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nobodyfamousposts · 6 months

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Scarlet Lady Essay: Frightningale

Yet another essay for @zoe-oneesama. Because you deserve it.

I’m not going to bother with a compare/contrast of canon vs Scarlet Lady Frightningale because Frightningale in canon was a pretty forgettable episode. Akuma was lame. Setup was wasted. And it’s removal from the series would lose nothing of value.

So instead, I'm going to focus primarily on the Scarlet Lady version of Frightningale and what it does that makes it memorable.

I guess to start with, I should make it clear that I’m not a fan of shows being lazy, especially when they display a lack of planning or consideration of their story and characters. And perhaps one of the greater indicators of this issue is when a series suddenly realizes they they neglected multiple plot points until it’s too late to give them all the focus they warrant so they end up shoving all of those points into one episode and try to present it like it’s supposed to be an adequate resolution of all that buildup or in any way intentional.

Penalteam was that episode for Miraculous. They had the “temporary heroes” setup going for them but then wasted so much time on filler like Frightningale that it seems like they honestly forgot about it until they were reaching a designated end point and they realized they still had four more heroes they were supposed to introduce. Whoops? Ah well, just introduce them all at once. Not like anyone will care!

And when you treat most of the cast like they’re all as shallow as a puddle, I guess that’s true.

The thing is, when you have a setup where there is a running theme of every person in a specific group getting their own episode/chapter to detail their issues and how they get a power up, it’s going to stand out whenever one of them doesn’t. Especially when that one or more are forced to share their limelight episode.

That’s not to say you can’t do it, but it’s bound to get attention if you do. It reflects poorly on the writing. It shows whom the “favored” and “unfavored” characters are. And it displays the issue with pacing—namely that it’s next to nonexistent until it hits you with the force of a freight train.

But can it be done and be done well? Is it possible to pull off such a thing and have it make sense and fit in lines with the characters?

Well, yes. Off the top of my head, I can think of two different ways to do it to make it work.

And Zoe did both of them.

If you look at Scarlet Lady as a whole, you’ll see a conglomeration of characters—each with stories and arcs attached. They have personalities. They have goals and problems and their own highs and lows. One sign of good writing is that some focus is given to highlight these other characters as people. Individuals in their own right with lives outside of the main characters or situation.

Miraculous doesn't really do this.

Scarlet Lady, however, does. Because contrary to the title, Scarlet Lady isn’t just about Chloe.

It isn’t even just about the heroes.

It isn’t just about Chloe being horrible. Or Marinette being in love. Or Adrien being in desperate need of a hug and a nap. Because while the story is centered around them, it isn’t solely about them. Other characters get focus and growth and their own arcs throughout the comics.

But the big two—the BIGGEST two with arguably the most depth and most growth and quite frankly the best storylines out of everyone in the entire series?

It’s Sabrina and Lila. And their individual stories have led up to this.

As such, this episode—which was mostly filler and all around forgettable in canon, matters here.

It’s where Sabrina and Lila reach the culmination of their respective character arcs.

Yes, it’s when they both get to become Miraculous Heroes and meet their own kwamis, but it’s more than just that! They both hang out with the girls group as full members of the crew, getting to take part in a music video together. It’s also where they both get to stand up for themselves and the city at large while calling out Chloe and Scarlet Lady. This is what their storylines have been building up to and where their growth really shows.

Sabrina started out as Chloe’s minion same as canon—albeit with more attention to her feelings and her responses, no matter how seemingly small, allowing her to feel more like her own person. And through this focus, we got to see her open up more, pull and eventually break away from Chloe and her influence, and over time stand up for herself and try to establish herself both with the class and as an individual.

Lila started off as a liar and manipulator, selfish and self centered, much like canon. Unlike canon, her lies are tied to her issues, noted to be poorly thought through, and give her more introspection as a person. After the lies are revealed, she’s not “redeemed” so much as she is “accountable”, and it doesn’t change who she is. She remains selfish and certainly far from being considered “good”, but she’s letting people in past her walls and masks in a way she hadn’t been able to before.

Both of these things? Figuring out who you are and letting people know you for who you are? They’re incredibly hard. And a lot of time was devoted to both of their journeys along the course of the comic.

Sabrina’s arc was about her figuring out who she is on her own. Outside of Chloe and her previous role of being a follower and lackey. And sometimes it feels less scary to stay with someone toxic than to be alone and facing the unknown. We see it in the way she tries to put herself out there afterwards, reaching out and risking rejection and just figuring herself out. Even or perhaps especially with those she already knows and has a less than positive history with.

And we still see the struggle of her view of herself in this episode. It was in the way she was upset that she legitimately tried to help and it still resulted in bad things happening. And it was also clear when she calls herself a “sidekick” to Marigold after the day was saved, as if it’s a role she still sees herself as and one she struggles not to fall in to. Over time, we’re seeing Sabrina learning that she doesn’t have to be attached or subservient to someone else to have an identity or be accepted.

Lila’s arc involved her figuring out who she is with people. Outside of the lies and manipulations she creates, the masks she wears, and the identities she crafts to make people like her. The “real Lila” is far from the best person and arguably not even a good person, but she also doesn’t have to be for the others to accept her as the still somewhat bad influence she is. She’s still very much selfish and flawed, but she’s less inclined to hide it or treat it like something that needs to be hidden. And isn’t that a common lesson? That it’s better to be liked for who you are than to force yourself to be someone else to be liked?

And at the same time, even with being less than a fully good person, she’s showing that she can still find better ways of acting that allow her to help others rather than hurt them or serve herself. She still hates Scar, but rather than working with Hawk Moth to kill her and risk dooming Paris and the world, she’s instead working with Alya through more legitimate (and legal) means…and hitting Scar where it hurts most. She and Adrien may not be friends, but rather than try to punish him for not going along with her, she’s instead rescued him, putting herself on the line—something that the former Lila wouldn’t have considered doing and one that canon Lila wouldn’t be capable of. Even if she’s motivated by pettiness or self-interest, what would have been straight up revenge on someone who upset her has grown to be something that is working in everyone’s better interests.

Both Lila and Sabrina hid themselves in different ways and for different reasons. So having them both assert themselves and call out both Chloe and Scarlet Lady is a show of their growth and overall a huge deal. It’s not something either of them would have done at the start of the series. Sabrina, because she was a “yes man” who wouldn’t dare to argue with Chloe and Lila because she wouldn’t risk openly doing something to make herself a target.

And now boom! Look at them both! Lila stepped up to openly and publicly denounce Scarlet Lady as not being a hero for real reasons that aren’t just about herself or her feelings—complete with receipts! The girl did her research, noting incidents from before she even came into the picture. Then follow up with Sabrina standing up against Chloe’s machinations and dismantling Chloe’s main source of power: her father. Even better, she’s using logic and knowledge she would have as a former ally of Chloe’s who would know her tricks, taking her former friendship with Chloe and using it against her.

And on top of that, each of them are given the Miraculous by the person they wronged in the past. Marinette to Sabrina and Adrien to Lila. Especially in Lila’s case, it says a lot that they’re trusted. That shows narratively that even with their mistakes and bad choices and continued struggles, they still can move forward—not necessarily to find redemption, but to find themselves and be their best selves.

This is why it makes sense for them to share this episode. It’s also why both of them speaking up matters. They are both publicly confronting their greatest foe, and the fact that their foes are really two faces of the same person further highlights this.

So they both have issues with the same person, are dealing with forming their identities without catering to others, are working out how to have/be friends, were formerly not the best of people, and have a fear of rejection. As such, this isn’t just their obligatory hero episode, this is what their individual stories have been leading up to. Almost like they’re two sides of the same coin. And the comparison between the two helps them both shine.

And speaking of shining, does anyone remember how the all girls team up didn’t get a chance to shine in canon? Zoe sure did.

I have a whole list of problems I have regarding Party Crasher, but perhaps number seven on that list is that the boys got to have an all male temp hero team up episode while the girls didn’t.

In fact, by this episode in canon, only Alya, Chloe, and Kagami actually got to be temp heroes.

To be fair, only four of the guys out of seven in canon got to be part of their particular event in Party Crasher, leaving out Ivan (who often tends to get overlooked) and Nathaniel (who has had a precedent of just literally disappearing from the episode). But originally, part of the appeal of Party Crasher was that the focus was supposed to be on the male classmates and getting to see at least some of them being part of a team against the akuma.

