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fangirlingweirdo · 4 years

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TWT analysis - spoiler alert!

First of all, I just wanna start off by saying that this is heavily based on my opinions and just my personal review about the movie. I’ll try categorize them into different parts and make it brief as possible.

Story

I’m just go out and say I freakin LOVE Trolls World Tour. The concept of the movie where each tribes of trolls is a combination of different genres of music was very uniquely established and it feels so clever. The amount of energy in this film is more fun and exciting than the first film as it kinda introduces different types of trolls and their types of music and culture, showing that there’s more than just pop trolls in the troll kingdom. The underlying themes where dreamworks introduces the ideas about cultural appropriation, colonialism and musical criticism has never been more relevant and more applicable in society’s issues. The message behind the movie is very clear and they executed that perfectly to the viewers, especially to the younger audiences teaching about diversity and that it’s okay to be different and that differences matters. Although I do noticed some inconsistencies in the movie like they have been given a very little time to introduce the different types of trolls and the rushed subplots of the film, Like Cooper having his own story arc where he found out he’s actually a funk troll, (a pop and funk troll) Though I hope they left all those details on Trollstopia.

Animation

I could just let the movie speak for the animation itself and not give a review about it, but I just have to. The animation is a 10/10! periodt. from the visuals to the color to the character designs, you will never be disappointed. Dreamworks animation has a reputation for its good animation, and Trolls is definitely a game changer and the team outdid themselves with this one. Not only with the vibrant colors that stayed since the first film, but also the follow up included new visuals to overall enhance the look of the story, like with pop trolls and their combination of vibrant hues of colors and glitters, and with rock and their angsty mood and redish hues, and the other tribes of trolls that correlates with their type of genre.

Characters

I feel like this is gonna be longer than my other reviews for I do have a lotta bone to pick with this one. So WARNING, this ought to be long. You can skip and scroll it down if you want.

let’s start off with Poppy. Little Queen Poppy. She now became the Queen of the pop trolls and it’s up to her how she’s gonna rule the trolls. (obviously) Then she found out that there’s this whole other world of trolls and she now.. suddenly wants to reunite all trolls and their music. She also got a side plot where she tries to be this epitome of a “good queen” that is kinda her motivation throughout film. At first you’ll think, what’s wrong with Poppy? Like she IS the main protagonist in the movie, so creators must’ve made her like the ‘hero’ in the film. Well... 👀 hmm I— I dunno bout that. let’s see.

I get that the film wants to give her an arc where she has to understand the differences between them (pop trolls) and these other kinds of trolls. And then in addition to her optimistic, bubbly personality, she wants to unite all trolls against the viewed villain in film Queen Barb who wants to destroy all music and make em under rock. Everything could’ve ended greatly if Poppy will just listen. (i get it. whole point of the film is poppy not listening) Her tunnel vision kinda made her annoying at this time around. Her overall ideology about pop being the superior music has made it hard for her to accept all the other types of trolls and their genres of music. In a scene in Lonesome Flats, she kinda just.. disregarded the whole idea of “music can be also sad cause life is sad sometimes” she thinks that music is suppose to make you happy, which is true in a sense but not disparaging the fact that music can also be about sadness and other things in life.

Throughout the whole film, she’s only too focused on one thing and refuses to listen to any advice, especially given by Branch, Biggie, even from her own father. It just felt a bit out of character for me. I guess she might’ve thought her positive, optimistic ways that led the bergens to be their friends kinda checked out and saved the trolls so might as well do the same on this one, when clearly that’s NOT the case.

There was also that one scene where she kinda gets down on Branch for being a bad friend when he gave her constructive criticism and advice (in the raft), completely taking his words out of context assuming he doesn’t think of her as a good queen. (At this point, I wish he could’ve just said yes cuz honestly, it’s getting annoying lmao.) Which is.. why exactly? He’s with her throughout, supporting her despite all the warnings.. but anyways.

