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kanansdume · 22 days

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I've recently been watching these very interesting Star Wars video essays on YouTube (yeah I know, a rare breed) and it brings up these comments Lucas has made about how he views Star Wars as almost like a silent film in terms of how important the visuals are to him in comparison to the dialogue. But this essay also points out how important Lucas finds all of the "rhyming" moments in his trilogies and the way he utilizes them to remind you of something else for emotional or thematic reasons. And there's so many of them, both in visuals and in dialogue, and it's interesting to consider how important this is to him, the repetition for a purpose as well as the storytelling through visuals above everything else and then to look at Star Wars since the Prequels came out and realize how little has really been able to match up to those ideals since then.

The ONLY thing that's come out since the Prequels that I think really hits these two things the same way is, in fact, Andor. One of the things I noticed about the way people discussed Andor as it was airing in a way I haven't really seen for any of the other shows or films was the visual SYMBOLOGY. So many times I saw people noticing the Imperial cog everywhere, from the aerial shot of Narkina 5 as the prisoners escape to the architecture of Mon Mothma's house. There were people picking up on the use of items in Luthen's shop that are familiar from other things to give this idea that Luthen is from another time, he's attempting to preserve this world he lost, that if you're not looking closely enough you won't notice what he's really saying or doing with this shop. The color choices for the different locations and people got analyzed because the people involved spoke about how they intentionally utilized color to SEND A MESSAGE about the characters and the world. We know that the people who made the costumes and sets really worked hard to treat Star Wars almost like a period drama and study the history of the franchise as if it were a real place so that the things they came up with felt like they belonged in this world everyone knows so well even if it's completely new. And of course there were all of the myriad references to things from Rogue One, the constant repetition of "climb", the sunset on the beach, etc.

Nearly EVERY SHOT in this show was created with so much intention behind it in order to say something meaningful about the characters, the world, this specific story they're in, and the overall saga of Star Wars itself. It's insane how much greater impact this show was able to achieve through the incredibly careful usage of visual symbols and thematic repetitions, much like Lucas did before them. It feels like they didn't just study the history of the galaxy far far away, but they studied the history of STAR WARS and what Lucas was trying to do and say with this story. They peeled back his onion a bit more and were able to create something that really has that same visual feel even when it's not created for a child audience. It also is experimenting with its narrative style through its structure and through Cassian's character being allowed to be somewhat more reactive than proactive, and while that didn't work for everyone, it does feel like it's following in Lucas's footsteps of experimentation through Star Wars. Push the boundaries of what Star Wars is and can be and what you can say with it.

But this only works because they peeled the onion back enough to TRULY understand all of the messages Lucas was sending with it. They got the heart of Star Wars and despite its lack of space wizards, despite the lack of most major characters in the Saga, this was a show that honestly got the message more than just about anything else Star Wars has put out since the Prequels. The choices between selflessness and selfishness, the themes about how you always HAVE to make a choice even when it feels like you don't have any (sometimes ESPECIALLY when it feels like you don't have any), and how important it is to make sure to choose the path of compassion above everything else. The themes of connection to others, the symbiotic circle and the impact even the smallest person can have on world around them, it's RIGHT THERE and it's CENTRAL to Andor's storyline.

So yes, it experiments a little with narrative structure, but it's possibly the most Star Wars thing to exist Revenge of the Sith because it honestly truly GETS what Star Wars was about, both in its themes and in its filmmaking. A lot of people said that Andor didn't feel like Star Wars to them, usually because of the lack of space wizards and the fact that it's not a story aimed at children. But to me, Andor is EXACTLY what Star Wars is and has always been. They're stretching the boundaries of what Star Wars can be, but it's saying the exact same things Star Wars has always said, it's just saying it slightly differently. This doesn't feel like fanfiction to me, not really. Unlike things like the Mandoverse or the books, Andor isn't just taking some of the toys out of the sandbox and going to play with them somewhere else. Andor is IN that sandbox. It's building a slightly different sandcastle, but it's still within the sandbox, using the same sand that Lucas did.

#star wars #andor #star wars andor #i GET why some people feel like andor isn't star wars #but quite honestly that feels like not just a superficial reading of andor but a superficial reading of star wars as a whole #the only other show to come anywhere near andor's level was the obi-wan kenobi show #there's tons of visuals that are intended to link back to both the pt and the ot #from obi-wan and leia's costumes to things like the fire obi-wan is burned in and that flashback scene #i'm placing andor above owk still because i think andor takes it an extra level higher but owk is also in that sandbox #owk just got stuck with the fucking volume and the disadvantage of going from a movie to a miniseries #but it did far better with those disadvantages than just about anyone else and still told a VERY star wars style story #the fact that it feels like the prequels is exactly why everyone hated it #and it's exactly why i loved it and think it's the 2nd best thing to come out of star wars since rots #i'll give 3rd place to rebels since it tries once or twice to do some visual and dialogue repetition #but those kinds of things aren't something i see analyzed about rebels all that much tbh #everything else is just fanfic that made a profit #some of it is really BAD fanfic that thinks a cameo is the same as a visual motif. it's not. they suck. stop doing them.

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captainsophiestark · 2 months

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Nosy Best Friends

Tristan Flynn x Reader

Masterlist - Join My Taglist!

Based on this request from Anon! It was very fun to write and it gave me a second, related idea that I'm planning to post Monday, so thanks for sending it in! Hope you like it!

Fandom: Crescent City

Summary: Flynn's been disappearing a lot to spend time with his human girlfriend, and his friends have decided to finally figure out where he's been going.

Word Count: 2,219

Category: Fluff, Humor, maybe a tiny bit of Angst? But not really

A/N: This fic also has a prequel called Presentation Problems and a sequel called The Best Night Ever, but can also be read on its own!

Putting work into an AI program without permission is illegal. You do not have my permission. Do not do it.

Ruhn's POV

"Where the Hel are you going?"

Flynn barely stopped at the sound of my voice, half-turning back with an irritated look. I gave him the same one right back.

"I'm going out. Why do you care?"

"You've been disappearing doing Urd knows what for weeks. Come on, Flynn, what's going on?"

Flynn just rolled his eyes. "Nothing, mom. Just relax and mind your own business."

He turned on his heel and walked out the door without looking back. I watched him go, then turned to Dec on the couch.

"Something's going on with him."

"Yeah. Think it's time we do something about it?"

"Definitely."

****************

Y/N's POV

I sighed, rubbing my eyes as I tried to reread what I'd written for the thousandth time. I'd been holed up in my apartment for almost forty-eight hours straight working on a paper for grad school, and I'd started to go a little crazy.

The only reason I hadn't gone crazy about twenty hours ago was my boyfriend, Tristan Flynn. He'd been keeping me company, providing a stream of encouragement and my favorite snacks and helping me take a break when I really needed it, even if I wouldn't admit it. He'd left a couple hours ago to go do something he needed to do, and I'd come very close to hurling my laptop at the wall in his absence.

We'd first met in a similar situation, when I'd hurled my notebook across what I'd thought was an empty classroom. Flynn had been looking for somebody the Aux had followed to campus, and only his fae reflexes had kept him from taking my notebook to his head. If I hadn't been stressed out of my mind already, I would've been worried about having accidentally attacked a member of the fae Aux, especially as a human, but I'd hit my limit that day, so instead I'd shouted at him for interrupting my studying.

Luckily for both of us, once he'd recovered from his shock, he'd seemed to be into that. He'd tried to get me to leave for safety reasons, and I'd refused, so he'd stayed. We ended up hitting it off the bat, and the rest was history.

We'd been together for a few months now, and despite every warning I'd ever heard against dating a member of the Vanir, it was quite honestly the best relationship I'd ever been in. We hadn't told anyone else in our lives yet, mostly because we didn't want our little bubble of happiness being burst, but I had a hard time believing anything could ruin what we'd found together.

The few seconds I'd spent losing myself in memories had been nice, but the glaring light of my laptop screen didn't let me escape for long. I sighed heavily, trying to decide whether it was worth it to power through. I didn't entirely have a choice, unless I wanted to drop out of grad school, but maybe I could find something to do as a small break.

Somebody must have been listening to my silent pleas, because a moment later my phone rang. I smiled when Flynn's face popped up, a terrible picture of him that I'd taken when he wasn't ready. He always switched it back to a shirtless one he'd taken himself when he got the opportunity, and it had become a little silent war between us.

"You have amazing timing," I sighed as soon as I picked up. I could hear his smile through the other end of the phone.

"I always do. Come downstairs."

"...You know I shouldn't. This paper-"

"Is something you've been holed up in that apartment working on for way too long. You're driving yourself insane, and last I checked, you can't turn in anything if you smash your laptop to pieces against the wall. Besides, humans need sunlight. And fresh air."

"An expert on that, are you?"

"I sure am," his voice purred over the phone and I rolled my eyes, but I also felt heat rising on my cheeks. "Just come down here, and I'll show you how much of an expert I am."

I let out a long breath through my nose. Flynn was right. Sitting in this apartment driving myself insane wasn't helping anything. And besides, I really wanted to go spend time with him.

"Alright. I'm on my way."

"Good. I'll see you in a second."

****************

Ruhn's POV

"What in Hel is he doing here?" I hissed to Dec, trying to keep my voice down. We'd tailed Flynn to some apartment complex not far from the college we'd chased some monster down at not long ago.

"I don't know..." said Dec. "Maybe he's got a lead on something for the case? Or a new case, related to all that shit we dealt with last time?"

"You think Flynn's spending his time off work doing more work?"

I shot Dec a look, and he snorted.

"Okay, you're right. It's probably not that."

We turned back to watch Flynn, who had a full bouquet of flowers in his hands. He'd put on the nicest clothes he owned, and if I didn't know better, I would've thought-

"Oh! Tristan, holy shit!"

Dec and I stared wide-eyed as a human female came out of the apartment building, absolutely beaming at Flynn. She ran to him and jumped in his arms, hugging him tight, as he picked her up and spun her around. He kissed her, and when they pulled apart they stayed close, forehead to forehead, just staring at each other lovingly, something I'd never seen Flynn do with a female. I glanced at Dec to find him looking just as shocked as me, and when I turned back to find Flynn practically floating looking at the girl in front of him, I couldn't help my surprised shout.

"WHAT THE FUCK?"

****************

Y/N's POV

Tristan and I whirled around in sync at the sound of a loud shout from across the street. I found two fae males staring at us, looking absolutely outraged, and I started to get a little worried until my boyfriend shouted back.

"What the FUCK are you two doing here?"

"I take it you know them?" I asked, turning to Flynn and keeping my voice low. He shook his head, but the irritation in his eyes faded the second he looked at me.

'Yeah, sweetheart, I do. They're my roommates and my friends from the Aux. And they're absolute idiots."

I turned to find the idiots in question storming across the street and towards us, shouting at cars that almost hit them in the process. Unconsciously, I took a half step towards Flynn, and he immediately wrapped one arm around my waist and pulled me closer to him.

Not a moment too soon. His friends finally made it across traffic to come to a stop in front of us, and my jaw literally almost hit the floor when I realized one of them was the Crown Prince of the Valbaran Fae.