Why then didn’t we get an episode like this with the girls? Or at least something LIKE this?

Frightningale became that episode. And if any of the episodes were to do it, it makes the most sense for Frightningale to be the one.

All of the girls were together to take part in this event. So Zag would have had the perfect excuse to include them all in the fight or just have the girls do something to help even as civilians. I mean, we’ve had episodes do this before. Max in Robustus. Nathaniel and Alix in Reverser. Luka in Captain Hardrock. Let the civilians show their heroic traits even before they become heroes. It’s not a Miraculous, but it’s still giving them focus and expanding on them as individuals.

Instead, canon Frightningale was a filler episode. And not even a good one. For an akuma who forces people to sing or dance, it’s a waste that they just had the heroes spend the whole time rhyming. A waste of writing and talent. I mean, have you heard Christina Vee sing? If there needed to be a musical episode, I would think that the akuma who forces people to sing would certainly warrant it! At least more than it’s Christmas and they sing just cuz.

So this is yet another thing that Zoe improves with the Scarlet Lady version of this episode. Giving us the all girl team up episode so many of us have long wanted and getting to see all the female heroes together at last.

And with this, we get the full roster of friends-turned heroes.

Except for Alix. Poor, poor Alix. ;_;

Your day will come.

In this way, the end where Clara goes a different direction with her music video feels less like a half-assed fix to a half-forgotten plot point and more like something that was built by everyone involved. I don’t know about the rest of you, but given Clara’s excitement over the all girl band playing and Pigella’s gift showing Clara an idea for her video, it highlights the focus on EVERYONE being part of this—both the video and the episode itself. It kind of comes off as a lesson of its own about teamwork and giving everyone a shot rather than focusing specifically only on one or two specific individuals.

And isn’t that what separates the heroes from Scarlet Lady?

But there’s a third important aspect of this episode.

This is the episode where Chloe is smacked in the face with Scarlet Lady’s falling popularity.

Let’s remember that at the start of the comic, Scarlet Lady was fully and widely considered THE Hero of Paris. She was beloved for doing nothing and it was a point of frustration for Chat, who actually was having to pick up her slack. Initially, there was nothing he could do because him being the only real hero among the duo meant he often couldn't stick around after akuma fights to prevent Scar from telling "our story". In addition, he didn’t know who she was or who chose her and why. Then even when it was clear her getting the Earrings was a mistake, for a lot of the first couple seasons, she was so popular that they couldn’t just take the Earrings away from her lest they risk backlash from the rest of the city. It’s a backlash that seems increasingly unlikely as more and more people get to see her behavior and callousness firsthand.

We’ve seen hints of it in other episodes, but none of them were so blatant to Chloe that she couldn’t ignore it or shrug it off or otherwise make excuses to protect her ego.

Prime Queen wanted to focus on Marigold and Chat Noir for their “romance” to try and boost ratings. Alya and Lila made some snarky comments, but Chloe could easily dismiss them both. Nadja also made a comment that nobody cared about Scarlet’s love life, but a lack of interest in her love life isn’t a lack of interest in herself and Chloe despises both of her “sidekicks” and wouldn’t want anyone trying to pair her with them anyway. And Nadja reassures her that they’ll focus on her after they’re done with Chat and Marigold. So yes, she can dismiss that as well.

Reverser has Chloe faced with both of her identities are made as villains in art and a story. However, she clearly looks down on Nathaniel and Marc barely registers to her. So she can dismiss them.

Look at Despair Bear, the Intermission, the interactions with the various other heroes, and the fact that only Chat Noir and Marigold are privy to the Guardian’s secret existence and allowed to pass out other Miraculous. Much has been shown of the other characters being less than impressed with her, snarky towards her, or showing the process of how they discover the truth about her and how she actually handles akuma attacks…namely in that she doesn’t. And Chloe can dismiss all of that because to her, none of them really matter to her.

But Chloe can’t dismiss the fact that a renown celebrity dedicating a music video to the “Heroes of Paris” isn’t including her. Bad enough her sidekicks are taking center stage but she’s not even in the music video at all?

And when someone she despises calls out the reasons why she’s not a hero in an openly public setting surrounded by a multitude of people who all agree with her? You could say it’s insult to injury. But some would say it was a long time coming.

Some Rando: Scarlet Lady sucks! Alya: Marigold and Chat Noir do all the work, not her! Kagami: She’s barely even necessary at this point. Clara: This video and song are to celebrate hope and love. And Scarlet Lady lacks both when push comes to shove. Chloe: ARGHHH! WHATEVER!

It further shows the turning tide of public opinion against Scar. What was once a trickle has grown into a wave, and now Chloe is forced to acknowledge her image and status aren’t as ironclad as she thought. Sure, she could denounce Lila as a liar like she’s done before, but Lila is bringing up instances that Chloe can’t deny: being late (as she’s just plain been a no show to several fights), endangering civilians, and being caught live on camera being willing to let someone die in a particularly horrible way because it’s easier.

This is the episode where it’s not just people seeing Scar is horrible, but acting on it and letting Chloe know they know she’s horrible. It’s reached the point where Chloe can’t just disregard the claims or discount and ignore her critics. And we’re seeing Chloe starting to lose control as a result. To the point she has to force her dad to ruin a previously sanctioned event in what has to be one of his most flagrant displays of abuse of power to date just to shut down her detractors.

And even that would come with more consequences for Chloe if it had been allowed to continue. Sabrina herself points it out that Clara is very popular with a lot of fans—people who would be aware she’s making a music video and whom would be very disappointed if word got out that it was cancelled due to an issue with the Mayor. And given all the very unhappy people we see in the comic in question where she points that out, it stands to reason that the word would get out. Heck, I’d be surprised if someone wasn’t recording it.

Then there’s the love square/hero shenanigans.

Remember how in canon, the whole “playing themselves/risking identities” bit kinda just dropped out halfway in? The kwamis were the only authority figures involved to call out on the risk and of the two, Plagg didn’t care and Tikki gave one knowing stare at Marinette before turning around to gush about the suit. Even though Marinette offers the alternative idea to the music video by the end, there’s no further comment or notice of how she and Adrien nearly blew their identities….or alternatively a comedic take where nobody recognizes them regardless and they worried for nothing. Honestly, I would have taken either setup.

Having Fu present to call them both out shows there is a responsible authority figure watching, makes it clear there are rules they are expected to follow, and reinforces that this was, in fact, a horrible idea. Sure, Marinette and Adrien worried enough to hide their masks, but it should have been obvious that wouldn’t work long term. They are risking their identities, not just to Paris but to each other. And he calls them out for doing it on purpose.

Then there’s the beautiful crescendo of the love square dance in that the two both pretty much have figured out the other’s identity and just want an identity reveal to make it official—which Fu won’t allow. We see it in their playful banter that gets mistaken for “getting into character” and in Adrien in particular pushing Marinette to take part.

This is a point where we are seeing them be teenagers. Foolish of them? Yes. Should they have known better and not done it? Yes. But is it in character and the sort of teenage shenanigans we would expect of teenage superheroes? Definitely. And that’s part of the point. Because they are teenagers. Teenagers in love, no less. Teenagers in love with secret identities to dance around. Which is half the fun of secret identities!

It’s just another aspect to this episode that makes it enjoyable.

So overall, the episode matters in ways that the canon version didn’t and was fun in ways that the canon version wasn’t, making it stand out not just as an episode or a remake of the canon episode, but as its own standalone episode AND a noteworthy point in the overall story.

#scarlet lady au #scarlet lady essay #scarlet lady is better than canon #for zoe

1K notes · View notes

hydr0phius · 4 months

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Welcome back to more crack summaries and notes. Today it's Thrawn Ascendancy: Lesser Evil, and I am absolutely distraught after reading it.

Linked: Chaos Rising and Greater Good

Starting out strong with this one aren't we, Mr. Zahn?

...

Samakro: please let this be a normal fucking side trip-

...

The Springhawk: *appears*

Jixtus: Not this mf again. Give me a damn BREAK-

...

Thrawn, over comms: If there are any Watith here, we have your prisoners.

Generalius Nakirre: I'm going to answer him.

Jixtus: Do NOT

...

Generalius Nakirre: If you're not going to tell me, I'll just ask him.

Jixtus: nO-

...

(word for word)

Generalius Nakirre: The Kilji path will prove superior

Thrawn, flatly: No. It will not.

