue that just about every cool bit of The Last Jedi was clumsily retconned or just written out in Rise Of Skywalker. Rey from Nowhere? Gone, turns out she's Sheev "I've been dead for three movies except Sike" Palpatine's granddaughter and Kylo "I never lied to you" Ren was full of shit when he confirmed that her parents were nothing special. The power struggle between Hux and Kylo? Absolutely demolished. Sheev's back and he's brought his own Disappointing Generic Empire Guy to lead, so it's arguably not even the First Order any more. Rose Tico as a kind of Working Class conscience for the Adventure Crew? She's just kind of around and has exactly as many lines as it takes to not formally be an extra. Fuck me, if that movie managed to somehow convince me that cool Rey and Kylo fight didn't happen it'd be batting a thousand as far as ruining good shit from TLJ. Oh, and of course Finn and Poe get Plausible Deniability Girlfriends, because fuck you if you're finnpoe, right?

Anyway, this is not a review of Rise Of Skywalker, but it kind of impossible to speak of all the cool shit TLJ tried to do without acknowledging that these were very much The Road Not Taken. It's also important context to my current relationship with Star Wars. Put simply, I've lost faith. Why even bother participating in any further Star Wars media? I've clearly seen the Only Good Story Possible in Star Wars when I watched the original trilogy, considering how its the only story you're allowed to tell Post-Lucas, and any deviation from the same will lead to one of the biggest media companies in the world to ruin an entire feature-length film to meticulously undo anything that strays from the Star Wars Formula? How would any decent storyteller hitch themselves to a mess like this? How does it not become the miserable slog of content produced by work-a-day directors sleepwalking through Franchise Management-approved scripts, where nothing ever changes or grows, because the Star Wars Fans expect another of their semiregular reifications of three pretty good adventure/sci-fi films from the 70's, and heaven help you if you falter in your breathless reverence for The Legacy.

So while this isn't a review of Rise Of Skywalker, you can plainly see I didn't like it much. Do give The Last Jedi a look though, there's some neat scenes in it, and porgs.

[dotthings]

Some thoughts about the end credit track and how it reflects on Ahsoka herself and what it might mean thematically and for her arc.

The end credits track by Kevin Kiner is mostly built around Ahsoka's theme, originated by the same composer.

starts out slow, with higher, melancholy violins and rhythmic, darker cellos as a baseline that almost sound like drumbeats, plus there's drumbeats. Feels powerful, yet weighed down. (Like Ahsoka herself, commentary on that below)

then the theme starts rising with soaring horns, builds and climbs, becomes less weighed down, with more instruments joining in.

quiet passage with a flute which segues into more wind instruments, more energetic, and then it goes contemplative, quieter again.

track ends with more quiet horns that sound somber to me, but not heavy like the opening.

That end credit track has an arc. It's telling a story in itself. What that story is yet, what it all means, we don't know yet.

However the way music works in Star Wars, music reflects the story. The end credit track has clues tonally about the arc of S1. We haven't seen the build and climb yet. We've only seen the first 2 episodes.

It's not going to stay there. There's going to be an arc.

The "slowness" of Ahsoka's fight scenes are not a mistake. Notice how Shin Hati and Sabine's fight scene is paced a bit differently, and the way they move is different than how Ahsoka moves. Also "slow" isn't the right word. That's a shorthand. More precisely, I'll describe her movements as deliberate and steady. It may look less dynamic that what we're used to but there are several reasons for it.

One thing is that as an older, experienced Jedi, Ahsoka doesn't need to zip around like she did as a teen. She's very powerful and very experienced. She moves strategically, purposefully, steadily, and lures her opponents into traps. Another reason (a more practical logistical reason) is difference from animation to live action--animation has a weightlessness live action simply cannot replicate, and comparing the two makes no sense to me. But again, given that Shin Hati and Sabine's fight scene is paced more rapidly, I don't think this is simple logistical difference between animation and live action. It's a deliberate story choice that fits thematically.

Those moves of Ahsoka's were thought through. Very carefully.

The other reason is her emotional arc--it's a visual, stylistic commentary on Ahsoka's emotional state. It's the weight on Ahsoka's shoulders, along with how powerful and deliberate her fighting style has become. There's also her defensive posture so far in quiet non-combative scenes. Arms folded.

Ahsoka is carrying a lot of weight on her shoulders at the start of S1. Her regret and guilt about abandoning Sabine, her regret on not finding Ezra, her regret about leaving Anakin, not being able to save Anakin, the responsibility she feels, her fears of failing.

TV isn't random spaghetti thrown at the wall, especially not with something done with the care that goes into Star Wars. Stylistic choices are made deliberately. Visual choices, music choices, lighting, blocking, are deliberate. And Star Wars rhymes.

We're going to see an arc. Because that's how storytelling works.

[itsclydebitches]

Would it make sense for ruby to get green in her design or get one of penny’s swords as a way of honoring her?

I think that's an awesome idea! The swords probably wouldn't work because I think they were destroyed when her robot body died (plus, you know, the vault where that body is now lies underwater) and if I remember correctly she summoned new, temporary swords with her Maiden powers that likewise should have disappeared. But adding green? Hell yeah. Not enough to detract from the overall red aesthetic, but some nice detailing as a remembrance/way to forward Ruby's grieving arc. Plus, it fits aesthetically: she's Ruby Rose, with green stems and leaves alongside the flower.

Catch me also thinking about how roses have thorns and how the show never leaned into that metaphor, despite trying to make Ruby tougher as she aged.

Ideally I would have liked something like that back in Volume 4, post-Penny's first death and alongside Jaune's armor upgrade. That's another instance of him thematically getting more attention than the main girls: Jaune gets to incorporate a piece of his fallen friend into his wardrobe, but our title character doesn't get to do the same - for Pyrrah or Penny. I wouldn't mind quite as much if there had been some sort of logistical reason why he got that opportunity and she did not. Meaning, if Jaune had been able to get hold of Pyrrha's armor and circumstances led to Ruby failing to do the same... but in actuality Ruby held one of Penny's swords in her hand and the entirety of Pyrrha disintegrated, so the show really said 'Screw logic' on that one.

We're due for a wardrobe change in Volume 10 (if not sooner) so yeah, it would be cool if this second death actually impacted Ruby and drove her actions in ways Penny's first simply didn't. Especially if, as fans theorize, we're heading towards RWBY's endgame. If you're ever going to pull this large cast together and remind viewers of the many characters that helped the girls make it to the final showdown with Salem, now's the time to start doing that.