"What the Hel are you doing?" demanded the prince before turning to me. "And who is this?"

"I'm his girlfriend," I snapped, not quite able to stop myself. Both newcomers stared at me in wide-eyed shock, then whirled on their friend.

"Your what?"

"My girlfriend," Flynn said, an edge of steel in his voice that I'd only heard once or twice, usually in relation to Aux business.

The fae before us shared an absolutely shocked look, then whirled back around to look at Flynn.

"Why the Hel didn't you tell us?"

"Is that where you've been sneaking off to every day for the last few months?"

"What the fuck, Flynn?"

They shouted their questions at Flynn in sync, then without waiting for my boyfriend to get ahold of himself enough to answer, the one I didn't recognize turned to me with an apologetic smile.

"I'm Declan," he said, holding out a hand for me to shake. I stared at it for a minute, then slowly took it. "It's nice to meet you."

"...Nice to meet you, too."

"Ruhn. Also nice to meet you," said the prince with a chin nod of a hello in my direction. Then, he turned back to Flynn. "You know everybody's gonna lose it when they realize you've been keeping a steady girlfriend a secret from us, right?"

"Yeah yeah, whatever. Bunch of Aux members, a spy, and Bryce, it's your own fault for not figuring it out sooner. You should be better at your jobs than this."

Ruhn and Declan's mouths dropped open, and I laughed. I could see them getting ready for a comeback, so I stepped even closer to Flynn and fixed the other two fae with a bright smile.

"It's been nice to get to meet some of Tristan's friends, and I'm sure I'll see you both again soon. But right now, I was promised a break from my term paper by my wonderful boyfriend, and I don't intend to let anything get in the way of that."

"I'd listen if I were you," said Flynn, a massive smile on his face as he looked at me with the most lovesick expression I'd ever seen. It made my heart melt. "We met because she almost clocked me in the head with a notebook for interrupting her study session."

"Well technically I threw the notebook before you came in. And then I yelled at you for interrupting."

"Are you trying to say you wouldn't have thrown the notebook at my head anyway if it'd still been in your hands?"

"...No, I probably would've."

"I know. And I love it." He grinned, leaning in for a heated kiss. It still took my breath away, kissing him, even though it'd been a few months now, and he pulled away far too soon for my liking. "What do you say we get the Hel out of here for your distraction?"

"I say Hel yeah, let's go."

He gave me one last quick peck, then pulled back with a wink. His arm stayed wrapped around my waist as we turned to head off to whatever surprise he had planned, not bothering to spare more than a nod at his absolutely stunned friends.

"You get the weekend, Flynn!" one of them called after us. "And then we're having a party and getting to know this female you're so head over heels for!"

"Sure!" Flynn said, calling back over my head. "As long as she decides she actually wants to meet you!"

I snorted, and when I looked at Flynn I found a beaming smile on his face as we walked down the street together. He held out the hand that wasn't around my waist, finally presenting me with the gorgeous bouquet he'd first shown up with.

"For you."

"Thanks, Tris." I took the flowers and leaned into him, and we continued in comfortable silence for a moment. Then Flynn cleared his throat.

"So, do you... uh, do you want to meet them? My friends and everybody?"

"Well, that depends a little bit... why were they so shocked? Was it because I'm human?"

"No." Flynn's response was immediate, and he stopped dead in his tracks to turn me to face him. He put both hands on my shoulders, his warm brown eyes finding mine. "I would never voluntarily spend time with people who felt or thought that way."

"Okay... then why did they seem so surprised to see you with somebody?"

He grimaced. "You... might be the first serious girlfriend I've had. Ever."

My eyebrows shot up, and my heart skipped a few beats.

"Really?"

"Yeah. I think my record before this was... seeing the same female for two weeks? Maybe?"

I couldn't help barking a laugh, and Flynn grimaced again. My heart, on the other hand, was soaring as I reached up to gently cup his cheek.

"Well, I guess I can see why your friends were so surprised then. I'd be happy to meet them. And I'm honored to be the first female you've decided to stick around for."

He grinned at me, making my heart race even faster, then slowly leaned in until our lips were just a hair's breadth away.

"I'm honored to be a fae male you're willing to date. Based on what another friend has told me, a human like you wouldn't be willing to give just any of us a chance."

I snorted. "Yeah, no kidding. But I'm glad I gave you one."

"Me too."

I gave Flynn a little smirk, then leaned in to close the rest of the distance between us. He wasted no time kissing me back, hard, and we quickly deepened the kiss. I let my one free hand wander up to tangle in his hair, and I was ready to lose myself in him right then and there, but after a few long moments he gently pulled back.

"As much as I'd like to continue this... I think you'll really like the surprise break I have planned."

I smiled, going in for one last quick kiss, then pulling all the way back.

"Alright. Let's go. As long as we can continue this after I finish my assignments?"

"If I ever say no to that, you should be concerned."

I laughed as we headed off down the street together again, hand in hand. I still had many hovering stressors, from school to finally meeting Flynn's extended friend group, but I knew I'd have him with me for all of it. I was starting to get the feeling he was in it for the long haul, and even though that brought plenty of challenges, I couldn't help being excited for it all the same.

****************

Everything Taglist: @rosecentury @kmc1989

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regarding-stories · 5 months

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The dark abyss that is Andor

There were several things that led to Andor.

On the one hand, Disney screwed up its Star Wars intellectual property by handing it to complete hacks for Episode VII to IX, leading a potential cash cow to attract less and less viewers over the course of three increasingly bad installments. Seriously, The Last Jedi is one of the worst disappointments I've actually watched, and not only was I thinking "This can't get worse..." every five minutes only to be proven, "Yes, it can!!", it completely killed my appetite to see IX (and I would have left the cinema at that one's sheer stupidity). With VII, I saw it once with some initial excitement in a cinema when it released and a strange feeling afterwards, and I never revisited it. VIII I saw on two separate long-distance flights because I couldn't stomach the thing in one sitting. IX I didn't see at all, but devoured YouTube videos ripping it apart. Clearly, Disney had a Star Wars problem.

The other thing is the reboot that was The Mandalorian, especially season 1. The Mandalorian had a penchant for not very strong logic in its writing that you still accepted because you had so much damn fun and loved the characters. Given the fact that it clearly pulled lots of viewers into Disney+ that were loving its vibe that was true to the core of Star Wars, Disney management saw the fact that theaters and theme parks were closed due to COVID on the one hand and that big Star Wars movies were at risk of actually losing money on the other hand, and they did what executives are wont to do - they decided that if it worked once, it will work again and declared they will pump out TEN Star Wars series in the near future.

Meanwhile they cancelled also their ongoing series of "A Star Wars Story" movies that started with what could be called "Episode III.5" - Rogue One. Rogue One was plagued with production problems, so much so that seeming key scenes from the trailer weren't in the movie. "I rebel!", anyone?? Still, it turned out to be something new - a new kind of Star Wars story. It took the idea of a war movie (or its modern equivalent, Band of Brothers) and put it into the Star Wars cinematic universe. It did without an actual Jedi (kinda-sorta) and it showed a strong performance of Diego Luna as the morally gray Cassian Andor. And... (spoiler alert) ... it killed its whole cast in its finale.

I know people that say Rogue One is their favorite Star Wars movie. (But other people dislike it.) I hold it in high esteem. The way the resistance is portrayed also seemed to be somewhat subversive - both to its previous image on screen and to what is portrayable on screen for mainstream audiences in general. It became clear that unlike in the original three Star Wars movies resisting an empire is, on the ground, a dirty business and not just about big battles or commando raids. (Which then happen anyway. Because Star Wars.)

Then followed the lackluster Solo and the third installment Yoda was never made as Star Wars increasingly lost its ability to draw crowds into seats.

And thus it came to Andor

Now what do you do with a character that (spoiler alert? really?) dies. You make a bloody prequel. Which is funny. Andor is a prequel to Rogue One which is a prequel to A New Hope. Prequels, like sequels, carry the risk of rehashing the original material without adding anything to it (Solo ...) and being trapped by the inevitability of what has to happen next, curtailing its writing (Kenobi ...). But Andor season 1 betrays none of that. (Talk about being addicted to prequels, Disney...) It is a strong piece of cinematic art in its own right.

And yes, I'm saying art. About a Star Wars series. That's how I feel about it. Andor not only has strong execution, it has depth. It was a show that made me pause it and think about what just happened on screen. It's a show that gets deeper if you know about history, unlike most shows that actually reveal their shallowness to the knowing eye. (Looking at you, The Man in the High Castle. Boy, I hated that tripe.)

But even before we get into that, let me say how I impressed I was with its set and costume design. Whereas the Book of Boba Fett gave us cyberpunks on floating scooters, Andor poured a lot of heart into how everybody looked in their various environments, creating a more rich and varied Star Wars society by portraying various strata thereof, from the life of imperial senator Mon Mothma to the middle class living literally in her shade somewhere on the middle levels of planet-city Coruscant to the mining town labor class that we find Cassian in. It flawlessly cuts between different well-thought out locations, including, of all things, a holiday resort.

This is paired with some very strong performances by similarly strong actors. I mean, we all knew Stellan Skarsgard would deliver, sure. But Denise Gough absolutely kills it, acting-wise. Her delivery as a villain is perfect, the way she manages to always look so sour and annoyed already is quite something, how she normalizes evil into a technocrat career. Every flinch of her face conveys books of information to me as the fascinated viewer. She is at the heart of this series, and worth the price of admission alone.

And let's not forget Andy Serkis' heart-rending performance. Really, we're being spoiled. People are seriously acting, not just standing in front of a camera wearing costumes! In Star Wars!!

And yet, if it was only that, it still wouldn't have impacted me as deeply as it had. There's one more layer to this, and it's the massive bottom of the iceberg that is Andor. I haven't forgotten, even though I'm writing this a year after watching it.

(And definitely spoilers from here on onwards.)

Life under fascism

The second half of season 1 however can put deep horror into any thinking person's mind. It radically departs from previous portrayals of the evil Empire. It's not relying on cheap gimmicks like Episode VII where we see a village razed by the First Order. (So evil. So cliche, too. Also murdering Max von Sydow. Tsk, tsk. They had to get him off stage before any good acting happens...) Andor creeps under our skin and then reaps havoc.

(This part of this entry will become increasingly dark. You might not want to read on. Because fiction is one thing, and comparing it to historical reality is another. This is an actual trigger warning. Proceed with care.)

The first half of the season is standard fare, almost. Cassian gets himself in trouble and there is really no redeeming quality about it. He also gets everybody else into trouble. The Empire in its heavy-handed hurry to eradicate resistance actually creates it in the first place. And still... the lack of compunction about torture, about going victim by victim, vanishing people into its torture cells, breaking them... this is merely an overture. No hero is born here, but evil wears its mask imperfectly.

Cassian escapes his small world to eventually live the good life on a resort world, getting laid, pretending to be someone else. Instead of being caught as the fugitive and murderer and partisan he actually is by now, he simply gets caught up in the arrest of somebody else. The way the Empire "perpetrates justice" not only gets him arrested while having done no wrong (in that cover identity), he also gets sentenced by a court that doesn't even pretend to actually care about due process in any way. There's a machine of oppression, and instead of competently catching him, Cassian becomes caught up randomly in one of its many gears.