Generalius Nakirre: Again, you dismiss our wisdom without even hearing it.

Thrawn: In my experience, superior wisdom can stand on its own merits. It does not require a warship to force acceptance.

Generalius Nakirre: You also bring a warship to this place.

Thrawn: But I do not claim to offer superior wisdom. Nor do I intend to impose my wisdom upon others.

(Thrawn, I love you dearly).

...

Jixtus, quietly in the background for the last five minutes of the comm call with Nakirre and Thrawn: Oh my fucking gods, DISENGAGE. DO NOT LET HIM KNOW ANYTHING MORE ABOUT YOU-

...

Nakirre, internally during the comm call and Jixtus' warnings: WHY SHOULDN'T I FUCK HIM UP? HE'S ASKING FOR IT. IT WOULD BE SO EASY.

...

Thrawn: *blank stare on the bridge, facing Thalias*

Thalias: Look at him going into deep thought. *Turns back to Che'ri*

Thrawn, directly behind her now: So have you-

Thalias, jumping about a foot in the air: -STOP SNEAKING UP ON PEOPLE LIKE THAT!!!!

Thrawn: I wasn't????? Anyway, has Che'ri had anymore nightmares?

(He was sneaking but he doesn't know that lmao).

...

Lamiov: *sends Ba'kif a message about Thrawn*

Ba'kif: *Dropping absolutely everything and moving faster than his colleagues would if there was all out war because his Son is up to things*

...

^^^ All that was just in the prologue and I was nearly losing it lmao.

...

Thurfian: *makes a decision*

Thivik: *judgemental vibes*

...

Thrawn: *rattling off info about the paintings in the reception area of the Mitth crib on wherever it is that they were*

Thrass: How the fuck did you know all of that-

...

Lappincyk: Larawn. Has a nice ring to it.

Me thinking of that vine: Larawn James sjsjs

...

Lappincyk: Ok and what is Thrawn to you?

Thrass making a spur of the moment decision: He's my friend.

Thrawn, sitting down: :3

(That felt like a set up. Thooraki and Lamiov going "Thrawn needs someone who knows politics" and then shoving Thrass into his orbit).

...

Jixtus: I have information you'll want

Thistrian: let me consult with the Patriarch.

Thurfian: Tell them to feck off. We don't want anything to do with them.

Thistrian: o h

...

Ba'kif when he found out about the Magys: SORRY YOU WHAT- NO. WHAT POSSESSED YOU

Thrawn: :)

Samakro: I'll see this through. I'm in too deep.

...

Thivik what's on that datacard??? WHAT DID THRASS PUT TOGETHER-

...

All the Thrawn and Thrass interactions give me life.

...

Zistalmu: I got a divorce.

Thurfian: babe, please. :'(

...

Roscu: *blathering on & being all high and mighty while a fucking asteroid missile is lining her up*

Ziinda: Can you shut the fuck up?

Roscu: I- ok.

...

Thrawn: I'll see y'all later. Uingali and I are going on a trip for a bit.

Samakro: k, bye.

later

Samakro: Where are we???

Bridge crew: idk man??

Che'ri: I'm following him. He's in danger and we need to be there.

Samakro after a lot of talking with Thalias: Oh. ok.

...

Thrawn: Can you fire a charric?

Qilori: *nervous wreck* nO

Thrawn dragging him up out of his chair: You're about to learn.

...

Thrass, holding a chair & ready to use it: Yeah, that's right! Drop the knife!

The thief: *slowly puts the knife down, looking behind Thrass the whole time*

Thrawn standing menacingly behind Thrass ready to deck the thief like he did his accomplices: >:)

...

Thrass: Ok, Roscu, but if you did fire on us you'd be killing a Mitth Aristocra and his brother.

Thrawn: :0

Lappincyk: :D

Roscu: Damn, ok.

*after the Odo ceremony*

Thrawn: Are we actually brothers now?

Thrass: Yeah, if you want :3

Thrawn: :') ok

*cue secret sharing*

...

CEDF: *trying to keep the peace in the Ascendancy on Syndicure orders*

CDF and Family Fleets, with the indignant air of a 10 yr old Sephora girl: Oh my GODS, can you LEAVE? You have NO POWER here!!!!

CEDF: Ok, fuck you. *sorts out the fighting anyway then dips off to wherever they get sent to next*

...

Che'ri: I'm fine. I can cook my own food while you're gone, and Mid Captain Samakro can check in on me.

Samakro: *worried Dad being left with the kids for the first time noises*

Thalias: ok.

Che'ri: Niceeee

Samakro: *sweating bullets*

...

Thalias: You Borika?

Borika, fake accent on: You a cop?

Thalias: What-

...

Borika: *nice rancher lady*

Borika 0.5 seconds after Thalias mentions the Seekers program: *pulls a charric on Thalias once they're inside the house and drops the accent*

Thalias: Holy fu- HANg oN-

...

TIMMY!!!! WHY DIDN'T YOU LET BORIKA AND THRAWN MEET!!!!!

...

Fuck the Ascendancy too btw. The systems in place are shit. Those poor sky-walkers.

...

*Two families fighting*

Ar'alani having been sent to deal with it, angry admiral voice engaged: OI, STOP THAT

One gunboat: NO. YOU HAVE NO JURISDICTION HERE CEDF.

Ar'alani, fed up: Flicker all of them, then drag them away from each other

Wutroow: That's going to piss a lot of people off, Admiral.

Ar'alani: idgaf. They're being stupid and putting civilians in danger.

Wutroow: Then might I suggest dragging them back to different orbital levels? if they want at it again, they'll at least have to try.

Ar'alani: Excellent thinking. Let's do that.

...

Ja'fosk 20mins after they flickered everyone and are headed back to UAG: Ar'alani you need to stop hanging around with Thrawn so much.

Ar'alani: Ok but he's right.

Ja'fosk:

Ar'alani: Y'all are just haters.

Ja'fosk: Just get back to UAG.

Ar'alani: Ok.

...

Ar'alani: *Firing on Dy'lothe's ship because he's ignoring her and possibly about to fuck up Thrawn's plan*

Dy'lothe: AR'ALANI, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?

Ar'alani, sick of CDF bs: GETTING YOUR ATTENTION. ANSWER YOUR DAMN COMMS, MAN-

(SHIP, SHIP, SHIP, SHIP)

...

Dy'lothe: Acting on the Syndicure's orders-

Ar'alani: Oh, so illegal orders, then?

Dy'lothe: ...yeah

Ar'alani: ha.

...

Ba'kif: Here's Thrawn's latest plan. I'm giving you and anyone else you can convince permission to go and assist him.

Ar'alani on four hours of sleep: This is completely insane and could ruin our careers.

Ba'kif: So you'll do it, then?

Ar'alani: Of course!

...

Thalias: There's no bus to the spaceport-

Borika: I've got you, girlie. I'll drive you.

...

Samakro: Oh yes, you're Thrawn's big, strong protector.

Thalias: yes.

Samakro: :)

...

Samakro: So, here's Thrawn's plan.

Thalias: Fuckkkkk, that's insane.

Samakro: Yeah... anyway good luck with Thurfian. I'll wait here for you.

(SHIP, SHIP, SHIP!!)

...

Che'ri: *possessed by the Magys*

Samakro, dad mode engaged: IF YOU DON'T LET HER GO, I'LL OBLITERATE YOU AND YOUR PEOPLE

Magys: You jest

Samakro: I do not >:)

Thalias: TAKE ME INSTEAD

Samakro: HELL NO-

...

Thalias: I pulled a charric on the Patriarch.

Samakro: WHAT-

...

Jixtus: And what question would that be?

Thrawn: The most critical one. Are you ready to surrender?

Everyone: oohhHhhoOhohoho, you've got some balls saying that, Senior Captain.

...

QILORI KNOWS ABOUT THE SKY-WALKERS. nOOoooOOOOOOOOO

...

Can we appreciate how well Thrawn's plan went? They tore Jixtus UP.

...

Ja'fosk, pleased: How did Senior Captain Thrawn obtain such accurate information?

Samakro who was fully ready to admit that he fed Thalias false info because he thought she was a spy: o H, uH. Yeah he kinda just pulls things like that out of thin air, you know? I can't explain it.

...

Che'ri has now met both Kivu siblings AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA. I think she's going to figure it out if Thalias hasn't told her yet.

...