I guess the only thing I like about her is she did get the arc that she needed. I mean I thought her not listening has been her whole thing in the franchise like in the first film and Trolls Holiday. I kinda wanted her to realize the stubbornness she acted upon throughout the whole film and somehow it was executed quite nicely..? I sure wish this is the last time she won’t listen and that she learned from all these things. Overall, her character.. didn’t really work out for me this time unlike in the first film though her growth and development is enough. Hopefully they’ll work out on her character more in the future.

Now, Let’s go to Branch. Personally, I love him. He’s my favorite throughout the whole franchise. I’m just gonna say it now, but i’ll try not to look biased here. lol

I love how branch is the sensible one this time. I get that he became like the voice of reason for Poppy and her consort. And let me just say the character development of Branch, from being reclusive, withdrawn type of troll now becoming more open and congenial, the personality growth has made his character so much fitting and I’m so glad to see that. His vulnerability made it easier for him to connect with other trolls, especially to Poppy. There was that one scene where he opened himself to Hickory about his feelings towards Poppy. Just minutes before that scene, he didn’t trust him. But then moments later, he became honest to him, showing a huge amount of growth in his character.

All those aspects really built Branch’s character more stronger. However, I couldn’t help but wish there’s more like an arc to him as well. I mean there has been a lot of injustices for his character. Like basically since the first film, no one’s ever listened to him, even with his warnings about the bergens returning to get them, which turns out he’s actually right by the way and yet no one acknowledges it and still same thing happened in the second film. It’s like a running gag now at this point, where no one listens to Branch and Poppy and the other trolls downplays Branch’s excessive preparedness for danger, then at the end he was actually right about his assumptions. I’m not saying that Branch is always right and that Poppy is wrong. I’m saying they could’ve at least find a balance between that, where Poppy would listen more to Branch and Branch would at least dial down the paranoia and acknowledge the positivity Poppy tries to show. (but then I realized if that happens, the show wouldn’t be as interesting anymore lol)

His range of emotions and awareness is definitely not like other pop trolls. I saw this observation in where he claimed he liked the music of country trolls, sad and a bit gloomy not like the kind of music they are used to sing. And then I realized, he was actually the first troll to ever like a different genre of music. His flexibility and openness to different ideas and genres of other trolls has made him more unique from Poppy or any other pop troll, even blending in with the kpop and reggaton trolls. I just wished they didn’t just reduced his character as being the typical “love interest” of the main character, but making like an arc storyline for him as well (hopefully in future) in my opinion.

Now I bleed Broppy. I definitely love the subplot of the movie where Branch tries to confess his love for Poppy, which at first I thought “didn’t we already do this in the first film though?” but then I guess it wasn’t really official. Basically the story kinda revolves around them and how they teamed up to discover all these new types of music and trolls. It’s almost like a nostalgic feeling for the older viewers when they first headed out to an adventure in the first film. Only difference is Branch is harboring strong romantic feelings for Poppy, whom may also feel the same but totally oblivious to it. The subtle interactions between the two of them brings different energies in the movie, and those interactions are just what we need. Like with affirmations they give each other, and the cheeky smile exchanges. You can really feel the romantic tension between the two, which really vibes with the atmosphere of the show, especially given the chemistry between them in the first film.

The third act breakup of Branch and Poppy was definitely relevant to the story and their different personalities having to give them space for a re-evaluation of their friendship. Honestly that was totally necessary for their relationship, considering how different they are together, especially with Branch who wants to take their relationship in the next level (and that applies for Poppy as well whom I’m sure also feels the same way) So it’s reasonable they had to split for a while, not to ultimately close the chance of them being friends again because of being different but the fact that despite their differences, their love and care for each other will always be stronger, and that will help them find a way to make up again, which is what the message of the main plot tries to exhibit. I do wished they put like a moment for them where they just apologize for their actions (talking to you poppy. ahem)

Overall Branch’s character has left me half satisfied and somehow craving for more development and revelations about his background. The overall growth of his character since the first film is definitely something worth treasuring.

