#and jordan doesn't narratively challenge her on that

[butterflydm]

I was skimming the books for fic-research reasons and just had to be baffled all over again at how the Seanchan invasion gets treated CoT-onward. The Kin were the spine of the Wise Women of Ebou Dar, who are, like THE people who are respected by everyone in the city. They all had to try to flee the area because of the Seanchan and any who didn't successfully flee but were Kin (and thus could channel) would have been instantly enslaved by the Seanchan. And yet we have that fucking weirdness in Mat's (fucking weird overall) first chapter in A Memory of Light where the Ebou Dari people are all "lol, why would a brutal invasion bother us in the slightest; we're too super-casual for an invasion to bother us".

I mean, that's all tied into the logistics problems that plagued all things Seanchan-related in the later books (they have infinite soldiers and infinite food & supplies and generally don't have to abide by the economics & logistics that Rand's side is required to follow) but it just really stood out to me because I was reading about how respected the Wise Women are (even in places like the Rahad) -- but the Seanchan's coming would have completely gutted them as a society and that should have an impact on how the Ebou Dari feel about the Seanchan. And it just ties into my overall feeling that Jordan stopped treating the Seanchan realistically starting in CoT and then Sanderson continued the trend when he took over the writing of the books.

But, yeah, one of the big things that I hope for from the prime show is that the Seanchan get treated with narrative consistency and we don't get an abrupt 180 on how the narrative treats them at the two-thirds point. Because what the Ebou Dari should be feeling (and what they were feeling in Winter's Heart!) is a lot of fear and paranoia and the desire to rebel, because the Seanchan are Always Watching and will Randomly Steal and Enslave People for reasons that the non-Seanchan people are not going to understand!

I am really curious about how much Seanchan Presence we're going to have in s3, because s2 made some bold choices in where it went with the Seanchan storyline and I am intensely curious about what kind of follow-up we'll have in s3. I've said a lot in the past that Tuon needs to be introduced sooner than she was in the books (Jordan waited way too late to introduce her! He should also have introduced her while she was still in Seanchan, imo, so that we actually could have seen her interacting with the rest of the Imperial family so that we would have a baseline of Seanchan Imperial Behavior to potentially contrast her against later -- but Tuon feels like another case where Jordan valued the surprise of the wham! line over giving a lot of detail and background) and I would absolutely be a fan of her being introduced in s3.

[borgialucrezia]

As someone who is currently watching Borgia: Faith and Fear, I fell in love with Isolda and her Lucrezia and wanted to hear you opinions about her portrayal!

i grew to adore isolda's lucrezia after my second watch which i did recently. i have to confess though i was a bit turned off by faith and fear at first since i was an extreme showtime's the borgias fan !! but now i'm a fan of faith and fear as well and i believe their characters were portrayed more authentically and raw. holliday's lucrezia will always be my favorite, but i love how isolda's lucrezia is more explored in faith and fear because she's more agentive and takes a more active role in political campaigns. her appearance is endearing as well, and she looks exactly like the lucrezia in pintoricchio's painting…so yeah, i think isolda did a tremendous job with lucrezia, exploring even darker aspects of the character, etc.

juan has always been my fav borgia brother in every borgia media but in faith and fear he's the older brother and an overconfident chad and a brute which i didn't really vibe with much (not that he wasn't good but i prefer david oakes's version !! the younger brother who's the pariah among the borgia family, vulnerable and weak, yet hiding behind a bravado facade with a cruel streak to mask his inferiority, going to extreme lengths and does terrible stuff to prove himself to his family and gain their love). though i do love how faith and fear juan's storylines revolve around him and lucrezia more than around him and cesare since the shift in making juan older than cesare made me less interested in the brothers' rivalry.

mark ryder's cesare is the younger brother and he's fascinating and real which makes him my fav borgia brother in faith and fear. his depiction is more historically accurate and distinctly machiavellian, just like his appearance, he looks exactly like cesare in altobello melone's portrait. his characterization is also far more interesting than showtime's version. (don't get me wrong because i do prefer françois arnaud as an actor for cesare and i believe he would have done much more if he had been given the material from faith and fear) but mark's cesare? he was such an entertaining loose cannon through and through without any justifications.