Everyone going into the chamber thinking Thrawn's going to get a promotion or something and then the Admiralty exiling him and stripping his honour chains sucker punched me in the gut. Thurfian's smugness did not help matters either. I could feel the anger from everyone in that scene.

...

Sorry the way the Aristocra had everyone lined up for serious consequences instead of the commendations etc they got in the end because Thrawn took all of the blame himself to keep them in positions where they'd be able to guide the Ascendancy's forces in his absence got to me oh my gods.

...

Ba'kif: We're telling you so that you don't kick up a fuss about the exile thing

Ar'alani: I would never!

(She would. She was going to)

...

Ba'kif: *explaining the Clone Wars*

Ar'alani: I'm not remembering all that. Happy for them, though. Or Sorry that happened.

...

(Not crack, just pain)

Ar'alani: Don't you dare leave before I say goodbye to you, Thrawn.

Thrawn: Of course not. That's not what friends do.

Timmy: *doesn't write their goodbye scene*

Me: *screaming*

...

Thrawn: It's only for six months. Perhaps a year.

Ar'alani: And then you come home?

Thrawn: Yes. It will be alright.

Me: It was not, in fact, alright. seventeen-ish years and then another nine missing out on Peridea is not 1, mate.

...

Ba'kif: it's a shame I'll never see you in admiral whites.

Thrawn: Nobody here is senseless enough to promote me to admiral lmao

...

Ba'kif: We have time for one final meal together, if you wish

Thrawn: If you don't mind, I'd like to eat alone. There's a bistro where Thrass and I used to meet. I'd like to spend my last evening on Csilla remembering him.

...

I'm not okay. Probably going to have new fics to write now. hhhhhhh. That was sad as hell at the end there.

...

Also these two trilogies just highlight how little Felony understands Thrawn, and I hope all of you understand after reading the books, how badly he massacred our boy in Ahsoka. It shouldn't be, "omg we got him in live action!" anymore. It should be, "who is that blue guy and why are we being given such shit quality shows and expected to like it when the characters that mean so much to us have been reduced to having less dimension than a cardboard cut out, and that a slug could move 1 kilometer at a faster pace than the supposed plot that's scarcely here?" Have some standards that aren't six feet under, please, everyone (this is not aimed at y'all who have seen this from the start <3).

Anyway! Onto the Imperial Era I go :D

#thrawn ascendancy: lesser evil #thrawn #jixtus #generalius nakirre #ba'kif #lamiov #thalias #samakro #che'ri #borika #ar'alani #thurfian #zistalmu #grand admiral thrawn #wutroow

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derinthescarletpescatarian · 8 months

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your Normal Spaceship Story has captivated me. spent 8 consecutive hours reading the first 39 chapters and I cannot describe the horror and excitement I felt when I saw it was at 91 chapters AND COUNTING. I especially appreciate how well-paced the exposition of backstories and lore is, and how character relationships evolve in response to major events. people can disagree with each other on extremely important and difficult decisions and still very much care about one another and work together well. the crew (so far) are all just people who have genuinely good intentions but limited information and resources, and often very different worldviews that affect what "doing what's best for the passengers and crew" looks like to each individual. it's great!!

also, I wanted to recommend a game that the javelin story reminds me of: seedship. it's a simple text-based adventure that doesn't require an internet connection. you play as a sleeper colony ship's ai looking for a good planet to set down on. you have to maintain (and sometimes upgrade!) the ship's systems and navigate various space phenomena, weighing your options carefully. this sometimes means you have to sacrifice cryo pods or risk much greater destruction. more often, it means bits of your cultural and/or scientific databases or your sensors will be corrupted or chipped off, affecting either your ability to accurately scan potential host planets or the state of the society the colonists build once you've landed. you can look back on the scores of previous playthroughs and short descriptions of the civilizations that resulted, and no playthrough is the same. (I swear I'm not being paid to say all this.) I don't know if it's on the computer as well, but I have it as an app.

also! I wanted to give some music recs for anyone reading through it. the background music I found most fitting was windows96's albums enchanted instrumentals, nematophy, one hundred mornings, and plume valley; adam bosarge's album structures without rooms; and mort garson's album plantasia. I also listened to some radiohead, the cure, fugazi, and I think queens of the stone age whilst reading, but those have lyrics and might prove distracting for some readers. oh god I've become so obsessed with something in the 10 hours since I first started reading that I'm making a whole music rec ask about it. sorry this is so goddamn long lmao

tl;dr I am extremely normal about the normal spaceship story

FUCK YEAH I WANNA PLAY SEEDSHIP

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jonayariley · 7 months

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My Thoughts on Homestuck^2

I say this as someone who has been fairly critical of the Epilogues and Homestuck^2 - I think that HS2 (or Homestuck: Beyond Canon as it's properly called now) has the potential to be something positive again. I was really excited for HS2 at first (after not super loving the direction the Epilogues went in) but got really burned out on it. But I'll say a few things on why I think this can work:

Greater transparency in terms of what's going on with it. I think that James Roach and crew are in a position to be really up-front about what's going on and what's to come, and I think they've done that. James has always struck me as being a pretty even-keeled guy, and having worked with him in the past on both Friendsim 2 stuff and when he presents at SAHCon, yeah - definitely a solid choice in terms of organization and being willing to communicate.

I think there's a lot of room to bring the plot around. I'll admit I wasn't a huge fan of everything that was happening in HS2 (weird pacing, focus on Vriska stuff, weird cucking plotline, out of character stuff) - but I really think there's a way to judo throw that shit around into something good. My take has always been "meat and candy are two divergent, slightly-unreal timelines and there's something else going on here" and some of what I saw in the last couple upd8s seems to confirm this. Personally I think that could work well, and the theme of collapsing reality in on itself could work. The fact that the new upd8 starts off with some stuff I thought they'd forgotten about bodes well.

Writing so far is good - feels balanced, good character writing. It feels Homestuck-y but also it feels like its own thing, which I think is a good thing. Also, solid choices for writers - seeing @floralmarsupial on the list alone has me very excited about what's to come!

Art is good too! Very nice balance of styles and some really solid panel work! Nice use of limited motion in classic Homestuck style combined with a good combination of Act 6 bean style and sprite style.

So far, reactions seem to be pretty positive. In the past, some people were profoundly NOT NORMAL about HS2 - going so far as to harass and attack the folks working on it. I can't express how profoundly not okay this is! So far, I see folks being pretty positive about it overall, and I think that's good. The folks who don't like it are not liking it in a normal, not-harassing-the-crew way, which is good.

I trust the team involved - I've worked with several of the people involved on my own projects (Chumi, Kim, James) and I have a tremendous amount of respect for the other folks involved. Like, this is a solid core to build a team around. Kim doing art direction is a good thing.

On a related note, hearing that this is a truly independent thing with creative control in the hands of the current team is a big thing. I have good reason to believe that this is 100% genuine, and that the direction "Homestuck community involvement" is going in is a positive one. It's a process, but it seems to be moving in a positive direction.

Good community involvement, less adversarial feeling - James has been reaching out to the community at large in a way that feels much more open than HS2 was doing before. HS2 got to the point where it felt like it had this contentious relationship with the fandom where it wasn't just challenging readers within the context of the text, but challenging them as readers and fans of the work (if that makes sense).

There seems to be a real commitment to doing this thing in a way that isn't exploiting the artists, writers, and other creatives involved. To working with people in a fair and open way and allowing them to guide the creative vision of the work. And tbh that's one of the most positive signs I've seen from this whole process.

Remains to be seen how things shake out in the long term - especially with stuff like the upd8-to-upd8 pacing (something I felt like was really broken in HS2) and how some of the more contentious aspects are handled.

But I feel hopeful about this, and I would absolutely not have said that two or three years ago. Like, ngl - the whole thing with Jade/Rose/Kanaya hit me hard enough to make a whole divergent post-canon AU

(read Negotiated Consent and its sequels Ways of Being and This Sudden State of Mind, btw - I'm still quite happy with them)

but I've had time to think on this a lot and time to become significantly more involved in well-known Homestuck stuff (specifically Friendsim 2 and co-directing Stuck at Home Con) and, like... idk I feel like the annoyance got replaced with a kind of "I really wish things could be better" bittersweet feeling, because at the end of the day this whole thing is important to me, and there's a lot of folks in this fandom who aren't shit-ass individuals who harass creators, and I think the relationship between author(s) and work can be something good and positive.