And while this may seem random, it's brilliant. It's one of the many reasons why resistance exists. Because the Empire's overreach is everywhere, grinding up people just living their lives while trying to perfect its control. The corruption of the desire for power leaks through in its banality.

What follows is Cassian's imprisonment, and this segment is brutal and horrifying on a deep level. The more you know, the worse it gets. Cassian is transported to a prison facility where he's forced into repetitive labor to make equipment for the Empire. There's a set of steps every labor team has to execute, and the team with the lowest quota gets punished with electric shocks. Day after day.

This is "Vernichtung durch Arbeit." ("Destruction through labor.") This is what the Nazis did to their political opponents. Before there was a Holocaust, there were concentration camps. And prisoners were made to work - the cynic motto across the gate of Auschwitz was "Arbeit macht frei." ("Labor sets you free.") People would gradually be ground down until they gave out in one way or another, fell sick, die of exhaustion, broke psychologically. The series never tells us its "inspiration," it just goes through similar motions. With the veneer of a super-clean techno prison over it.

Not only that, the very scene reminded me of what I read in a book about the Holocaust. Towards the end of the war the engines for the new secret weapon jet planes or rockets were manufactured by prison labor. Crews of malnourished prisoners would each execute a few pretrained steps and crank out more jet engines in slave labor than was previously done in the Reich's armament factories. This was the culmination of the Nazi system where all labor-intensive things like the bunkers of the Atlantic Wall or the underground factories of Dora-Mittelbau were erected by and on the back of slaves that were themselves gradually killed in the process.

Without ever breathing a word of what is portraying, Andor portrays the same. Skillfully, horribly so.

The devil is in the details

Some way into this horror, everybody gets their sentence doubled. The counter simply goes up. No explanation. Total helplessness in the face of total control. The deep gut feeling of "No one gets out here alive" or "It will never end" begins to descend. That number was a sort of life line for people to brave another day. And it lies!

As unbelievable as it may seem, people did get released from concentration camps, especially those on "lighter charges" like "antisocial behavior." But nobody really knew how long they had to stay or if they were to be released. Often, initially told they had to do 3 to 6 months depending on their conduct, and yet most people never left alive. A quick read in a book behind me says that 8 million people were sucked into the system, 7 million died, 200,000 left by being released by the system itself. The idea you might be released one day added false hope that in itself could create further psychological torture if it was dashed over and over again.

Then there is the "divide and conquer" approach to prisoner management. Work crews are led by other prisoners, rebellion and resistance is quelled within the ranks. This Andor merely hints at, but the Nazi oppression system skillfully created hierarchies to make sure a comparatively small detachment of guards could handle a large mass of inmates which could overwhelm them if acting together.

But it doesn't stop here, not in Andor, either. Eventually we learn that the Empire starts to eliminate the prison population. Rumors start to spread that an entire floor of the super prison was eliminated by electrocution. Just like the real Nazis the space Nazis start to construct yet another death machine to eliminate opposition.

And this leads to that sub-plots final chapter, the prison revolt. There are a few historical mass escapes, even from Nazi death camps. There's also the heroism of the two uprisings of Warsaw (including the ghetto uprising). Left with nothing to lose, left with nothing but death ahead, the prisoners overwhelm the guards.

And this happened in real life, too. It's probably based on the historical case of the death camp inmates that were forced to run the gas chambers and crematoria themselves. This is part of the Holocaust itself, the Nazis had finally dropped all pretenses and resorting to kill people in an industrial manner. And these people knew that eventually their whole detachment would be killed. They knew too much, were witnesses to this massive crime against them and humanity itself. They were also among those destined for death. Like in an antechamber of hell itself they were merely bidding time. So they managed one of the few mass escapes on record.

While Andor doesn't stray as far down the road as actual history does, it knows how to cite history for those who know. It's not made up of whole cloth. It actually is referencing the real history of the most inhumane version of fascism, but it does not put the fact in your face. But if you know, its chamber of horrors becomes so much deeper.

And that's why

This is what makes Andor an absolute masterpiece. It recreates the conditions without blindly copying the source. It adapts, but you can feel how deeply inhumane the circumstances are that it depicts. It gives you the bloody creeps, and even if you don't know how much it is rooted in darkness, you will still feel it. It shows. It tells. But it never spoils the source material.

This is art. This is the deep craft. The banality of evil, the careless, uncaring attitude of evil towards those it deems unworthy and not human. It's all on display. It switches us into the place of Cassian and of Andy Serkis' character as it draws us in as audience. We don't see what happens on other floors. We don't have the information advantage. We can only imagine. We are subjected to the fact that we can only imagine it. And so we share a bit in the plight of these characters. Sometimes not showing a thing is the highest accomplishment of movie making.

And this is why I'm pissed that a series that was planned for five seasons was already cut to play out in two. Because we need more of this and less of more Jedi doing backflips. Just like Loki plays on a completely different level than the rest of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Andor leaves all of Star Wars in its dust. If Rogue One was the attempt to tell a different kind of story in the same universe, Andor is the attempt at a different level of depth.

And this, more than Rogue One, makes it clear why they fight.

Watch it if you can.

And sorry if I horrified you.

#andor #andor series #cassian andor #rogue one #star wars

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direw00f · 2 months

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My theory abour Mr L and The Hippie

So the poll has decided that I do this theory first, it is an interesting one that I do not see a lot of people have but it is the first thing I concluded when listening to all of the Ayreon albums. So what is this interesting theory? The Hippie from Into The Electric Castle is the same character as Mr L from 01011001.

Before I get into this theory of mine let's get some basic information out of the way. I know there is people that follow me with limited information about Ayreon so I want to make this theory as clear as I can for them! First up I have to explain The Forever as they play a role in my theory. I will not get into their entire story because that will take way too long and is not as important. So the Forever are an immortal race of aquatic aliens they originate from planet Alpha but when computers took over the planet they fled to Planet Y where they evolved into an aquatic race to adapt to their new planet. The same substance that allowed them to evolve gave them psychic abilities and slowly stripped them of emotions. They send a comet with their dna to follow the migrator trail to a suitable planet, earth. The Forever did this to live through the experiences of the humans and experience emotions again. Which leads me to the next important bit of information for my theory:

The setting of Into The Electric Castle and The Hippie One Forever we know as Forever of the Stars has taken 8 mortals from different periods in human history together as an experiment. They have been given one directive to get to the electric castle to get back home, there is some hurdles to overcome and not everyone survived. This album is where we meet the Hippie and get into his struggles, he is one of the survivors which is an important bit of information. While the survivors do not remember anything and think it was just a dream the Forever gave one gift to each of them, they all woke up feeling as something have changed within them. Now important to note is that The Hippie seemed more aware of what happened than the rest of the surviving cast which will tie into my theory.

Mr L and his dreams As I have briefly noted in my other analysis Mr L appears in one song The Truth Is In Here where he talks about strange dreams he had. And it talks about the futile attempts to sing about Ayreon's (the character) vissions which landed him into a mental hospital. Not only does the song reference Ayreon it also references the Hippie and the Forever, he seems to get dreams about being a Forever swimming underneath the waves of Planet Y. He also referes to the Forever always being with him and being his guide.

How does this all tie into my theory? Arjen has stated that when a character shares a voice in his story that they are linked in some way. We can see that with Hansi's characters for example on the Source the prequel album he plays an Alphan escaping to Planet Y and on 01011001 he plays one of The Forever. Ayreon (the character) is a past life of both Mr L and The Colonist (from The Universal Migrator) now this link easier despite the fact that both Ayreon and The Colonist were depicted by multiple singers. In the official comic for The Universal Migrator all three share the same face and we can see Ayreon float around Mr L as he writes the lyrics for The Final Experiment. The Hippie is being portrayed by Arjen both on the album and the live concert and so is Mr L. At the period The Hippie was alive it is reasonable to assume that he eventually developed into Mr L who is more mature and has had contact with The Forever before. It is not unreasonable to assume that the little gift of Forever of the Stars eventually leads to The Hippie seeing Ayreon's visions and dream of The Forever. It is estabelished that Ayreon recieved the visions from the time telepathy expirement because he is more connected to that. We know this trait can be shared with future incarnations, how do we know that? Merlin, he is the one to talk to us from 2084 and he saw the future. Merlin is a seer a trait he eventually passed on to his future selves. The Colonist and all of his past incarnations are all more connected to the Forever and the Universal Migrator.

This is why I think why The Hippie and Mr L are the same character just on 2 different albums and under different names. Let me know what you all think and feel free to call me stupid if you do not agree with me. Anyways my analysis on The Knight will still be done later because I have lots to say about him (I love him so much).

#ayreon #wolf speaks #into the electric castle #01011001 #arjen lucassen

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anarchopuppy · 2 years

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It's time for another one of my long-ass Zelda posts that no one actually reads but that's okay because I'm just posting it for myself. The topic today:

The Zelda Timeline Actually Makes Perfect Sense If You Just Think About It For A Minute

Casual fans and non-fans will take any opportunity to mock the Zelda timeline, with their criticism often starting and ending with "Look, there are three whole branches! Three!" followed by not inspecting it any further. Even big Zelda fans who know the lore extensively will still claim (without giving evidence) that the developers never intended for there to be a timeline or shared story at all while they were writing the games, and just made it up post-hoc to put in Hyrule Historia. But is that true?