Now with Queen Barb. Well, She’s something else huh? 😆 With the movie running low on time to introduce these whole new characters, they definitely put enough time for us to get to know Barb. Her character as villain was introduced quite nicely. Although rock genre being shown as the villain, isn’t that a little overdone now at this point? But anyways..

Her plan was to unite all strings and make all trolls from different genres become a rock troll or rock zombie. Basically she just despises other genres of music so she forcefully took all different strings to destroy all music except rock. Kinda like what Poppy wants..? Now here me out. It’s like when Barb said she and Poppy are the same. Both of them wants to unite all trolls. Only difference is their mindsets about music. Barb thinks all other genres music are awful except for rock, and Poppy thinks pop music is the right music. There is one who thinks that other music are distasteful and one who thinks their music is the superior. If anything, Barb has a more reasonable point in trying to dominate the troll kingdom. Barb acknowledges the differences between them and the other trolls, and it may not be the right way to do it, she just wants to unite all trolls because she thinks music is what divides them. While Poppy wants to unite all trolls despite their differences, it’s almost like forcing them to give up their own music to follow what Poppy thinks is the right music. Either way, their interpretation of music isn’t really helping with what they want to achieve.

The only hole in her story I guess is that as she tries to dominate the troll kingdom, she didn’t seem to realize that her motives to destroy all music is almost the same as what the ancestors of pop trolls did, making her look like a hypocrite even though totally despising the pop trolls after what their ancestors did in the past.

Overall her character is very well executed as the villain of the film. Although you can easily sympathize with her. Unlike with the Chef in the first film, I can’t show any sympathizing emotions towards her. All throughout you’ll only be feeling mad toward the Chef. While with Barb, I honestly even had a hard time picturing her as an antagonist. For me she’s just a queen, who wants to unite all trolls. I guess her twisted ideologies made her look like the bad guy, but despite that, she’s doesn’t really look like the villain in the film. Now she had a change of heart, I am very excited to see more of her in the future.

Others

Like I said, with a short amount of time given in the film, there’s really not enough space for the creators to introduce these other trolls and their background like the Classical, Techno, Funk, and Country trolls. Though I had a little problem with TWT. I am such a fan of classical music, and I think they had the most brief screen time throughout the film. I was excited to see them in the trailer tho, and they had shortest amount of time in the film. lol but that ain’t important. I’m just saying, there’s a lot more to see and learn about these new introduced trolls. Now i’m not gonna lie though, as adorable as it looks, there are those characters that are only made for merchandise. (*ahem* tiny diamond *ahem*)

The musical numbers are definitely a feast in the eyes. Although very much consuming all the time in the movie and didn’t leave enough space for character development, I still love the music. I feel like the TWT soundtrack is so underrated though. For the whole week since I’ve first watched the film, I cannot stop bopping along with Don’t Slack. 😆

The new casts are adorable! Anderson Paak was there, Sam Rockwell was there, Heck Ozzy Osbourne was even there! I cannot stop watching the behind the scenes of the movie. They are all great!

Conclusion

Overall, the whole theme of the movie and all the underlying messages behind it was definitely well executed in the movie. The line that pretty much sums up the whole movie would be “denying our differences is denying who we are” has a powerful impact, and the message behind it is very relevant till this day. It also teaches the viewers about having to respect one’s preferences of their taste in music. From the storyline to animation to character developments, although there’s still a lot of inconsistencies in the film, they still managed to make the movie worth watching and worth recommending.

I’ve been thinking about these things now and I just feel like I need to let it out here lol. If you guys have any thoughts, feel free to tell me! 😄

#trolls #trolls world tour #trolls world tour review #branch #poppy #broppy #ttbgo #dreamworks #dreamworks review

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radioactivepeasant · 6 years

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Fic Prompts: Star Wars Wednesday

So the two ideas that came to me are actually going to end up two different prompts. I'm planning All Hail Shmi for week after next, though it will loosely connect to this one, so this one is Nature Hates Sith Lords

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Sheev Palpatine was a man of progress. Whatever the newest scientific advances were, he knew about them first. The most up-to-date technology? He already owned it. As he comfortably ensconced himself in the inner workings of the Republic like a spider in his web, he assured himself that he would be at the forefront of all knowledge.