So yeah, I would describe myself as "cautiously optimistic" about this whole situation. Homestuck is a work with a lot of baggage - both textually and in terms of fandom/creation history. I don't think that can just be wiped away, but also I do believe it can move in a better direction, and there's clearly still a lot of folks who would like to see that happen.

And yeah, I guess in my heart I'm still one of those people too.

#homestuck #homestuck 2 #homestuck beyond canon #positive #james roach #post canon #upd8 #homestuck upd8

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worflesbian · 9 months

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I think part of the reason janeway compels me so much is bc i really feel like on any other show she would've been a sympathetic villain at best. like in the last episode I watched she holds a baby while talking about killing it's siblings and it's genuinely only through the thoroughly established context of janeway having to make horrible choices in order to save her crew that we can read that scene as anything but unhinged. and it Does make sense in context bc she's talking about killing adolescent Borg drones to stop them from assimilating hostages, but in most other shows that kind of thing coming from a female character especially would not end up with her being the good guy at the end of the episode.

im thinking about how btvs which aired at a similar time had a whole arc about the pressures of leadership driving buffy to become way too harsh and the consequences of that are she gets kicked out of her own home. avasarala on the expanse does a lot of awful things but being uncompromising and not giving a fuck is like her most notable character trait, she tortures a guy in her first appearance. these narratives have little sympathy for women who do bad things in the name of something greater, either they're punished for it and rejected by those around them or they're characterised as cold and lacking compassion. but janeway for the most part has the full support of her crew and spends the majority of the time being kind and diplomatic, As Well as choosing to sacrifice lives or collaborate with mass murderers when she has to.

and it's conflicting bc although this is almost a one of a kind female character I think part of her existence is due to voyagers unwillingness to challenge the status quo of star trek despite having the perfect premise to do so. everyone wears uniform and adheres to rank despite half the crew being unenlisted terrorists, starfleet is largely unquestioned as an absolute moral good despite the origin of the maquis being designed to undermine and examine that, and the captain is always the hero at the end of the day.

#I think the adult yellowjackets are the most similar examples I can think of where they're fully sympathetic #but even then I feel you're kind of supposed to think of them as awful people whereas janeway is fully framed as a hero still #and obviously there's more nuanced female characters in serious dramas #but then they're pretty much never the main character to the extent that janeway is #anyway if anyone knows some good examples of morally grey women who don't get punished by the narrative id love to hear them #janeway #ghitlhpu'wij

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nanomooselet · 3 months

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Little but Fierce II

Sorry, sorry, I changed my mind - first up I'll explain Milly's absence, and why that's important. (Thus no pictures, sorry. Also this is extremely long.)

Stampede definitely skews toward an older demographic than the ‘98 anime; shounen this is not, not even a little. I remember the director (I think?) saying Cowboy Bebop was an influence, and I do see it. Structurally they're both very musically-driven - each episode explores a variation on the theme until the climax. But there's some thematic similarities too, sort of, mostly around the way the Bebop crew related to each other. It's a found family, yes. But found inevitably first means having lost. And there's a few ways to lose a family, but the one in this post might be the most common.

Stampede talks about fighting to grow up - moving from the security of childhood to the freedom of adulthood, and what inevitably gets left behind.

Under good circumstances, childhood is certain and safe. You're provided everything you need and your caregivers will protect you. You're not held responsible for anything, since you're still learning the shape of the world, and not expected to perform, achieve, or provide. It's the job of your caregivers to do those for you while you acquire practical and social skills, support your body's healthy development, and form a stable sense of self and an identity of your own. Under ideal circumstances, you'll get the opportunity to make plenty of mistakes but face no permanent consequences, just an explanation of how you went wrong you can learn from - since mistakes are how you learn. This is how you build your confidence and in general become better at the whole "human being" business, which believe me does actually take practice and is not inherent. Not everyone figures it out, either.

On the other hand, you also don't really have choices or power, and your reality is confined, any edges rounded. Without consequences there also isn't change. Your identity isn't your own. You are a child of your parents or the ward of your caregivers - you belong to them, in a sense are part of them, because you're their responsibility. Many experiences are gated from you until you mature. In general the world is a simple place and your feelings feel very big, but lack complexity. You're sad, happy, or angry from head to toe, but only one at a time and not over much. It feels important, but that's because kids can't have perspective. It's always the most important thing to them because they haven't experienced anything more important yet.

Adulthood is less safe but more free - you have to fulfil your own desires and defend yourself. Social connections are yours to try to form. You will likely have to work to provide for yourself, and perhaps others - it's no longer anyone's job to do that for you. You are accountable, you are responsible, your actions have consequences that rebound not only on you but upon others, good or bad. Outcomes are also more uncertain, and mistakes can be proportionately harder to recover from.

But you have autonomy - selfhood, identity are yours to claim. Choices are your own to make. There are downsides but also advantages, opportunities for greater happiness but also inevitable pain, and in general more subtle, complex emotions and situations. It can be very hard. But it can also be very beautiful.

Inevitably, humans being mammals and having such utterly helpless infants, there'll be at one point in your life you play the role of child to a caregiver. Odds are fairly good you'll also be caregiver to a child at least once (or something like one). Think how many of us have pets. Or even an older sibling to a younger. Teacher to a student. Such relationships always shape us, whichever role you occupy. There's a common archetype in folklore of the "mother of death", because whoever you were before becoming a parent has to die, at least a little, to make room for the vast responsibility of parenthood - think of giving up a career to raise a family, for example. And creating a life means inevitably you have invoked a death. All that lives, in time, will die.

Got all that?

So Stampede and arguably Trigun as a whole is about what happens when you fuck with it.

Good circumstances, yeah, you aren't going to find those. Let's see how hard people try anyway. Let's see what happens when care of a child is suddenly assumed by someone unprepared - or when a child is forced to assume a caregiving role. Or when a child never receives a childhood before being unmade, destroyed, but still surviving to claim the freedom of adulthood. What do they become?

(Am I talking about Wolfwood? Legato? You tell me.)

Are the Plants here to take care of us or ours to take care of? Can we only take from them or is there some way to give back? Can it be mutual? Or must we pick a side?

We don't have Milly yet because Milly resolves the argument. She's someone who sees no reason to pick a side. She's a very caring, protective person who also has no problem with being taken care of - she's happy to defer to Meryl, whom she has great respect for. And Meryl has respect for her too. It's a very good working relationship! Which, uh, unfortunately doesn't leave a lot of room for exploration of the main conflict, and might have been why they faded out a bit in the later volumes.

The purpose of switching Milly with Roberto was to create that conflict. There are a lot of mothers in Stampede but not many places for dads. And one thing I very much have come to appreciate is that both were afforded equal flaws, redemption and sympathy. There's no bumbling useless fathers, or blandly nice mothers (even Rem, who comes the closest, had terrible regrets, and I get the feeling we haven't seen the last of her. Really, around this point in the story in the older tellings a lot of people still thought she was Vash's dead girlfriend, so let's not hasten to judge). Rosa is a hard woman and she turns on Vash, but she has her reasons and Knives punishes her far too cruelly. Brad's kind of an asshole, but it's because he cares so deeply and doesn't know how to talk about it.

Roberto is jaded, but he takes his responsibility seriously and he's a good teacher to Meryl. He isn't just a vehicle for exposition.

Nor does he treat her badly in any way. Meryl feels perfectly safe snatching away his booze and talking back to him. They become fond of and comfortable around each other so quickly because they both decent and clever people, fundamentally similar. It's built on mutual respect, trust and communication.

Compare to how Knives interacts with Vash, how long the pauses are in their reunion in the diner. Knives is trying to be gentle, but Vash is so terrified he can't finish a sentence, can hardly speak at all, his voice is shaking so badly. Knives sneers when Vash doesn't instantly react with affection. Which is… insane considering this is exactly how it was the last time they met: Knives gruesomely murders someone, smearing the walls and floor with blood, and then expects Vash to be grateful or impressed. Their relationship is one in the process of slowly but violently shattering.

Meryl is very young in Stampede. She's got some significant character flaws. But it's hard for her not to do better than that.