Even as early as 2003 (around Wind Waker's release), Miyamoto and Aonuma confirmed that they had an official document with the entire timeline laid out in it, and that claim was reiterated in several other interviews following that. So, there's that idea put to rest right away. Straight from the horse's mouth, there has always been an official timeline

Fun fact: Did you know that back when Ocarina of Time was still called Zelda 64, around the same time that the very first ingame footage was being shown to the public, before the time travel concept was even decided on - we're talking very early development - Nintendo reportedly told IGN that its story took place after Adventure of Link? Now, you may say that that proves that they don't care much about the timeline if they're changing it up partway through production, but to me it says the opposite. Even in the experimentation phase, before they had even come up with the central concept of the game, they were already considering where it would fit into the timeline

But the claim I made at the top wasn't that the timeline was considered beforehand, but that it makes "perfect sense"

The Official Timeline Is The Only One That Works

Let's consider the games in the Zelda series in release order and see how they fit with each other

First was Zelda 1. After that came Zelda 2, an obvious direct sequel with the same Link. Then LttP, which the devs clearly stated was a prequel to Z1 - and it couldn't really have been anything else, since Z1 ends with Ganon being killed and AoL ends with his resurrection being prevented. Link's Awakening is just a dream and could go anywhere on the timeline. Ocarina of Time is a clear prequel to LttP, exploring the origins of Ganon and the beginning of his life as a man, as established in LttP's manual (I'll talk more about OoT and the Downfall Timeline further down). Majora's Mask is a direct sequel to OoT

After that comes Wind Waker, the first seemingly ambiguous placement. The game begins with a legend of the Hero of Time, the player character from OoT, sealing Ganon and then disappearing forever. It's clear that this is referring to the timeline that Link left in OoT. And since in LttP Hyrule hasn't been flooded and abandoned along with the Triforce and Master Sword and Ganon's corpse (which is how WW leaves it), we can be pretty certain that this doesn't come before any of the previously released games. Nor does it come after, since it makes clear reference to the events of OoT and explicitly states that no hero like the Hero of Time has appeared since. So it must be a new timeline split from all that time travel stuff. Cool

Then is Twilight Princess, which also doesn't fit with any of the other games we've seen. In its backstory, Ganondorf was stopped before taking over Hyrule or even touching the Triforce, which doesn't match with either of the two histories that have been established. It does match perfectly with the timeline the Hero of Time returned to at the end of OoT, though, and there's other evidence (such as the Hero's Shade, which is heavily hinted in-game to be the Hero of Time) that supports that. Again, can't come before anything else we've seen since Ganon dies, and can't come after since Ganon never got the Triforce. So the only option that makes sense is for this to be another timeline branch following from OoT

After Twilight Princess comes Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks, both of which are explicitly sequels to WW. Then Skyward Sword, which is heavily established as the first game in the series chronologically and came with an official timeline to prove it. Then Link Between Worlds, a sequel to LttP (in Japanese it's even a numbered sequel), and finally Breath of the Wild which has its own nonsense going on and effectively soft reboots the timeline

Ok, so where's that famous ambiguity and arbitrariness? Everything locks in pretty solidly, there's just no other option that makes sense. This is supported by the fact that the Zelda fanbase came to the exact same conclusions before there was ever an official timeline. There were some people who were so attached to a unified timeline that they came up with wild and varied theories to fit it all together, but among the people who recognized that there was a timeline split, they effectively all put the games in the exact same order that would later be revealed as official. But with one major difference - everyone agreed on the order of the 2D games, but no one could figure out whether they belonged at the end of the Adult Timeline or the end of the Child Timeline, with some even arguing that the split timeline "merged" somehow before the 2D games. No one had even considered the Downfall Timeline as an option

What's Up With The Downfall Timeline Anyway

The DT is the most controversial part of the official timeline. There are two timelines that are clearly explained by the events of OoT, and then a third that splits off at the same point that just exists for seemingly no reason. Before the official timeline was released, the fanbase couldn't make sense of the 2D games and how they fit into everything. So what gives?

As I said above, OoT was conceived of and established as a prequel to LttP. But even before the timeline split nonsense, that didn't really make sense. In the backstory of LttP, Ganondorf acquires the entire Triforce before being sealed by the sages - and in-game we do see Ganon in possession of the completed Triforce, even able to wish on it - but in the events of OoT Link and Zelda retain their pieces at all times. OoT is clearly intended to be the events of LttP's backstory, but the ending is changed, like a "what if" scenario where Ganon loses instead of winning

And I argue that's exactly what it is. The Zelda team wanted to flesh out the stuff from LttP's manual, but a game where you lose at the end no matter what you do isn't fun, so they had to make it so you can win. The DT doesn't make a lot of sense when you think of it in timeline order, in terms of how it came to be in-universe, but it becomes a lot more clear when you think of it in development order, in terms of why the developers made the decisions they did. Ocarina was a reboot, a "what if we won instead" story in the same vein as Age of Calamity

In other words, the Downfall Timeline split isn't something that mechanically exists in-universe like the Child/Adult split, and it becomes very confusing if you try to think of it in those terms. Instead, it's another story being told by Nintendo where a different version of events happened, like an alternate history. And when you realize that, the entire timeline starts to make perfect sense

Hold On You Left Out Like Half A Dozen Games

Yeah, you caught me

The other most controversial part of the Zelda timeline is the placement of third-party games. This is the source of the only retcon in the official timeline, which was moving Link's Awakening from after the Oracle games to before them. It also results in the "Vaati trilogy", which was clearly meant to be one continuous story, being split up by thousands of years across multiple timelines. Surely, you say, I can agree that that's confusing and arbitrary?

And I would respond, yeah. Trying to fit games and stories from third-party devs into a timeline with the mainline games post-hoc was a bad idea, and the Vaati trilogy, the Oracle games, and Tri Force Heroes fit into the history about as well as the CD-i games and the Nelsonic Game Watch do. They're great games, by and large, but they're spinoffs and should've been treated as such - trying to include them is the only thing that screws with the timeline. Throw them out, and everything makes sense

#zelda #loz #legend of zelda #the legend of zelda #tloz #i finally did it like i promised i would all those months ago #pops talks zelda

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arshipweek · 1 year

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AR Ship Week - The Four Yassen Gregorovichs

This is the third weekly post in the lead up to Alex Rider Ship Week. Only 2 weeks to go!

This week we’ve got a fantastic guest submission by AFewBulbsShortofaTanningBed, all about the different characterisations of Yassen Gregorovich.

The Four Yassen Gregorovichs by AFewBulbsShortofaTanningBed

presented roughly in the order in which they came to be

Yassen Gregorovich is one of the most important and iconic characters of the Alex Rider series, one half of the fandom’s most popular ship, Yalex, and the catalyst to many of the series’ most important events - Ian’s death and Alex’s introduction to the spy world, as well as Alex’s being sent to Scorpia and learning of his father’s history with them. He is also, indirectly, a cause of the events of Snakehead - Alex decides to work with ASIS and Ash in part because he wants to know more about Yassen.

Thus far, there have been four official interpretations of Yassen: the original books (of which he appears in three: Stormbreaker, Eagle Strike, and Russian Roulette, a Yassen-focused prequel); the 2006 movie, where he is played by a scenery-chewing Damian Lewis; the ongoing tv series, where he is played by a menacing and mysterious Thomas Levin; and the graphic novel adaptations of the books (of which there have been six thus far.) The following is an overview of each Yassen and how each is written in fic/shippiness. Spoilers ahead!

BOOK YASSEN

illustration by inkyquail

Appearance: close-cropped blond/light hair, blue eyes (which as a child look “permanently surprised”), “almost feminine” eyelashes, chiseled lips and a smooth face (what do these mean? Who knows!), appears “in his late twenties”, the body of a dancer” (there are further mentions of a “sleek dancer’s body”), said to be small for his age and shorter than John as an adult.

Scar: long and straight “as if it had been drawn with a ruler” on his neck, acquired on a mission with John Rider as depicted at the beginning of Eagle Strike; easily hidden by collar if plot demands it.

Accent: none, or a faint Russian accent, depending on the book.

First meeting with Alex: on the rooftop of Sayle Enterprises, right after killing Herod Sayle.

There were two small explosive cracks.

Alex looked down, expecting to see blood. There was nothing. He couldn’t feel anything. Then Sayle staggered and fell onto his back. There were two gaping holes in his chest.

The helicopter landed in the center of the cross. The pilot got out.

Still holding the gun that had killed Herod Sayle, he walked over and examined the body, prodding it with his shoe. Satisfied, he nodded to himself, tucking the gun away. He had switched off the engine of the helicopter and behind him the blades slowed down and stopped. Alex stepped forward. The man seemed to notice him for the first time.

“You’re Yassen Gregorovich,” Alex said.

The Russian nodded. It was impossible to tell what was going on in his head. His clear blue eyes gave nothing away.

“Why did you kill him?” Alex asked.

“Those were my instructions.” There was no trace of an accent in his voice. He spoke softly, reasonably. “He had become and embarrassment. It was better this way.”

“Not better for him.”

Yassen shrugged.

“What about me?” Alex asked.

The Russian ran his eyes over Alex, as if weighing him up. “I have no instructions concerning you,” he said.

“You’re not going to shoot me too?” 

“Do I have any need to?”

There was a pause. The two of them gazed at each other over the corpse of Herod Sayle.

“You killed Ian Rider,” Alex said. “He was my uncle.”

Yassen shrugged. “I kill a lot of people.”

“One day I’ll kill you.”

“A lot of people have tried.” Yassen smiled. “Believe me,” he said, “it would be better if we didn’t meet again. Go back to school. Go back to your life. And the next time they ask you, say no. Killing is for grown-ups and you’re still a child.”

He turned his back on Alex and climbed into the cabin. The blades started up, and a few seconds later, the helicopter rose back into the air. For a moment it hovered at the side of the building. Behind the glass, Yasen raised his hand. A gesture of friendship? A salute? Alex raised his hand. The helicopter spun away.

Alex stood where he was, watching it, until it had disappeared into the dying light.

Other key moments: The Fer-de-lance, Alex’s failed assassination attempt, and subsequent bull-fighting incident (illustrated here by the excellent inkyquail)

There was a slight tremble in the hand holding the gun and he brought his other hand up to steady it.

“You have my gun,” Yassen said.

Alex took a breath.

“Do you intend to use it?”

Nothing.

Yassen continued calmly. “I think you should consider very carefully. Killing a man is not like you see on the television. If you pull that trigger, you will fire a real bullet into real flesh and blood. I will feel nothing; I will be dead instantly. But you will live with what you have done for the rest of your life. You will never forget it.” He paused, letting his words hang in the air. “Do you really have it in you, Alex? Can you make your finger obey you? Can you kill me?” Alex was rigid, a statue… “Maybe you have forgotten what I once told you. This isn’t your life. This has nothing to do with you.” Yassen was totally relaxed. There was no emotion in his voice. He seemed to know Alex better than Alex knew himself. Alex tried to look away, to avoid the calm blue eyes that were watching him with something like pity.

Air Force One and the “I love you” speech

“He saved my life. In a way, I loved him. I love you too, Alex. You are so very much like him. I’m glad you’re here with me now… If you don’t believe me, go to Venice. Find Scorpia. And you will find your destiny…”

Russian Roulette - the eponymous book as a whole, particularly his relationship with John (which has given rise to numerous John/Yassen fics)

Backstory: Given to us in Russian Roulette and Snakehead. Yassen grew up as Yasha Gregorovich, a young Russian boy living in a tiny village called Estrov, hundreds of miles south of Moscow. Unbeknownst to him, his parents and many of the villagers work at a factory manufacturing weaponized anthrax, and an accident at the factory leads to the destruction of Estrov and the deaths of everybody there besides Yassen. (It’s very heartbreaking.)

The whump doesn’t stop there for Yassen; he is betrayed by his parents’ friend, lives on the street for a while, and is eventually captured by Vladimir Sharkovsky, a cruel man who forces Yassen to play a game of Russian roulette for his life, and who Yassen eventually learns was responsible for the destruction of Estrov. There isn’t anything Yassen can do about it, though; he is forced work as a slave for Sharkovsky, as both household laborer and food taster who is frequently tormented by Sharkovsky and his son, Ivan. Several years later, a Scorpia assassin is contracted to kill Sharkovsky, and Yassen escapes with him, thereafter brought to Malagosto and trained as an assassin.