tom fontana was brave enough to make all the characters more realistic without having the narrative backing them up. he's not pushing you to root for anyone, and certainly not for cesare !! unlike showtime's version, where his misdeeds are somehow portrayed as "justified" despite being a selfish megalomaniac who is sly and only serves the family in ways that benefit him, he stands almost at the pinnacle of everyone, with no rivals to challenge him (except for his younger brother who eventually gets nerfed) neil jordan hyped cesare up at juan's expense (throwing all of cesare's negative traits onto him.) he made cesare too competent because he needed him to seem likable and gain the audience's sympathy, trying to fit him into the "conventionally heroic" category but inadvertently making him a sociopath (thank you françois for embracing this unintentional aspect of him). whereas faith and fear's cesare had so many epic twists and turns, he doesn't lie to himself that he's the family's protector, and certainly not lucrezia's protector either, considering how he's inflicting pain on her yet still remains twistedly codependent. there was a moment where he intimidates his own deserting army by shouting to them all the atrocities and murders he committed in his life, then asking them if they can expect any better now that they are betraying him…brilliant !! i would have loved to see showtime's cesare scrambling and reflecting with self-awareness.

in terms of lucrezia and cesare's chemistry…no one is ever beating holliday and françois' portrayal of their relationship that is laced with both twistedness and innocence. they're perfect at the little physical touches and intimacies that they improvised together, and how they built up strong sexual chemistry between cesare and lucrezia from the very beginning, and how their affair caused doom for everyone around them. chemistry like that will never be replicated on screen ever again and that's on that !!

where things have been toned down in showtime's the borgias, such as sex, blood, and violence...faith and fear is more brutal, sleazy, bloody, and sexified. that's why showtime's the borgias is more approachable and comfortable for some viewers; they took a more straightforward route and depicted a simpler perception of the borgia family. personally, what gripped me about showtime's the borgias were the actors' performances, their enthusiasm, the dynamics between cesare/lucrezia/juan and the sensuality laced into the trio's sinister incestuous web. the codependency between cesare and lucrezia, the cain and abel arc between cesare and juan, as well as the costumes, music, and cinematography, all contributed to my investment in the show.

borgia: faith and fear has accents that are all over the place, and the costumes are very questionable, as are the actors' performances and chemistry. but they absolutely knock it out of the park in terms of characterizations and overall creativity in storylines

[animatedjen]

Question for ya (if you happen to know) - so Cere gave Cal her lightsaber hilt in jfo and he used it to make a split saber but in Jedi survivor she suddenly has one again when fighting Darth Vader. Where'd she get it from? Was it Cordova's? And if not when did she get a new lightsaber?

Good question - we don't actually know. Sometime between the two games Cere built/found a new lightsaber, but (as far as I'm aware) none of the databank entries or side conversations explain its origin.

But this question made me curious about Cere and Cordova's lightsabers, so here's a longer answer with my own ideas:

[Dark Temple Series: cover art by Marco Checchetto, Paolo Villanelli, and Will Sliney]

In the cover art for the miniseries Dark Temple, Cere uses her original saber with its green kyber, but Cordova's saber design doesn't match what we see in Fallen Order. So at some point after these comics, Cordova creates/updates his saber and engraves the Zeffo iconography on its switch.

[Eno Cordova's Fallen Order lightsaber: design by Amy Fry]

This design can be seen briefly in Survivor when you find the saber in Wayfarer's Tomb. And while we don't see it during the game's final cutscene, Cal possibly buries the saber with Cordova after the pyre. But the balance between game mechanics (new customization options from a chest!) and narrative details (didn't Cal already find Cordova's saber in FO?) makes a "canon" answer more challenging.

Cere's first lightsaber had specific design requirements because of its story purpose. Jordan Lamarre-Wan explains the hilt is proportionally shorter so it fits the broken section of Jaro Tapal's staff after Cal combines them. We also know the kyber is gone - Cere sold it to pay off Greez' gambling debts and continue their mission.

Cal might've returned the hilt to Cere after fully restoring his master's saber, or maybe pieces of Cere's saber are still inside. Maybe Cere chose not to use it again or simply wanted Cal to keep it.

In her concept art for Survivor, Theo Stylianides does show Cere holding this first saber and its green kyber, but these illustrations were likely made before the sequel's saber designs were finalized.

(Do I wish she had a green saber in Survivor though? Yeah, I do. Is it possible she was given blue for the aesthetic of blue vs red while fighting Vader? Maybe.)

[Cere's second saber: model by Aaron Fowler]

Cere's new saber, according to Aaron Fowler, is heavily inspired by the "Boone Kestis" concept created by Gus Mendonca in the early development of Fallen Order. The rugged, more utilitarian style matches well with her new role among the Anchorites. Survivor doesn't tell us where the lightsaber came from, but on a planet like Jedha, it's possible she found it or was gifted it while helping create the Archive.

I also think, practically, Cere's first saber would have been difficult to adapt to the new customization options in Survivor. Its small hilt and proportions would've required more alterations to fit the expanded saber components at the workbench. I miss the marble-like textures and woven grip, but I'm glad Cere was allowed to grow and change between games, and her new lightsaber reflects her new identity as both a Jedi and a protector of knowledge.