Part I

Part III

Part IV

Part V

Part VI

Part VII

Part VIII

Part IX

#trigun stampede #trigun meta #tristampparty #roberto de niro #milly thompson #meryl stryfe #i swear i will talk directly about HER in the next post #i really am too gay for meryl to function help #or possibly happy to talk more shit about knives #terrible terrible plant man #meta: little but fierce

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cienie-isengardu · 19 days

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Iroh's "I looked away"

“The Storm” [s01e12] provided us a great insight into Zuko’s character, one that undoubtedly helps to understand his motives and anger but also how Ozai’s physical and psychological abuse influenced the banished prince. There are plenty of things to talk about, many little details that build layers of a complicated relationship between Zuko and his father, uncle, or even his crew and how perception of Zuko changes once we learn the truth behind the scar. But the episode also shows us a great deal of insight into Iroh’s character and though I do love how “The Storm” challenged our perception of those characters, rewatching ALTA makes Iroh’s “I looked away” much more devastating to me.

Because it is not just about his guilt over abuse Zuko was forced to endure. A guilt that won’t disappear no matter if he could or couldn’t do anything to prevent it, but… Iroh truly looked away from Fire Nation as a whole, didn’t he? Understandably, he was grief-struck after Lu Ten’s death and he did not fight back Ozai for the throne, as I suspect he either did not care anymore for it or did not want a civil war to destroy Fire Nation from inside. But he still was The Dragon of West, a very respected general and powerful political figure that others weren’t willing to openly challenge, including Ozai himself.

And no, I’m not wondering why Iroh did not interference with Agni Kai before Zuko’s face was burned to “teach him respect” but about the fact that he did not say anything at all against using the division of new recruits as a bait - and from the episode alone, we know he agreed with Zuko on that matter. It wasn't the right strategy - even if it has merit from a military standpoint, it definitely wasn’t moral or good for Fire Nation’s wellbeing. Beside Zuko, who openly challenged the strategy and called it betrayal, the only person that questioned it at all was an old unnamed general (“But the 41st is entirely new recruits. How do you expect them to defeat a powerful Earth Kingdom battalion?) while Iroh simply kept quiet and this detail makes me think the “I looked away” is as much about Iroh looking away from Ozai’s cruel abuse toward Zuko as about Iroh’s passivity during the war meeting, and in greater scheme, Fire Nation’s politics. I doubt Iroh could change Ozai’s mind and sure, I do not have an idea how the relationship between Fire Lord and ex-Crown Prince looked like, but the point is, Iroh did not even try to question the strategy and choose to sit quietly and dunno, it makes me wonder, did Iroh give up at this point of his life? Was he so afraid of the consequences for speaking his mind that he allowed Ozai and Fire Lord’s court to subdue him so much? Because if he did, his words to Zuko “[...] But you must promise not to speak. Those old folks are a bit sensitive, you know?” is as much warning to Zuko as to himself.

Iroh said to the crew that Zuko was right but it wasn’t his place to criticize the strategy, but who else was supposed to speak against this plan, if Iroh himself chose to stay quiet on the matter? If all generals - then and three years later - didn’t have any respect for life, whatever for their own subjects or civilians of other nations? And I think this is what truly kills me about this situation, that 13 years old boy had courage to speak against this dehumanization of Fire Nation’s citizens when Iroh, our good uncle Iroh, kept quiet and looked away again and again from what was happening until he couldn’t do that anymore because too great damage was already done.

(And isn’t it ironic that Iroh gave little Zuko a knife with the description never give up without a fight - words Zuko adapted as his life motto - but Iroh himself gave up? First at Ba Sing Sai, after Lu Ten’s death, now here during a war meeting and maybe, just maybe it is Zuko that unexpectedly pushed him back on the right track to actually do something, to make a choice and fight for what he believed was right instead of passively watching all the abuse done to an innocent child and young soldiers serving loyalty to their country. Was Iroh already a White Lotus then or did the travel with Zuko give him an opportunity to join it because he couldn’t anymore look away from how messed up Fire Nation became?)

#avatar: the last airbender #uncle iroh #prince zuko #zuko #zuko and iroh #i'm thinking a lot about this episode #even if i hate rewatching how ozai burned zuko's face #and sure iroh warned him and zuko spoke without thinking first #but it really says a lot about fire nation if 13 years old boy #who went to war meeting so he could learn as much as he could to be a good fire lord one day #has more loyalty to his country and soldiers fighting in war #than any military leader #including iroh showed during that day #iroh looked away from how zuko was burned #and he looked away from how fire nation's soldiers were treated by not speaking at all #even if ozai couldn't challenge him as i doubt he had guts to do so #look i have too much feelings for zuko iroh and atla right now okay? too much #no bashing iroh i'm only curious about his state of mind during the war meeting and about his position in court

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cosmickaz · 9 months

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Catching Captains

one-shot (754 words)

Pairing: Rex x Reader

Genre: Fluff

He didn’t even know you were in the room with them, too distracted by the unknown environment and the familiar presence of his brothers. They say when you’ve known someone for long enough, you’ll be able to sense their presence before you even know they’re there. If he didn’t spend most of his life working and living alongside Jedi—if he were a different man—he would have dismissed the thought as romantic but ultimately unrealistic. As things stood however, he would be foolish to dismiss one’s intuition.

Despite being surrounded by troopers he’d trained and trained with virtually all the time, there seemed to be something special in the air, whenever one of his closest brothers was part of the action. Better yet, there was something in him that always seemed to know exactly when a member of his inner circle was about to interrupt a briefing he was giving to other members of his battalion. The same way the hairs in his neck could sense an approaching danger, or the feeling in his gut warned him that this time, he might want to pay the crew in a particular bomber under his command one last visit before they deployed on a mission without him.

But he hadn’t sensed you at all.

He saw the weathered couch you crouched before, the neon sign of the fire exit, the freaking cat you were petting, but not. you.

It took him literally tripping over you for him to finally meet you.

“Shit, sorry.” He tried to apologize and then, breathless, somehow: “I didn’t see you.”

There was amusement in your voice when you told him not to worry about it and if he wasn’t already on his knees to help you collect the stuff he’d knocked from your bag, he was sure he would have made an even greater fool of himself.

“Really, it’s on me, I left my bag laying on the floor like that, you didn’t even touch me.”

Truth be told, Rex hadn’t even noticed he was still babbling apologies until you cut him off again.

“No harm done,” you added, still smiling at the thought of one of the GAR’s infamous clone troopers tripping over, well, certainly not your bag. That you had managed to knock over yourself when the sudden movement of a falling body had startled you.

“Wouldn’t be too sure about that,” he murmured, trying desperately not to let it show how much the whole situation flustered him. “Cat seems pretty mad about it.”

You followed to where he’d nodded and laughed at the absolute nasty look your little companion gave the Captain of the 501st. “Oh dear.”

Rex didn’t see you when he first walked in the room, but Maker, he would not be making the same mistake twice. He wasn’t even sure he would be able to stop looking at you.

Like, ever.

How had he not seen you?

“Well, guess you’ll have to put your training to good use. She’s just joined the Dark Side.” Your expression dropped and you deepened your voice to mimic the dramatic tone of his general.

That finally got a laugh out of him. “I’m sure the Jedi will welcome the new challenge.”

“Oh, let’s not bother the Jedi with this. I was thinking-” it was your turn now to avoid his eyes. You really hoped you weren’t being too forward. “Since you’re the one who interrupted her nap, maybe you can make it up to her?”

You’d think it was impossible to lose balance while sitting on the floor—when did he settle down on the ground like that?—but if Rex had learned anything in his time as a trooper, it was how to exceed expectations. And so, he fell. Again.

“You sure she can forgive me?” His voice was laden with unnamed emotion, eyes training on the purring creature between you.

Your touch was gentle, barely brushing over soft fur, and with a sudden sadness, he thought of the calloused skin of his own hands.

“I’m sure. She trusts my judge of character. And I happen to like you.”

Suddenly, the world shifted back into focus again. The stale air of the room and the moving bodies around him returned with a tingling in his arms and legs and Rex readjusted his stance as he composed himself and did a mental sweep of his surroundings. And what do you know, there you were, clear as day.

“Then I guess we’ll have to meet again.”