Though he excels in many aspects of training, he struggles with taking a life; due to his potential, he is given a second chance, this time under the tutelage of John Rider, an experienced assassin. John isn’t entirely trustworthy, but treats Yassen with more kindness than he has received in years, and saves his life during one of their missions (the scar incident.) He doesn’t think that Yassen is cut out to be an assassin, emphasizing the harshness and loneliness of the life while pointing out that he has lots of potential and can work elsewhere, have a gentler life. Yassen is on the cusp of leaving Scorpia and the world of espionage and murder behind when he learns that John works for MI6; betrayed and devastated, he plays one final game of Russian roulette (with five bullets and one empty chamber) to determine the course of the rest of his life - he doesn’t want to be a killer, but John’s betrayal has convinced him that there is no world in which he lives and can be anything else. Yassen lives, murders Sharkovsky and his son Ivan, and returns to Scorpia, vowing to become the best assassin he can and loyal to nobody but himself to spite John.

Some time after his return, Yassen and John are in Mdina where John is to be extracted by MI6, in what is staged as a capture. However, the mission goes wrong, and Yassen kills many members of the extraction team and stabs John’s best friend, Ash, in the stomach, leaving him with lifelong pain and disability and contributing to his resentment of John and his decision to agree to Scorpia’s offer to work for them and have the Rider family killed with a bomb in their plane.

Important relationships:

Alex Rider (a parallel and foil, he’s responsible for killing Ian Rider, the closest thing Alex had to a parent and his last remaining family member, and for indirectly throwing him into the world of espionage, and later on sending him to Scorpia. Though usually ruthless and unemotional, he becomes emotionally compromised when Alex comes into play.)

John Rider (mentor, saved his life, gave him the training that allowed him to survive. His lessons affected Yassen’s approach to being an assassin - someone with no attachments, no loyalty, no sentimentality. Though he is revealed to be working for MI6, Yassen still feels gratitude and loyalty towards him for the training he gave him and the time he saved his life, and still loves him over a decade after his death. This in turn leads him to spare Alex multiple times despite orders and opportunities to kill him, and to save his life with Sayle.)

Vladimir Sharkovsky (responsible for the destruction of Estrov and deaths everybody Yassen knew and loved and then personally tormented him for years, his treatment of Yassen is often interpreted as haunting him long after he escapes - often in subtle ways)

Fics: Being the original version and the one that has introduced most fans to the fandom, this is the Yassen who is written about most and who has the longest history of fics about him. You can find book!Yassen in some of the earliest fics of the fandom (though this author does not know how to use ff.net or livejournal and at this point doesn’t believe she will ever learn), and he continues to be popular in fics, in whole or in part, today. The way Yassen is written has evolved significantly, influenced by both the release of the movie (which likely led to a number of fics that favored a more sinister Yassen), and Russian Roulette (which gave us his sympathetic and whumpy backstory and likely led to increased interest in Yassen - replacing K Unit as Alex’s most popular adult companion(s).) More than any other adaptation of Yassen, the books portray Yassen and Alex as parallels and foils, emphasized by their similar appearances and histories, as well as matching scars - both have been shot in the chest and along the side of the neck.

BoldAsBrass - Christmas in Chelsea, New Rules, Exit strategy BurntWhisper - Overture in G Minor Suzie_Shooter - Lights Out series Ireliss - alone together fredbassett - Coins in the Fountain (Yassen Gregorovich/Monica Peretti, inspired by the short story The White Carnation)

MOVIE YASSEN

Appearance: Damian Lewis, red hair and all, taller than Alex (Rider and Pettyfer)

Scar: none???

Accent: heavy, Russian

First meeting with Alex: all the nonsense with the vials in the lab

youtube

Other key moments: Campy highlights include the assassination at the beginning

youtube

and of course, the rooftop scene

youtube

Important relationships

Alex (confrontation over vials, saves his life, tells Alex to forget him and shrugs knowingly when Alex says he won’t, possibly arranged for fog machines and violin music for reasons unknown)

???

No relationship with Ian that we know of, aside from killing him in the most iconic way possible

Backstory: who knows!

Fics: The second interpretation of Yassen and the first one we see onscreen, this Yassen has sadly fallen out of fic-writing favor in recent years. As compared with present-day book!Yassen, movie!Yassen is often written as more suave, confident, and sexually forward. He is also very, very Extra. Though fics tend to tone down his more dramatic tendencies, he remains the campiest of the Yassens. I hope for a resurgence in popularity someday.

RimauSuaLay - No Enemies yaseanne - A brief and tentative excursion abrandnewboom - keep you like an oath

TV YASSEN

Appearance: Thomas Levin - brunet, dark eyes, stockier build and perpetual five-o-clock shadow, long and dramatic black coat, shorter than Alex (heh)

Scar: prominent and on the side of his face, somewhat spider-webby, impossible to miss

Accent: nonspecific, non-native accent; American accent skills shown off at one point

First meeting with Alex: the “Alex Friend” scene (can be found here in a gifset by emziess)

Other key moments

Killing Ian Rider

youtube

The rooftop at the end of season 1 where he shoots Julius Grief (here)

The time he nearly shot Alex but then didn’t, concealing Alex’s identity, protecting him on Air Force one, telling him about his father (spectacular moments show in this gifset and this one)

Important relationships:

Alex (similar to the above descriptions, he’s saved his life numerous times and has shown a soft spot for him - hopefully to be explored further)

Ian (unlike the books, the encounter between Ian and Yassen at the beginning of season 1 seems to suggest that Yassen has some sort of personal history with Ian, beyond being his murderer. What that history is, we do not know!)

John Rider (not explored yet, but Yassen says that they worked together. Something that will likely be explored in season 3.)

Backstory: in general, a mystery. We get suggestions that he has a history with Ian, a history with John, and that he was thought to be dead for years. These will hopefully be explored further in season 3!

Fics: The biggest changes (aside from physical appearance and tv-specific events) that I have noticed between how tv Yassen is written in fic as compared to book Yassen is the use of the nickname “Yas” and an increased emphasis on his relationship with Ian - and concomitant increase in Ian/Yassen (aka Yian) fics. (As we saw in the post for week 1 of ship week, it is the most popular ship over the past year behind Yalex!) Numerous fics also incorporate elements of both tv and book Yassen, for instance, including both elements of book!Yassen’s backstory from RR and tv!Yassen’s possible history with Ian and encounters with Alex, or blending their appearances (i.e. a Yassen with blond hair, a facial scar, and a black coat.) He is less of a super-assassin than in the books or tv series, with abilities that seem more grounded in reality and closer to those of a normal hitman, and is less prone to dramatics.

fredbassett - I Spy series (starring Yassen/Ian!) Nanimok: i do forgive thy robbery, gentle thief; Spies and Recreation; The Alec Walker series; Just Say I do (featuring a combo of book and tv show, which seems not uncommon) kelkblr - The French Connection

GRAPHIC NOVEL YASSEN

Appearance: at a glance, I thought that his appearance was meant to be similar to Damian Lewis, but with darker red hair (closer to an auburn.) Upon closer inspection, his face is in fact quite different, as is his build. He has blue eyes and pale skin, but doesn’t look particularly feminine, and his eyelashes are not particularly notable. Taller than Alex.

Scar: Only when the artist remembers it’s supposed to be there. Usually no.

Accent: ???

First meeting with Alex: a blend of book and movie (the adaptation of Stormbreaker incorporates elements of both), on rooftop after killing Sayle

Other key moments: Pulls the same dangling-from-a-helicopter nonsense as movie version

and refusing to kill Alex followed by the “I love you” moment from Eagle Strike

Important relationships:

Alex (like the books and movie)

John (similar to the books thus far, though Russian Roulette has not yet been released)

Fics: none :(

Graphic novel Yassen has the distinction of being the most forgotten Yassen, and thus, he has no fics attributed to him, shippy or otherwise. I’m not entirely sure why this is, though I have some theories. It could be in part due to limited availability of the graphic novels, limited publicity, and slow release; that they do not add much of anything that has not already been portrayed in the books or movie, so there is no new material to grab fannish attention; and that they do not provide a visual of a book-accurate Yassen but instead create yet another version that is, unfortunately, not as pretty as the Yassen of the books and thus is not nearly as alluring. Perhaps this ship week, graphic novel Yassen will finally get recognized!

#alex rider #yassen gregorovich #arshipweek #meta #mod posts

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unlikelysaintdelele · 9 months

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Just gonna post a snippet of my lil Amren theory because I'm getting lowkey annoyed by certain parts of the fandom on their theories of who they think the next ACOTAR books are about.

First and foremost, an SJM interview that I've posted before:

Pay attention to the blue.

"based after and before ACOWAR."

and now I'd like to bring your attention to an interview that came with certain versions of ACOFAS (I don't recall which, maybe hardback, but that info isn't relevant to the theory so moving on...):

"through a course of events that I'd love to tell one day"

"I've got an idea for a prequel that takes place a long time before the events of Thorns and Roses."

The fact that she mentions wanting to write Amren's backstory and follows that up with discussion of an ACOTAR prequel (and then follows THAT up with discussing her future novels) makes me suspicious in the best way possible.

On top of that, she's been really vague about the last novel. I know she says she's keeping herself open to ideas... but she's lied to us before in order to steer clear of spoilers. For TaR, she hyped up Tamlin and lied through her teeth about how she felt about him and Feyre. She knew from the beginning that Tamlin wasn't Feyre's endgame and she still didn't gush about Rhys in the early days because SPOILERS. This woman is a planner. She doesn't outline her stories, but she KNOWS what she wants to happen and makes it work.

Back to the ACOFAS interview, there's a portion where she talks specifically about Elain:

"everything I did during those weeks became research for her book."

She has mentioned an Elain spinoff before in this interview:

"[Feyre's] sisters come back in the later books, and I’d love to write their own spin-off books one day."

With only two novels and one novella left, I'm seeing a lot of people map out the books like this: ACOTAR 5 = Gwynriel, ACOTAR 6 = Elucien, and the second novella is Mor x Emerie. Which is understandable considering that, in the interview I first listed, SJM stated "each standalone will follow a different romantic pairing". But she also mentioned that she has five ships to choose from for the sixth novel. FIVE. This makes the mapping I've seen so far hard to believe because Elain is just not involved in five ships.

SJM has wanted to write an Elain spinoff for a while and she knew who the first two novels following ACOWAR/ACOFAS would be about, which leads me to believe Elain's book is next since that is the only character who has been confirmed by SJM as someone who will get a book so far.

I also don't think the second novella will focus on a couple. I think it will be more similar to the first novella in that it will be multiple POV's.

Now I bet you're wondering where Amren fits into all of this...

Well, Elain's story is obviously after ACOWAR, but Amren's backstory is before. And if anything, Amren's backstory could open the door to future connections and stories... Crescent City is an obvious one by now. But let's not forget about SJM's Twilight of the Gods WIP.

Amren arrived to Prythian while it was still forming, which was thousands of years ago... and consistently throughout SJM's novels, the Fae (and other supernatural beings) are settlers that arrived to their respective worlds thousands of years ago. There's also some CC2 spoilers I've vaguely heard about that lead me to believe these are connected in some form.

Based on what I've mentioned above, I think one of the books will focus on Amren, or at least provide more detail on her backstory in relation to the histories of the separate SJM worlds.

This makes my mapping of the future ACOTAR books: Elain, ???, and Amren OR Elain, Amren, and ???.