And yet despite all the great minds reporting to him, and the forbidden lore of the Sith, there were yet things that utterly escaped the grasp of his understanding.

Sheev Palpatine was not loved by animals.

This did not bother him in the slightest at first. An animal was to be used, like people were, in his opinion. Let its fear and hatred fuel him if it could, why not make use of that? But this was more than being hissed at by the occasional spoiled purebred tooka in the arms of a senator's consort.

Shortly after the battle with the Trade Federation, Palpatine barely avoided tripping and breaking his neck when a hairless lothcat wound itself around his ankles with a rumbling growl that could be mistaken for a purr. Presumably the Force had not warned him of the event because an animal did not have evil intent. Nevertheless, Palpatine began relying on foresight more. And for irony's sake, he brought the bald lothcat home and named it Mister Malevolent.

Mister Malevolent lived up to his name many times over and was quickly foisted on some unsuspecting victim at a party. The next time Sheev saw him, Mister Malevolent looked more smug than a lothcat had any right to look while Queen Breha of Alderaan fussed over him.

That could be attributed to the fickle nature of felines. Sheev didn't care, particularly. But then that devilish Skywalker woman had the temerity to appear in his offices carrying a beast that even the Force had forsaken. The Force quickly forsake him as well, the moment she came into the room.

"Good afternoon, Chancellor," Shmi said pleasantly, and Sheev didn't like that he couldn't read the feelings behind her forever-stormy eyes. "I'd heard that Senator Amidala might return to Coruscant soon from her diplomatic mission. Such a sweet girl, it will be nice to see her again. Ani told me you might know when she would be arriving?"

He'd given her some trite answer, something warm and friendly and sickeningly polite, and then could no longer resist demanding some kind of explanation. "If you don't mind my asking, Miss Skywalker, just...just what is it you've brought to my office today?"

Shmi smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes. Few of her smiles did in public, Anakin had assured him that this was fairly standard for her. "Oh, isn't she darling?" she stroked the furry head of the foot long reptile, who let her tongue loll out as she basked in the attention. "That fellow from the wild place, oh...what was his name, it was quite long...the frighteningly intelligent one..."

That did not describe very many people that Palpatine knew. "Thrawn?" he suggested.

"Ah yes! Thrawn!" Shmi nodded and let the lizard crawl further up her shoulder. "Ollie here was a gift from Thrawn. To keep me company, he said, since Anakin is so rarely able to visit."

"And that is a shame, isn't it?" Palpatine ignored the unholy gleam in the four eyes of the indomitable Ollie and turned the conversation to a favored subject. "Do you know, I read once that generations ago, the Jedi cooperated with the families of their initiates, and fostered some kind of community. It could have been propaganda, naturally, but it does seem like the Order has lost something, doesn't it?"

"Oh, Chancellor, you don't want to hear my thoughts about that," Shmi said modestly, "You'd be here all the next week!"

She took her leave shortly after, and Palpatine felt the Dark Side creep sullenly back into the room by increments. He gathered it tightly around itself and it curdled and settled as if insisting that it hadn't really made a break for it, you know, wasn't as if it was scared. But that pet of the Skywalker woman's was just all sorts of unnatural.

Palpatine knew a thing or two about "unnatural", and also about experiments, and therefore had no right to talk whatsoever.

It might have ended there, but it didn't. The longer he wove his plans together, the more he tangled the Senate and the Jedi and Skywalker in his web, the more the natural world seemed to rebel against him. Birds swooped at him in public. Rats refused to even touch the garbage he threw away. His shoes and robes had been befouled by more subspecies of canine than he could count as the war went on. And each time, he was in public. With a Jedi, or surrounded by influential people, so that he could not deal with the affront as a Sith ought to.