#captain rex x reader #☆ { rex }#☆ { mine }

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navree · 2 years

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god i don’t know how ANYONE listens to mag 161 and comes away with the impression that they always thought elias was this horrible boss to secretly hate (i mean i do know, it’s memetic mutation and it bothers me), the whole thing, which is exemplified in the birthday bit, is that they were a bit nervous because, as tim said, “double boss”, but he was personable and they liked him and he put in effort to get in good with them and they not only liked having him around and felt comfortable with him (real sasha’s last lines literally included her chuckling fondly over a quirk of elias’s) but that they trusted him with stuff, whether big or small, that they trusted him to look after them (and probably why tim got so angry at elias not doing anything about jon’s season 2 behavior, cuz he trusted elias to step in) which is part of the TRAGEDY.

it’s why we AND the archival crew are meant to take it as hard as we do when we realize that he (appears to) genuinely doesn’t care about any of them and whether they live or die. it’s the classic horror trope of thinking that there’s a greater power there to save you, mrs voorhees arriving at camp crystal lake to comfort alice, only to realize that no, this is even worse, this is someone who is going to cause you harm. his switch from “good boss who cares about his employees and wants to help them and is friendly with them” to “that guy who brutally pipe murdered a dude and WILL kill/psychological destroy his employees if they defy them” is suppose to hurt the audience and it hurts the characters. it’s that horrible gut feeling of not just realizing that no one is coming to help you, but that the person you thought would do so, the person you trusted and wanted to do so, not only isn’t going to, not only can’t be bothered, but will actively contribute to the problem.

and if i see anymore “season 1 era the archive crew secretly all hate elias and thinks he sucks” fics i will start throwing bricks in the street.

#personal #the magnus archives #elias bouchard #i love some of the stuff that got memed in this fandom i really do #i am an ardent lover of many of them #but the way some of the subtler stuff got memed to oblivion to the point where it warps people's perceptions of a character #(like what i just talked about and also peter's characterization as actually a scary fucking dude in particular)#it genuinely annoys me at times #i'm also a wee bit drunk which is why this is both long and sorta blunt

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sullustangin · 11 months

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Spoilers Ahoy: Consular Thoughts

I’m doing a quickie consular story re-playthrough, and ... I have thoughts, mainly about the companions.

I do like the overall story arc until Chapter 3 when everyone except the Selkath thinks going to Belsavis to make friends is a great idea. Awakening an imprisoned army is a terrible idea. This is sort of how I feel about my OC confronting Malgus alone in prison recently: I don’t have a choice not to be stupid, and I HATE that. LS is “Gonna get new friends for the Republic” and DS is more like “Gonna get new friends to serve me.” THESE GUYS ARE NOT YOUR FRIENDS. It’s a lot of risk and no guarantee of reward. I’d mark this as ‘a jump the shark’ moment.

The Consular also has the inverse problem of the Bounty Hunter: BH gets all the lighter companions first (Mako most of all) and then gets DS only at the end (death to Skadge). Meanwhile, the consular gets a Hunt All The Things Uncle Lizard, Guy Who Literally Lives in the Basement with his Holo Girlfriend, and a politically inclined Murder!Noodle. Consular only gets LS Felix and LS Nadia as the last two companions, which results in some problems -- they’re also the romance options, which gives them the least amount of development in the vanilla game.

To be fair, I think Felix Iresso is one of the least problematic guys in the SWTOR universe. He’s so kriffin’ sweet. He’s perfect for a young Jedi. I totally think there was an attempt at a Jace/Satele parallel here. It’s not toxic and it’s well-paced... minus the fact that he doesn’t show up until Hoth. Yes, I know what’s in his head...but he’s still a good person before and after the experience in Vanilla. (I know how he was done dirty in his return -- poor sweet man.)

For perspective, Hoth is when the smuggler gets their last companion, Guss Tuno. Corso (f!smug romance option) was acquired in Chapter 1, and Risha (m!smug romance option 1) was acquired at Chapter 1′s end. Akaavi was acquired in Chapter 2 after Balmorra (option 2). Even then, Akaavi’s relationship feels better paced just by having her a whole planet early. I know @swtorpadawan and others have commented on how fast the Nadia Grell romance is. Pair that with her relative youth -- even with the consular being super young themselves, it still feels ‘yikes’, especially in the context you romance her.

I love and hate Qyzen. He’s a great first companion, part of a cultural immersion experience for a young Jedi. His hunting for the Scorekeeper works in contrast to the peace that the consular seeks to establish, and yet it does provide a path to that -- sometimes, you do have to fight for the 'greater good’ end result; compliance works for the enemy. However, on a personal level, I have my political loyalties to Wookiees, and I would cheer for Bowdaar to kick his ass.

I do like Zenith, and not just because he’s voiced by Troy Baker. There’s a very gritty, realist element to Zenith. After the hero moves on from a planet, what happens to it? Great, Balmorra is liberated, but it doesn’t fix everything going on there. Should there be ‘necessary evils’ done in the name of politics and managing power? All of the war, death, and other baggage can screw a person up; I read Zenith as walking PTSD, having lived in a war zone all of his life (he was born 3 years after Jace and Satele reported the fall of Korriban, and Balmorra has been a mess since). Zenith is a great foil to a consular, regardless of alignment.

...I have a really hard time justifying Tharan’s recruitment so early minus the fact he does fit on Nar Shaddaa better than anyone else. I know the developers tried to keep all of the Pub and Imp players running on the same sets of planets in each chapter...but if there was ever an exception to be made, it should have been for the consular, because I feel like Tharan is taking up an important space that he really shouldn’t. He’s not actively evil, but he’s not a pleasant or honest person. Super skeevy vibes once Nadia joins the crew too. I feel like a lot of time is spent on Tharan with not a lot of growth or character development to show for it. I think I feel that way because there’s this weird ‘affair’ the consular is propositioned with early on -- it felt like filler from the start. It’s not as well done as the Pierce one-night stand. Some of his comp convos seem tacked on or “oh no we have to make more content for this guy.”

Nadia’s acquisition as a companion hinges on certain late stage events, but I feel as if the romance would have felt ‘better’ if her father had let her go to be a padawan as soon as she manifested on Quesh. Then, she could have grown up a little more before the later events and would have been on more equal footing and more familiar terms with the consular, romance or not.

In sum, I think the consular’s personal story with the crew has great elements, but I feel like they got put together in the wrong order. To me, companion order would be: Qyzen, Felix (set him on Tatooine, the opposite temperature cesspit in the galaxy), Zenith, Nadia (on Quesh), and then... Tharan on Hoth because someone unloaded him there? or Belsavis for crimes related to unethical experiments? Again, Tharan’s convos seem overstretched; the Vandrayk Generator could have really been done in two or three convos rather than the big thing it was in Chapters 2 and 3.

#swtor #swtor consular #tharan cedrax #zenith #swtor zenith #nadia grell #felix iresso #qyzen fess

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purefandomonium · 7 months

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Welcome to my thesis about how Kane sees Red as more than just a convenient anti-Mike attack dog.

Warning: this is suuuuper long, will have many spoilers, and is really just me rambling about my thoughts and opinions more than anything "factual." I've been rewatching a few episodes of Motorcity and this has been eating at me.

So. To start this off, I wanna talk about Kane and Mike. We all know how Mike viewed Kane as a father-figure, how he trusted him with every fiber of his being, and how he really thought Deluxe was for the greater good. We know how Mike feels about it now that he's left Kane Co and started fighting for Motorcity. But what about Kane?

"You were like a son to me!" carries so much more weight than Mike's musings about believing in Kane. In the very first episode, Kane immediately jumps to how betrayed he was by Mike defecting. He makes it very clear that there's some personal vendetta behind his goal to crush Motorcity. I suspect if Mike hadn't created the Burners, regardless of whether or not he left Deluxe, Kane wouldn't be so diabolical in his efforts to gain control of the city. It seemed like up until that point, he was fine with having bots act as security and sending demolition crews to make way for his empire. None of the other gangs seem interested in stopping this.

Kane's the kind of guy that likes to personally dish out death. He'll only sit back and let his underlings and bots handle it until he feels certain he'll get what he wants. He shows up to the fight in the first episode when the others are out of commission and Mike's vulnerable. He wants to be there to watch the stolen cars burn in Like Father, Like Daughter. He stands at the top of his tower, unguarded, as Mike's about to be delivered to him in Off the Rack. And in A Better Tomorrow, he is both the one pretending to be Vega and the one to spearhead the destruction of Motorcity in his latest death-machine. Heck, Red even states to a captured Mike that Kane wanted to do Mike's execution himself. This is someone who wants to revel in victory, that's for sure. Moving on.

Then Mike Chilton left and became a threat. Not only did his best soldier betray him, but he outright turned against him. The kid he personally brought up to be the best, the one he put so much faith into, the son he never had, spat in his face and continues to do so.