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rings-of-power-realm · 1 year

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10 star reviews about The Rings of Power 💚

The first season isn't even finished yet and already I have recommended this show to friends and family more than any previous media. Every episode so far (5 released) have surpassed my expectations, which were fairly high going in. As someone who has read all of Tolkien's published works (some more than I'd care to admit), anyone saying that "Tolkien is turning in his grave" has absolutely no idea what they're talking about. It was always going to be walking a thin line between creative choices and already established canon, but I can see, so far anyway, that they have absolutely aced it. If the show continues to be as great as it has thus far, I can see this being one of the all time great masterpieces of TV history, and for many years to come. It's incredibly rare that I won't have criticisms of some kind, especially for something I am passionate about, and the only criticism I have of the Rings of Power is that I can't listen to the sound track 24 hours a day, because I have to sleep at some stage. Bear McCreary has written a masterpiece worthy of being pinned up on the wall with Howard Shore's work from the Lord of the Rings.

🧝

Don't listen to the negative reviews. Some people have an idea of what something should be in their own mind. I too have read mostly all of Tolkien's books. You form a world in your mind from those words. It's yours it's personal. This show is Magnificent. It's a big bold dive into Middle Earth. Beautifully filmed and acted. The first too episodes are structured in a way to set a scene for the multiple storylines for multiple characters which as the series progresses will merge in to one common fight against the darkness. It's absolutely fantastic and if you don't watch it because of someone's snobby 1/10 then you will be missing out.

🧙‍♂️

I can't believe people who are giving this such negative reviews. Who cares if it's not the way you think it should be portrayed because of your version of what you think you read from his original works. It is fantastically entertaining, incredibly well shot and produced, and while the story lines were slow to get rolling, and I don't necessarily think that some of the characters lineup with how they were portrayed in the Lord of the Rings movies later, it really doesn't matter. These are NEW. I can't wait for each episode to come out, I look forward to watching these every week, and I would love to be able to see all of them in the theater. The first two we saw through a free preview, and I wish I could watch every single episode on a huge screen! Enjoy them for what they are.

🏹

This is the first prequel I have ever seen that was not a disappointment. I love the acting, the faithfulness to Tolkien's vision, the use of reworked ideas/themes/dialogue from the Lord of the Rings, and the compelling worldbuilding. It is important to remember that this is an interpretation, not an adaptation, as this story is based on timelines in the Appendices to LOTR and not on Tolkien stories. Therefore, the showrunners had to invent story arcs and characters to flesh out the story. If they had note done this, then the show would be boring and empty. They did a great job filling in the gaps and told a story that I have already rewatched many times.

🧝🏿‍♂️

I almost didn't watch because of other reviews but I've learned to not even pay much attention to them. This feels just like Lord of the Rings to me. It could actually be its own movie. The acting is great, the scenery and graphics are amazing. I've been hooked and entertained since the first episode! Can't wait to see more.

🗡️

I was putting off watching this for a while but one night I couldn't find anything to watch and I put this on and now I'm glad I did. It's the first thing I look forward to after a long day of work. I think the plot is fantastic. I read a review that said they didn't know where the plot was going but how can you not? It's very easy to follow. I'm in love with the series already.

I am blown away by the quality of this production. There is nothing like it. Although it is not an original story written by JRR Tolkien, it is an interesting one; an important backstory.

Although the story unfolds slowly, like in most series, it has a decent amount of action and suspense. Watch it and indulge yourself in Middle Earth. And about all the criticism... This is my take: To me, there are two Middle Earths. (1) The original one that you have imagined when reading the books. (2) The world created by John Howe, Alan Lee, Peter Jackson, make-up artists, actors, etc., etc. This series fits right into the later one and does it justice.

🍂

Don't believe those fools who are giving bad ratings and negative reviews. I don't know why so much hate for this show. I'm so obsessed with this show right now and have watched all the six episodes non-stop and wanting more soooo badly. I mean the acting, the scenes, the dialogues and above all the VFX are soooo beautiful put together that will make your mind blown by this masterpiece. I've really enjoyed and didn't look away for a second while watching. It really took me to the place where I couldn't have imagine in my dreams. Please guys stop giving the bad ratings and reviews to a show like this one. This show deserve all the love and not the hate. We all should appreciate the work and efforts put in this show.

🔮

I think this prequel was beautifully done. The visuals are stunning, and story is excellent. There is a very satisfying last episode of season 1. I'm excited to see more. I had no problem adjusting and accepting the younger version of known characters, specifically Galadriel and Elrond. I think the acting and writing felt true to Middle Earth. I'm a fan of the books (Hobbit, LotR and The Silmarillian) which I read before the movies were released. I'm thrilled to have new Tolkien inspired material even if it's from the imagination of someone else, it is brilliant and a wonderful addition to the Middle Earth lore. There seem to be too many of the instant gratification society who were too impatient to wait for the payoff. Looking at the dates of many of the reviews is frustrating seeing that people couldn't reserve judgement until 10/14 after the season could be viewed as a whole. People have become to used to being able to binge a new show in a few days and not have to wait and dwell over what might happen and the new information presented in each episode. It has been exciting to see it unfold week by week. I'm glad for the return to this method of releasing a new series.

Link to the 10 star reviews🍄

#the rings of power #positivity #and @ haters you're tel'athim #pls my elvish is rusty but there's so many good insults to choose from :D

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renesassing · 1 year

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I love your prequel Revan stuff, I know in SWTOR there’s the Revanite Cult if they were still around in the prequel era would Revan interact with them, like how does Revan react to being studied by historians both Jedi and non-force users and how their history and mythos has developed over the thousands of years they were gone? (Ps your art is amazing)

whoa hey this sorta collected some dust, sorry! i know like -1 things about swtor except for the bits involving bad swtor revan, but the idea of the revanite cult delights me because lets be real, revan is a cult leader at a lot of different angles. of course, they don't recognize themself as one and would deny it until their last breath. revan has echoes of divinity in a way that's different from their contemporaries, who were perhaps more closer to a kind of godhood in terms of power, and there were those who recognized that, but revan had all the trappings. the followers. the religion. and all of republic space was swept up in that fervor.

revan rejects divinity, though. they don't pursue power in the force as many of their era did, and ultimately they aren't known for it. not like nihilus or sion or the exile. or even tenebrae if we're allowing him to exist. their pursuits and their self-image is more 'secular' to the point of outright denying their role from prophet to martyr to god. they know they would be studied. they would expect it, actually. they wanted more than anything for their message to be remembered. and i think a revan displaced from their era would hover around the texts regarding their era for days, hemming and hawing between their ego and their apprehension. eager and anxious to see what judgement history has made. to know if they were right. if all of it, any of it, was worth all the suffering. and they wouldn't get an answer. just a lot of misinterpretation made around glaring lack of context and desperate extrapolation. generalizations that smooth out the rough edges of history, unaware that those creases and chasms were what molded the revanchist. they are remembered, but not for what they wanted to be. not for what was important. perhaps they are known as a god, but a god of what goes undefined. the message is lost and only the symbolism remains. i think it'd drive them bonkers.

#if u wanna hijack their image to stir up shit that's okay #but don't you dare misinterpret their actions in academic circles #also they don't care how the mandalorians remember them #so long as it's with a certain degree of fear #answered stuff.#prequel revan au #wow haven't posted about this in a while. huh.#rené.txt

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theology101 · 7 months

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My Works Master File

Howdy! I do a lot of stuff across a lot of different platforms, so I figured that I should maybe collect some of them. I'm only including active or completed works in this - I do not have the best history of follow up lmao

ASOIAF

She-Wolf of the Rock: My first ever fic and... you can tell. It's also my most kudos story... we make do. It's dogshit and a fetish story before I understood that it was. But I'm still proud of it

Tentacle Porn, but the Tentacle is a Metaphor: Female Theon Greyjoy gets silly drunk and seduces Jon Snow

A Quiet Conversation: The recently married younger son of the King Rhaegar Targaryen, first of his name, has come back from war. And not only that, he's gotten married and has a baby! Modern AU where Jon decides he and Joffrey need to have a chat

The Daughters of Tytos Lannister: Tytos' children are genderswapped. Tya is Tywin, Tyene is Tygett, Kyrene is Kevan, Gerion is Abigael and Genna is Gerold. Female Tywin is just as brutal - but in a different sort of way

Who would win in a fight, Robert Baratheon or the Mountain? My first major Quora answer and also a respect Robert Baratheon thread. Plus, I figured people might want some more info on medieval weapons

Will George R.R. Martin's Winds of Winter be different than the television series? Will he change the outcome or events or keep things the same? This is for those who are familiar with the show but don't know that much about the books. This thread is my explanation of a few differences.

Cannibal, the Cradle Egg of Maegor the Cruel, is alive on Skagos and will bond with Jon Snow: A theory I think I actually came up with? I've always thought Cannibal on Skagos could be the 'Waking Dragon from Stone.' Idk, I first posted this on quora years ago but this reddit link is the most clear

Unnatural Histories: A book-accurate Spreadsheet of all Dragons in ASOIAF sorted by either age, size, or political affiliation.

Baldur's Gate:

A Plant on the Road to Baldur's Gate: Halsin and Jaheria find some weed. Lae'zel, who has never been high before, get's overconfident. Shadowheart metls. (3/3)

Saved (Against her wyll): Wyll/Minthara starting in act 2. He learns that she's brainwashed and feels morally obligated to save her - only to then find out she was always like that, just her allegiance changed. (2/3)

Mommy? Sorry: Tavomir of Fort Morninglord's mother comes to visit the camp. But... she didn't know Tav would be there. The rest of the camp reacts to his mother, specifically Wyll and Karlach

Star Wars:

Two There Must Be: Anakin/Vader's spirit, immediately after Endor, is teleported back over fifty years to be reborn as his own older sibling. Or should I say, her own because she's in a female body. Started as silly goofy, but now I'm really into the politics of the Prequel era

Title of Jen'ari: AU of 2tmb, set a thousand years before Yavin on the planet Dromuund Kaas. Has minor spoilers for 2tmb (read until chapter 13) but is largely independent of anything. Anakin and Ava are siblings and they're Sith attending an Election on Dromuund Kaas

Fan Map of Dathomir: Legends and Canon have two wildly different depections of Dathomir. My solution? It's just different continents lmao. I consider the Nightsisters to actually just be a collection of other clans under the authority of one Overclan and it's Matron - that being Talzin. The Language is butchered Slavic but such is life.

Misc:

Nieces and Nephews: Sabrina Spellman is prepared to face down the Dark Lord... only for a sarcastic, British asshole to walk into Dorian's. He flashes his detective badge, and claims to be Lucifer Morningstar, who came from LA to deal with an impostor. And oops, Sabrina is his daughter!

Conductive Materials: Female Toni Stark and Thor bond over the fact that position's of power can often limit their personal connections. And then they bond over not having a power dynamic over each other.

No One Escapes Cidhna Mine: My first attempt to chronicle my elder scrolls character. It was fine, I guess, I'm not too crazy about it and would definitely change a few things about it now. My Dragonborn (or the one I consider to be my 'main') is a Half Nord Half Reachman intent on reaching godhood through artifacts and political schemes.