Sheev developed a theory: while not generally Force sensitive in any useful sense, animals were capable, somehow, of sensing the presence of the Dark Side. And it clearly agitated them. That was fascinating and bore some investigation, but it was also deeply inconvenient. Sooner or later, some Jedi was probably going to wonder why so many animals hated him.

Between that, the formidable Shmi and her Devil-Reptile Ollie, and Anakin drifting slightly from his guidance, Sheev began to feel almost that the Force was mocking him. The Dark Side would come crackling to his call whenever he went to reassure himself of his power, but it was a fickle, petulant thing. Something wilder and wider and connected to all living things seemed at times to muffle it, sometimes drowning the swell of negative emotions welling up from the many levels of Coruscant with the sheer effervescence of life. Warnings seemed to delay slightly, and his foresight became full of stranger and stranger things. Sheev's one comfort was that, according to the unintended admission of young Anakin, many of the Jedi were experiencing something very similar.

It was if the Force had been with them for so long that it had somehow tired, perhaps, of being taken for granted.

Nowhere was this untamed Force more apparent than on Naboo.

Six minutes after his arrival at flock of bogwings, known to carry up to nine times their own body weight, began swooping around him. With a little subtle misdirection in the Force, Sheev was able to trick them into carrying off an aide. The man had been particularly good at halving paperwork, too, which was particularly annoying.

Sheev was very good at deceiving others, but he didn't usually make a habit of deceiving himself. Nevertheless, it would not do to assume that the Force was not with him, simply because some animals were agitated by the presence of the Dark Side. After all, the Dark Side of the Force was still the Force.

And then a kaadu did its level best to charge the speeder they were in.

And a flock of nunas set up a horrific racket as they passed the stall selling them.

And as they passed one of the oceans of his homeworld, the waters churned and roughened into white-capped waves. Palpatine caught a glimpse of the armored, sinewy body of an opee sea killer, a rare sight on the surface. The monstrous fish seemed to be contemplating a leap for the bridge, and Palpatine wondered if he would be forced to repel the creature.

"My goodness," Quarsh Panaka shook his head in disbelief as the opee returned reluctantly to the depths. "There must be a storm on its way. I've never seen this many animals behave like this -- not even when the Trade Federation invaded all those years ago, though that was close."

"Indeed," Sheev forced himself to use a kindly and vaguely interested tone. "I find it fascinating that animals, dumb brutes though they may be, can sometimes more clearly perceive a coming disaster than people can, for all their cleverness."

He allowed himself a satisfied smile, knowing the man sharing the speeder with him was one such human insensible to the danger they invited into their palaces and senates. "Indeed, the Force works mysteriously."

Behind him, the Force mysteriously inspired a swarm of flying insects to spell out a very rude word.

And still Palpatine told himself it was nothing.

And then the Zillo Beast laid waste to an entire district of Coruscant in a fervent attempt to find him and reduce him to little more than a bad case of indigestion. Palpatine began to consider then that perhaps the Force was not so impersonal as he preferred to believe, or else someone very strong was targeting him.

Of course, by the time he reached that conclusion, it was already far too late.

#star wars #star wars wednesday #star wars au #nature hates palpatine #all hail shmi #the fluffy animals strike back #the force is done with sheev's shenanigans #it's also been messing with the jedi for letting themselves stagnate and become emotionally unhealthy #either shmi is an unintentional harbinger of force chaos with her therapy ysalamiri ollie #or else she is a willing and well-informed participant in the great force-mutiny and she's toying with sheevykins #this is the shmi from that other prompt who becomes a campaigner for justice #she's very popular with the non politician crowd #lothcat #zillo beast #ysalamiri #thrawn gave shmi the therapy ysalamiri. he was 100% testing a tactical theory and he's delighted by the results #fic prompts #writing prompts #shmi skywalker #sheev palpatine

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trinuviel · 6 years

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Winterfell’s Daughter. On Sansa Stark (part 9)

This is the 9th installment in my analysis of Sansa Stark’s narrative arc in Game of Thrones (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8). Season 2 is hard to watch because Sansa suffers so much abuse from the Lannisters. The most obvious is the physical abuse that Joffrey subjects her to. However, his mother Cersei is the architect behind the emotional abuse that Sansa suffers - she employs a more sophisticated approach but the wounds she inflicts are no less painful.