[drrogerjou]

Cultural Autism Studies at Yale (CASY, ethnography project led by Dr. Dawn Prince-Hughes) is delighted to welcome Nicole Igarashi on Tuesday, February 25, 7-8 p.m. EST (4-5 p.m. PST). There is no cost to attend, and international participants are welcome. For this and future events, RSVP by joining our FREE meetup group online at https://tinyurl.com/53anv7sp

TITLE: Actualizing Autistic Safety Through Acts of NeuroAnarchy

DESCRIPTION: A celebration of the way autistic individuals can de-center oppressive colonial narratives through acts of radical equality, internal paradigm-shifting, the authority of compassion, and Discordian philosophy. Unmasking doesn't start with behaviors. Unmasking starts with beliefs.

BRIEF BIO: Nicole Igarashi is a Philadelphia-based neurodivergent advocate, writer, and community organizer. She is also Reiki practitioner (RYT 200) and member of the Society for Shamanic Practice. Raised in a neurodivergent family, her early experiences shaped a profound understanding of atypical cognition and the complexities of social dynamics. Nicole is featured in Made in America, a documentary exploring the intersection of culture and commerce at Jay-Z's inaugural summer festival. A decade ago, at the peak of a successful culinary career, Nicole’s diagnosis of Dysautonomia led to the end of her time as a chef. Transitioning to her childhood passion for writing, she began publishing articles on topics such as Neuroqueering, Anarchy, and the use of Esoteric practices in trauma healing. In 2023, Nicole founded The Autistic Burnout Project, an online community that fosters mutual aid and support for neurodivergent adults navigating burnout and societal challenges. Learn more at https://www.the-autistic-burnout-project.com/ | https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicole-igarashi/

ABOUT Cultural Autism Studies at Yale (CASY): An 'ethnography' is an exploration of how a group of people express themselves in a cultural way. Autistic people have a growing kind of culture, and each autistic experience is a vital part of it. Dr. Dawn Prince-Hughes is an anthropologist, ethnographer, primatologist, and author who is autistic. Join her for an exploration of the importance of autistic self-expression and the culture that grows from it. Those who wish to share their content are free to do so on our private Facebook groups (see below), organically contributing to a growing autistic culture.

Links to online events will also be shared on these private Facebook groups: CASY Cultural Autism Studies at Yale http://tinyurl.com/4ckbyut7 (recommended for autistic adults) and SOCIAL CONNECTIVITY FOR AUTISM http://tinyurl.com/mrxnxmnc (recommended for allies, professionals, and family members).

CREDITS: The preparation of this material was financed under an agreement with the Connecticut Council on Developmental Disabilities (CTCDD). CASY Sparks membership and events are free. CASY Sparks is sponsored in part by The Daniel Jordan Fiddle Foundation Adult Autism Research Fund, a generous gift from the Rosen family, and the research of Dr. Roger Jou https://www.youtube.com/c/DrRogerJou

[butterflydm]

Once you get to rereading with Tuon I'd love your thoughts on how they could improve her, her storyline and her relationship with Mat for the show. I'm just on Knife of Dreams and I think she could be a better character in the show's turning of the wheel.

Yeah, the main issue that I have with Tuon (and the Seanchan) isn't her starting point but her ending point. Because I think Jordan realized that he didn't actually know HOW to Solve the Problem of the Seanchan narratively and that's why he punted it off to the outriggers (that never happened) but that also means that Tuon feels like an unfinished and narratively unsatisfying character (and the Seanchan feel like an unfinished and unsatisfying arc). He made her someone who was so completely fixed in her own worldview that he couldn't think a way out of the writing trap that he'd created for himself.

And, tbh, I think it would have remained an issue even if he had been able to finish the books and start on the outriggers, because he did create Tuon as a character so resistant to change. I seriously doubt three novels (which was the number I'd heard floated around), even WoT length novels, would have been long enough to untangle the knot he created for himself.

What they need to do (and TV shows & movies love to do this anyway) is give her a character arc. Literally any character arc at all. Because what she does in the books (from what I remember) is constantly look like she's about to have a character arc and then hastily back away from the edge so that she doesn't have to challenge any of her fixed opinions about the world.

The issues with Mat and Tuon... I think some of them are embedded in the way that the characters are introduced to each other. If Tylin weren't in the picture and if Tuon's initial nickname for Mat weren't based on what Tylin does to Mat, that would already create a better beginning for them. But making 'Toy' how Tuon thinks of Mat and what she calls him puts such a bad taste in my mouth from the beginning of their 'courtship'.

But, yes, I am sure that I will have... tbh, so many opinions about Tuon once I get there in my reread, lol.