#asoiaf #asoif/got #asoif fanfic #star wars #Star Was fanfiction #fanfic #fantasy #marvel #tony stark #anakin skywalker #female anakin skywalker #female tony stark #fanfiction #ao3 fanfic #ao3 author #ao3 writer

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lorz-ix · 7 months

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Transformers: Rise of the Beasts (2023)

The long awaited, much hyped return of the cinematic franchise to the big screen, especially to the epic blockbuster format. Honestly, I don't think it could have ever lived to the (positive) expectations, TF movies don't have the greatest track record, but the end product isn't a trainwreck like most of its predecessors, which I think is commendable enough.

At the moment we know the strong marketing wasn't enough to turn it into a box office success. Maybe it was because people don't trust the franchise after so many consecutive flops in the quality department. Maybe it's because continuity was confusing for the average moviegoer who isn't in the fandom constantly.

For the record, this movie treats only the events of 2018's Bumblebee as canon, and that movie was already an ambiguous soft reboot/prequel of the previous ones. So now we have a fully rebooted cinematic continuity, but do most viewers know that, or do they think they need to watch every past flick to follow the story? Will they be disappointed if they did, only for them to not count? Will they even accept that there's giant monkeys now, or is that too dumb? I can see why there wouldn't be a lot of enthusiasm from general audiences.

At the end of the day, as I said, it was honestly fine. The human cast is likeable, which is more than we can say for the first 5, the bots are charming enough, but sadly a bunch of them don't get enough screen time or dialogue, so characters like Arcee, Cheetor and especially Rhinox don't give us much of a reason to get attached to them. The villains were cool and threatening, but being mostly new characters with no cartoon counterpart, they give off this "who are these guys again" vibe. Random evil guys with no interesting motivation to speak of. Other than Prime and Noah Diaz's character arcs, everything is very by the numbers and leaves you hoping for something more that can push this beyond a 5/10. If you're not a Transformers fan and you don't think the characters in the posters/trailers look cool enough to want to see them in action, I don't think you'll find anything worth your time here.

I absolutely adored it when Primal was asked about the Nazca lines and if they were responsible for them, and his response was something like "fuck outta here with your aliens did it nonsense, human ingenuity is one great thing". A fun breath of fresh air after all the Michael Bay movies attributed half of human history to the alien robots, especially given how a lot of real people actually believe similar conspiracies.

#lorz mediapost 2023 #transformers #rise of the beasts #movies

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iss600 · 7 months

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Frysta: 1946

My take on the Little Nightmares series. My A.U. takes the direction of combining The Nowhere with real-world history. Expect color-coding as there's often so much stuff that it's the best way to make things easy. One thing to note is that VLN and LN are both yellow: VLN is a lighter yellow but since Tumblr doesn't have that, it'll be the same yellow as LN. And despite TSoN happening before LN3, it will always be listed below LN3 things (so orange goes above purple) because it's a podcast. This A.U. treats it as both the prequel of LN3 and a sequel-DLC/sidequest/addition to LN3, if that makes any sense.

The Details

1946 refers to the year my A.U. takes place, one year after World War ||. The world that it takes place in is a Nowhereified version of our own with vague "countries".

The world is split into 4 locations: The Frozen North (Europe-inspired), The Blazing South (Africa-inspired), The Wild West (N.&.S.-American-inspired) and The Distant East (Asian-inspired & Oceania-inspired). Each of these areas have a very specific country that influences them with the rest of the continents having different pieces of their respective countries added in here and there.

The story is split into several parts:

Part 0: The Nest

Part 1: The Maw

Part 2: The Pale City

Part 2.5: The Nightmares

Part 3: The Spiral

Part 0 is a prolog oneshot that sets the groundwork for what happened to Raincoat and Six and Red-Scarf. The story actually starts with The Maw; since it was written prior to LN2 being a confirmed prequel, The Pale City is the sequel to Six's journey on The Maw during LN1. And because it was finished before Part 3, The Spiral will also be a sequel. Noone's story in Part 2.5 won't be written out either as it's already been told and the characters involved will be part of The Spiral instead.

Lastly, I named about near every single character there is, and I do mean nearly every single one. I have a list topping 70+ named characters, each with meaning and everything. Since the summaries and future posts will use the A.U. names, here's the guide to the main characters right off the bat. The guides with the rest of them will follow soon after

Raincoat - Raina Corinn Alv

Six - Six/Sasha Kazeko Kenshin

Runaway Kid - Sevrino Hjälte Forsstrom

Mono - Mono/Marco Martello Manson

Low - Laurent Corbeau

Alone - Ally McAonar

Noone - Ruth Oona Outis-Modie (in future posts, she will always be called "Oona")

And now, onto the details.

Part 1: The Maw

Deep within The Pale City lies The Maw, a restaurant of child slaves, orphaned and abandoned, working to survive in this cruel world. Rumors fly about workers being slain and eaten by the gluttonous Guests when they outlive their usefulness; others say they were caught and branded a member of the Nome Samhälle and only the most daring of dreamers say they escape their servitude. Regardless of these rumors, Sasha refuses to bow to the will of the Governess and will escape The Maw or die trying.

Part 2: The Pale City

The Maw may be over, but The Pale City still chokes the citizens and leaves a world destitute of morality. Viewers glue themselves to their TVs and radios as they wish to escape and ignore the bombed out buildings and sinkholes from war. While Sasha may dislike Marco, the two will need to work together if they wish to survive and shut down the infernal Signal Tower that mocks them from high above, watching and waiting. Nowhere stands no chance if it stays.

Part 3: The Spiral

Outside, deep in the deserts far out in Nowhere stands The Spiral, a desolate land of eternal energy, efficiency and suffering. Stone buildings crumble as whipping winds of sand stir up across the many cities inside of it. From the Necropolis to the Fun Fair, only evil lurks and lives here, if anything does indeed dare exist in the harsh conditions. Laurent and Ally dare challenge these ideals, scavenging and surviving as they search for a way out. Laurent holds out hope; Ally wants answers.

Raincoat: Technical and smart with a side of kindness, caring and a maturity a few years beyond her age, Raincoat is legend among the orphans. A determined survivalist, inventor, builder and escapist, she left the orphanage in a hot air balloon years ago, but was caught and enslaved by the Pretender. Her enslavement hasn’t put out her escapist fire though and people know she’s still cooking up the perfect escape plan. Now if only she could get rid of the Pretender.

Six: A lonely orphan, determined to survive, Sasha is a cheerful but jaded and brainy survivalist. She’s resolute in escaping the servitude and death in The Maw and never stops moving forward in her plans. As an orphan, she learned she had to depend on or trust only herself and she isn’t one to make friends or help others. Never one for teamwork, Sasha prefers to be a lone wolf and is capable of surviving her world just fine without anyone else. The hunger pains she gets do hinder her but she refuses to let them cripple her attempts and will satiate them with anything she can regardless of what it is. While she has no fighting skills at her disposal, her lighter and brains are more than enough for her.

RK: Never one for being confined, Sevrino made a name for himself for his hundreds of attempted escapes from servitude in The Maw and the orphanage itself. Time after time, he would escape; a determined fire in his soul fueled by cleverness and deviousness with a dash of trickery and stealth aiding him each time. Even his ankle shackle didn’t kill his spirit for escape and adventure. Eventually, he was caught by the Lady and branded a Nome; but Sevrino took it in stride, priding himself in his new status with the Nomes and now, he acts as their ambassador between the world and them.

Mono: A perceptive, hardened survivalist steadfast and resolute in surviving the horrors of Pale City, Marco isn’t one to ever give up, becoming uncommonly single-minded when he sets himself a task. Having lived his life in perpetual prosecution and forever on the run for a sin that is not his, he’s detached himself from his emotions and personality, numbing himself completely and becoming a sociopath out of survival. Purposeful and headstrong with a mysterious power in his blood, Marco is a tough and determined soul who’s always prepared to fight off any threat that comes his way. The bag on his head is worn to ensure his personality and emotions are forever hidden and to offer him traces of escapist respite in forgetting that the world hates him and wishes he fails but he knows it won’t hide him forever.

Low: The optimist to Ally’s realist, Laurent is able to hold his masked head high as he treks through a world that cannot tolerate his presence. Out in The Spiral, he’s glad to have company although some company is less wished for than others. Unlike many, his hope remains eternal as he searches for the way home, obsessive in nature and relentless in finding salvation and peace.

Alone: The incurably curious tinkerer, Ally is the realist of her friendship and keeps her head level. She’s not here to leave or simply survive, she’s here to live and find out what’s wrong with the endlessly-running underground that is The Spiral. She’s Laurent’s best friend (even nicknamed him) and she’s proud of herself, accomplishments and friendship without fail. Sometimes cocky and aggressive, she’s far from insane like those that wish her dead.

Noone: Oona is a haunted soul, plagued by nightmares and sickness of unknown origins for all. With a lot on her plate, she tries her best but the things she sees, hears and feels are less than pleased with her unwanted appearances and overstayed welcomes. Though her residency with doctors doesn’t do much for her, she’s determined to rid herself of these horrors before she dies trying or worse happens.

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lucky38s · 1 year

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wait what parts of star wars do you like? why don’t you like the others? just curious! <3

anon, i am about to try to be sooooo normal but please note this is me when i talk about the parts of star wars i like:

so in essence, my favorite star wars media is as follows (in order of exposure):

The Prequels

Star Wars: The Clone Wars

Knights of the Old Republic

The Force Unleashed

Rogue One

Star Wars: Rebels

The Mandalorian

i have not yet gotten to The Book of Boba Fett or Andor or The Bad Batch, but they are on my list most DEFINITELY.

when i was a kid, i had a vhs tape of Return of the Jedi. i watched it so many times the tape wore out. i did not care about the story or the characters that much, but the concepts were riveting. the overarching world lore had me in a total chokehold. i consumed every side story book i could get my hands on and watched the prequels in an all night movie marathon at a drive in.

anakin skywalker became my favorite character ever in a piece of media. he was sooooo compelling to me. and knowing he turns dark and ends up the guy in the mask at the end of RotJ??? absolutely fascinated me. fast forward to The Clone Wars tv series coming out. i was TRANSFIXED. i was 16 and it made me feel like a kid again. i loved ahsoka tano with my whole entire heart. i played KotOR and later TFU. if someone says 'galen marek' in my earshot, i am immediately asking if they want to be best friends.

my husband took me to each of the new star wars trilogy and again, nothing about the main story did ANYTHING for me, but the new worlds, the tech, the concepts! then i watched rogue one and for the first time since the prequels i was in love with a star wars movie.

i know probably Too Much about the history of the mandalorians because sabine wren was one of my favorite characters in Rebels and, being a massive TCW fan, the fetts are SOOOO interesting to me! this obviously made me lose my entire mind when a series about A MANDALORIAN was announced, right? wrong. i had zero interest because i was worried it would just be some offshoot of the new series. but i decided to give it a chance because my husband wanted to watch it to talk to his dad about it (the man is very weird and the only thing we have found that the old grump likes is baby yoda, so we get him every piece of grogu merch we can find). i was hooked nearly immediately. it had all the things i wanted: adjacency to the mainline star wars series without being about the main plot, characters i was familiar with and cared deeply about, new characters i came to adore with my entire soul, new planets and armor and tech, and lore.

so you ask why i don't like most star wars things and i guess it boils down to the lack of lore. it doesn't feel like most mainline star wars media explores the nooks and crannies of lore that i am most interested in or expounds upon much outside of the current necessary information and overarching Good Versus Evil plot. at its core, to me, star wars is a space fantasy (not sci-fi like a lot of people would say) and i like it best when its leaning into the world building of that fantasy.

thanks for coming to my TED talk!