Kane has a nasty temper. It's shown from the very first episode. When things don't go his way, he doesn't so much throw a tantrum, but he does have violent outbursts of rage. He may sick Tooley on the staff that angers him, but when it comes to Mike Chilton and the Burners, he's all too willing to go down there and dirty his hands if he's able.

While there's no official answer to how exactly Mike ended up in the whole cadet situation, my belief is this: He was born in Deluxe--or at least lived there as long as he could remember, depending on if I bring Capri into his backstory--and is an orphan. I like to think he got into Kane Co due to being childhood friends with Chuck, who was a gifted kid in some kind of intern program there, and he had an affinity for the military aspect. So he enlisted when he was old enough and blew everyone's socks off with his ability. This got the attention of Kane, who saw something in Mike the more he watched his skills grow. It lead to Kane personally raising him in a way, training him, seeing him as a potential successor of sorts. He'd never have made him head of Kane Co, that was always gonna be reserved for Julie, but I do think he'd have allowed Mike to be her second-in-command. The leader of the army and essentially her own version of Tooley, only with a brain.

It doesn't outwardly appear like much, and Kane certainly isn't one to let others see weakness, but it wasn't just about the loss of such a promising elite. It was about losing the kid he felt like he raised, the closest thing to a son he'd ever have. It's how Mike uses some of Kane's skills against him, like his combat skills, strategy, and even his charisma.

But enough about that. Let's talk about Red.

Red is, for all intents and purposes, a replacement for Mike. A better one, if Kane has anything to say about it. Red has the benefit of only being outwardly like Mike; he doesn't think like Mike. Red's ingenious and cunning, sure. He's got skills beyond even Mike's, as the latter has never been able to fairly defeat him in one-on-one combat. He's a competent driver to boot.

He's also blinded by anger, easily manipulated, and clearly not that bright, as anyone with common sense would see Kane as the enemy in his situation. All this is beneficial to the man in question. Kane sees that same ferocious determination that Mike has, only Red's not hindered by morals or justice. He's got a goal and he will see to it he succeeds, regardless of who he has to hurt or what lines he has to cross. Red clearly doesn't care that he's working with the enemy, his enemy, and Kane uses that to his advantage.

This is more my headcanon than anything, but I 100% believe that Kane's got some kind of failsafe inside Red's suit. I mean, come on. He's already proven he has no issue getting into Kane Co tower, and while one could argue that perhaps Kane knew Red would arrive and lowered security on purpose, I just don't see that as a risk he'd be willing to take. At the time, Kane only knew of Red's hatred for Mike. He didn't know why he hated him so much (and likely still doesn't know/doesn't care), and there's no way he knew Red didn't also have a grudge against him.

Red's powerful, skilled, and an excellent weapon against Mike, but Kane isn't one to trust people blindly. Not after the last time. He's not gonna make the same mistake twice. There's no telling when or if Red will snap and turn on him, or if he'll be convinced by Mike himself that's he's going after the wrong person. Heck, Red's basically feral and is just as likely to go after them both for any reason at all. He's... not entirely okay up there. So why wouldn't Kane have a way to stop him if he ever got out of control? If Red ever turned on Deluxe, Kane wouldn't hesitate to put him down like the rabid dog he sees him as. That fancy suit of his probably has a remote kill switch that will turn all that energy on himself, frying him like bacon.

As much as Kane tries to justify his use of Red, I do think it leaves him bitter. Not only is he risking his empire by letting the guy work for him (although that's pretty much bottom of the list because of the whole murder failsafe), but Red just isn't Mike. He has the traits Kane convinced himself were all that mattered to him, but he can't deny that having a violent, angsty Tooley that shoots lightning isn't really what he wanted. Red's only loyal to Deluxe because it gives him a means to get back at Mike. He's not there because he wants to be. He doesn't view Kane as anything other than the guy giving him missions and upgrades.

Red doesn't look up to him at all, and that leaves Kane with nothing more than a reminder of what he lost.

#there's so much more I could say but I think I should stop #thanks for coming to my lesson #there's a quiz on Monday #motorcity #long post #my thoughts #ramble

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residentmara · 2 months

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a little context for smth, the Astral Express Crew is this train of ppl, not really many ppl keep that in mind (ha, mind), that travels on the path of The Hunt, but the path they travel on isn't important, but they are following in the path of this Aeon (basically like, gods in the game but they're also not gods ?) who had died (I personally believe that the Aeon of The Trailblaze, the one they're following the path of didn't die, because there is nobody who knows how they died, it's unknown if it was at the hands of another Aeon even tho thats a popular theory in game, or if it was killed by a human or what) and they're just following in that guy's path and stopping at worlds when they can't pass, usually bc of a stellaron (cancer of all worlds) on the planets, and they help those planets and continue on their path

Mind (March and Dan Heng)

Mind would be March because of more like her backstory, she was found floating through space in a block of six-phased ice (I believe it was that or it was some 'eternal ice' but I am p sure it was six-phased) which Welt spent ages to get her out of, and I did get my facts a little wrong when I was being autism in dms earlier, her name is March 7th because that's the day the Astral Express Crew (which at the time I believe consisted of Himeko, Welt, and pom-pom (? for Pom-pom)) freed her from the ice, and she didn't even know who she was, so they took to calling her March 7th since that was the date, she canonically puts out this happy, bubbly, personality to cover up this like anxiety and sadness I believe is what Himeko says when you ask about March, but she puts on that personality and smile to cover up those feelings

and Dan Heng because he's smart.. and he also has things in his past that he's running from, he's generally a mysterious kinda guy (HELP IM REACHING DISCORD LIMIT ALR,, THE PRICE OF TYPING THIS ORIGINALL ON DISCORD WTF) theres not many lore rooted reasons that I'm saying Dan Heng for, though he does live in the file room (I think it was called.. words aren't wording but it is like 8:34 at night) and keeps things nice and filed n stuff for the express, he knows a lot about it, he also joined it because he was running from people from his past life / past (I say past life because even though he normally looks human, he's from this dragon looking species I can't spell the name of for the life of me who goes through this rebirth process) and he refuses to really talk to anyone about it, and if you in game ask Himeko about him she doesn't give you much information

Heart (Kafka)

I won't go deep into lore because I don't think we know much of Kafka's lore or she doesn't have too much to go into ig, but Kafka is one of these Stellaron hunters who's goal (you'll never guess it) is to get stellarons, Kafka can appear as this nice person but really she's kinda violent and slightly manipulative (though it is kind of for the 'greater good' in some sense depending on where your morals lie when it comes to lore of the entire game) also she uses a gun canonically when you use her ultimate.. enough proof there /silly

Soul as Himeko or the Trailblazer

tbh I'd mainly say Himeko, we don't really know too much about Himeko, only what you can get from asking Welt, but she found the express when she was a kid blah blah that's not imporant to why Soul would be her, she was there from the start, she knows like everything about everyone on the express, at least all there really is to know, she's the real owner of it, but she is generally who keeps things kinda calm on the express, she's who you trust (which when you put hms as pathos, logos, and ethos, we know who is what, Heart is Pathos, Mind is Logos, and Soul would be Ethos, and if you were to characterize Himeko as one of those, she'd be Ethos because you know you can trust her) + she has red hair

I'd say Soul as the Trailblazer (the Main Character) because that is also the only character you can be 100% sure of in the whole story, also I can kind of draw a connection from the Stellaron that is inside of the Trailblazer (they are generally supposed to just be a storage for it, we don't know why yet because that lore isn't rlly out yet) to the void seen on Soul in like the videos, they both have something that can like 'take over' them in some sense

and Whole as Welt

Welt is someone who also knows a lot about people on the express (not as much as Himeko though) but he generally is like this character that is like the 'dad' of the express, at least in my eyes (that I totally have shh I'm not a Heart fictive what) this is smth you can argue that Welt would be Soul for but he is in and out of the Astral Express this like peace keeper, there is a lot more of lore to Welt because he is a reoccuring in like another Honkai game (I think there is only one other ? but if not he's in the two others, but I cannot remember how mant there is) and I remember seeing something about a comic, but basically if you were to put a face on the express it'd probably be Welt or Himeko, Himeko because she is the actual owner but Welt because he is this powerful figure that has this cohesive story if any of my reasoning for Whole as Welt makes sense

Boom autism explosion pt 2, now I’m very sleeby so goodnight !! -💕

this is unironically the direct reason i got into honkai: star rail

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