#long post #? just in case #star wars #riot answers #anonymous #please talk to me about the parts of star wars i like pleeeease i promise i am so normal

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happymeishappylife · 4 months

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Books I Read in 2023 (Part 3)

21. Doctor Who: Death Riders by Justin Richards and Heart of Stone by Trevor Baxendale

A two-for-one novel with two great stories featuring the Eleventh Doctor, Amy Pond, and Rory Williams. Out of the two I enjoyed the Death Riders more, but I also will read anything Justin Richards writes for Doctor Who because he just gets the series. The TARDIS team arrive on an asteroid that was previously used for mining, but now is hosting a carnival. A mystery unfolds as the roller coaster crew inches too close to the forbidden tunnels and a performers pet alien turns out to be controlling him to open the secret cave of his race, which the Doctor must fight with the local marching band. Heart of Stone finds the three back on Earth at a farm that is failing, but also suddenly finds itself covered in moon rock. When a moon rock monster attacks and turns the farmer to stone, his daughter has to learn why, only to find out her fiancé knows all about it since he works in the lab that was studying this mystery moon rock.

22. Changes by Jim Butcher (Book #12 of the Dresden Files)

I have said it again and again, and even though I know its coming, I’m not looking forward to Harry and Murphy getting together. But that didn’t mean I wanted Susan to come back with the news that Harry has a daughter! I guess Butcher felt the need to amp up the personal danger and of course the kidnapping of her by the Red Court does amp this up. It was also great to see all of Harry’s allies help him out, but there didn’t need to be the stakes that were present. Like I’m still sad Thomas has given into his darker nature and his accidental preying on Molly was disturbing. Still it was good to see Murphy with a sword (she can’t fight it forever), and I love that Sansa is still just as humorous as he always was. But now that Harry has become Mab’s White Knight, I’m worried about how that changes the series.

23. Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux

Who doesn’t know the musical? Of course, it’s the most famous and longest running musical of all time, but the story behind it is a little bit more sinister as crazy as that is to believe. Sure the book and the musical actually do follow quite a bit of the story, but the biggest change is the role of the Persian and the Phantom’s history is morphed and changed by making Madame Ghery more important of a character in the musical. I frankly liked the Persian (though a slightly racist depiction) and the history that Phantom was a famous torturer to the Sultaness in Persia. It explains some of his devious traps. But it was fun to sing the music as I read along.

24. Heaven Cent by Piers Anthony (Book #11 of the Xanth Series)

Even the puns couldn’t save this novel. I always thought the perspective of a child tamed the sexism of Piers Anthony, but this novel instead of being “innocent” tiptoed a little too closely into the world of pedophilia for my liking and especially fresh after ready a novel of actual childhood sexual assault, the antics of these magical women kidnapping and hoping to eventually have children with a nine-year-old Dolph was not welcoming or entertaining, but creepy. I don’t know how much more of Xanth I can really endure because while the rest of the plot of the other companions were fine, these lines of creepiness are getting more and more uncomfortable as they come.

25. A Tale of Magic by Chris Colfer

I didn’t realize until the end of this novel that this was a spinoff prequel to the rest of Colfer’s magic series and it then made sense why so much of this novel was a warm hug and return to his writing. But even though we get to learn of the Fairy Godmother’s origins, Brystal Evergreen’s story is both heroic, tragic, and super relatable. I think a lot of that has to do with the way Colfer coded this book to relate so heavily and so strongly to the Queer community through the community building of the magic community. And to have characters that not only related to that like Xanthous was, but also just to the feeling of being out of place and not relating to the world was so welcoming, that it was hard not for me to relate and cheer for Brystal. Especially in the beginning as she rebelled against such an oppressive society against women.

26. Deeply Odd by Dean Koontz (Book #6 of the Odd Thomas series)

I really liked this book except I’m so confused on why it set up all these amazing and cool new elements right before the final book. Especially because as Odd even notes in this novel, technically these aren’t supposed to be released while he’s alive so why give us cool new characters and connections just to lose it all? Still, I loved meeting Mrs Fischer, her mysterious life, and incredible limosine as she takes Odd in to race to save children from death of a Rhinestone Cowboy. And the fact that she is part of a group of people who normally come across these dangers to fix them and ushers Odd in is heartwarming. But coming across the cultists who attacked Pico Mundo Mall and knowing that’s where we are going back to, its also setting up for the penultimate fight.

27. We Are Displaced by Malala Yousafzai

A very tragic collection of stories from Malala and other young women who have been displaced due to war, oppressive regime, and tragedy and what they are fighting to overcome. Not going to lie, this was very hard to read given everything going on with Palestine and it makes my heart ache that so many people don’t survive this story. But these young ladies courageous journeys and continued fight for education is heartwarming and I’m glad that they all have gathered together to make it better for girls and women around the world.

28. Mark of Athena by Rick Riordan (Book #3 in the Heroes of Olympus Series)

I finally caught up to all the fan art scenes I knew about with this book and while yes I knew how it ended, it was still as gut wrenching of a hit. Percabeth in Tartarus!!! But truly, this was fun mainly because I appreciated getting to be inside Annabeth’s head for a quarter of the novel. I relate a whole lot to her and how she went about her quest, letting her drive to complete it and save her friends, help her overcome her fear, it was great. But I don’t think I can judo flip my boyfriend lol. At least they are together. I also liked how ‘The Seven’ interacted and worked together. I was worried that having all of them would pull the story too much, but the way it balanced on each of them, including Frank, Hazel, and Jason, whose perspectives we don’t get to see was well done. Also, poor Nico. I, like Percy, am still mad at him for how he treated Percy, but I’m glad that didn’t stop him from being kind or rescuing him. Hopefully Nico will be able to help, but I want to see his perspective on things so hopefully soon I’ll get my wish.

29. Innocence by Dean Koontz (with a prelude short story called Wilderness)

I can definitely tell this came after Odd, because Addison can monologue like Odd and its kind of annoying, but because his mostly had to do with his history it fit well with the story. Honestly I had no idea where it could go given that it was about Addison, so well hidden from the world meeting a gothed out Gwyneth who has seen some shit, but also seems to know way more than she lets on. As they flee a creep of a museum curator, find these haunting marionettes, and try and rescue a comatose child we get more and more of Addison’s backstory, but up until the end we don’t understand why people can’t tolerate his appearance. But I’ll admit, not a fan of the reason at the end because it had religious undertones and it was just weird.

30. The Olympian Affair by Jim Butcher (Book #2 of the Cinder Spires)

I'll admit, I may have forgotten a good chunk of what happened in Book 1 because it took Butcher so long to get back to this series, but I am so glad he did. It was easy to get back into and meet all our favorite characters again. Plus the stakes in this novel were high and fascinating to follow. From the politics and drama of the duels in Olympia, to Bridget's and Benedict's journey to the surface to find a cat willing to take in new 'halflings' as Prince Rowl put it, there was never an end to the suspense and action. I loved all the different stories, including Espira, who I like a whole lot even though he was responsible for the events against Albion in the first book. But he is a man of honor, so I wonder what will happen to him on the way back to Aurora. Meanwhile, the fallout between Abigail and Alex is sad, though I understand Alex's fury completely because if Grimm wasn't as full of surprises as he is, I too would have been mad at her for having gotten them killed. I hope they will reconcile and I do respect Abigail's decision not to tell him about her pregnancy during that argument. I'm also excited for Bridget and Benedict and am glad they survived. But the one I'm scared for is Gwen, especially since she has to team up with Cavendish. Hopefully it doesn't take eight years to get book three to find out.

#2023 rewind #books i read

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mk-wizard · 7 months

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I HATE PREQUELS. Hear me out.

Hi, friends. Like the title says, I hate prequels. At least, I hate them 95% of the time. I find prequels tend to worse than cheap sequels you can just retcon and I think deep down, a lot of people feel the same way.

Hear me out as to why prequels stink most of the time. Be warned that there are spoilers ahead and... I'm not going to sugarcoat anything.

1- We already know what's going to happen. - And it is especially depressing if we know the hero is going to lose in the end. Plus, what is the point of wasting my time playing a game or watching a movie when I already know exactly what is going to happen? Unless the story is going to expand upon the lore and introduce us to new characters whose own stories may continue like the Clone Wars tTV series did, what's the point? We already know Zack is going to die, we already know the Scorpion King goes bad and sells his soul, we already know Guile's best friend Charlie gets killed by M. Bison, we already know that Big Boss goes bad, and so on. I would must rather take a look at a story that will surprise me.

2- They ruin mystery elements that make the fiction fun. - For example, one of the things that made the xenomorph from the Alien series, so terrifying is that we didn't know where it came from. For all we know, that thing literally came from the underworld. But then, the prequels came along and told us that the xenomorphs are nothing more than bio-engineered monsters which makes them kind of dull now. And it's not the only fun mystery that got ruined by prequels. I didn't really want to know Big Boss's story in Metal Gear because finding out that he really was just some guy makes him less threatening. We really have to take back the art of leaving some things to the imagination.

3- Nobody asked for them. - Pardon the harshness, but it's the truth. They don't answer any questions that are relevant to the series and sometimes, they don't even follow the theme that the series has like the Scorpion King here. What place does a film about an ancient Egyptian warmonger have in a film series about mummies? It's like making a prequel TV series about Peter Parker in his elementary school days where he is just an average human being with no spider powers. You just get a high school sitcom in a lore that's supposed to be about a superhero. Don't do this, people. Don't waste your time on details that do not matter.

4- The media already has a beginning that started everything. - The Hobbit was the exception not the standard. Series like Metal Gear, Predator, Alien, Castlevania, Resident Evil and more already have beginnings that not only started everything. They are iconic. Even if things happened that lead up to that moment, it was THAT MOMENT where the story really began. You will only find THAT MOMENT in those first instalments not any prequel that you attempt to go back in time for.

5- They stink. - I am about to say something very harsh, but... 95% of the time, just like bad sequels and remakes, prequels are someone's attempt to rewrite an established story their way instead of writing a good story that may open up other possibilities or give an opportunity for the lore to be expanded. In other words, they written out of ego and not out a genuine love for the art or lore, so they wind up failing. A lot of these people don't even know the lore that well to begin with and it's clear by their work. Why are we letting them try to tell us the history if they don't know the present? No thanks.

Anyway, this is my hot take on why I hate prequels and think that 95% of the time, they do not work. What is your opinion? Let me know.

Thank you for reading and as always, stay safe.

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