THE LITTLE DOVE AND THE LIONESS

As Joffrey’s betrothed, Sansa is the future daughter-in-law of Cersei - and Cersei pretty much embodies the mother-in-law from hell. In many respects, Cersei plays the part of the Wicked Stepmother in the twisted fairy tale that Sansa’s story has become. Cersei is subtle in her abuse of Sansa and we witness the first instance of this abuse at an uncomfortable dinner that Sansa has with Cersei and her two youngest children Tommen and Myrcella in ep02 where Cersei makes a point of reminding Sansa of her place as the hostage of a rebel king.

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The scene starts with everyone dining in silence until Myrcella asks when Joffrey and Sansa are to be married. Myrcella beings to chatter about the new gowns she’s going to have for the wedding festivities and then she brings up Sansa’s wedding gown.

Mycella is much like Sansa before her world shattered, innocent and without malice but she is also completely oblivious chatters to Sansa’s feelings. Sansa just sits in silence with an agonized expression on her face whilst her future wedding is discussed, an event that she most definitely doesn’t look forward to.

Cersei, of course, immediately notices Sansa’s akward silence and starts prodding her to enter into the conversation:

Cersei: The princess just spoke to you.

Once again Sansa has to deliver her dishonest little spiel about how she cannot wait to wed the boy who is responsible for her father’s death and who has his guards abuse her physically.

Both Tommen and Myrcella are aware of Sansa’s situation: that her father was executed and that her brother is a rebel. However, they don’t seem to consider that Sansa might be unhappy. They don’t seem to take Sansa’s feelings into account at all during this dinner party. Their attitude doesn’t stem from malice but rather from thoughtlessness and a certain level of innocence (I don’t think they know that Joffrey has Sansa physically abused).

Cersei, however, is fully aware of Sansa’s grief and torment - and when Tommen asks an innocent question, Cersei uses this as an opportunity to remind Sansa of her status as the sister of a rebel king and as a political hostage:

Tommen: Is Joffrey going to kill Sansa’s brother?

Cersei: He might. Would you like that?

(Sansa drinks deeply)

Tommen: No. I don’t think so.

Cersei: Even if he does, Sansa will do her duty. Won’t you, Little Dove?

Cersei is subtly needling Sansa, reminding her that she is powerless and taking a fair bit of pleasure in the poor girl’s misery as Sansa fights to keep back her tears. Sansa has to suppress her grief over her father’s death. She cannot speak her mind and she is forced to repeatedly denounce her beloved mother and brother as traitors. Cersei is very aware of this and she seems to take a kind of twisted pleasure in Sansa’s misery. Throughout this season Sansa is extremely subdued in her reactions and careful when she speaks. This sometimes makes it a bit difficult to write about her because she’s a very internal character during the time she’s a hostage in King’s Landing. It is a credit to Sophie Turner’s talent as an actress that she is able to silently convey Sansa’s feelings solely through her body language and her facial expressions. Watching this scene, you do not doubt that she’s miserable and that she has to exert an enormous will power not to cry in front of her captors.

AN UNLIKELY FRIEND

The dinner scene with Cersei transitions into a scene in Sansa’s chambers where she gazes sadly at her own face in a blurry mirror, accompanied by a melancholy piece of music. Her sad musings are interrupted by Shae, Tyrion’s lover, who presents herself as Sansa’s new chambermaid.

Sansa is understandably suspicious - she has not been informed that she’ll get a new chambermaid and she also quickly deduces that Shae is not Westerosi. Furthermore, Shae obviously doesn’t know anything about the job and is kind of insolent. Sansa the berates Shae because Shae ought to know what her job entails. On the surface Sansa’s might appear a bit bratty but take a closer look at her face. Her eyes are wet. Her emotions are rubbed raw after that dinner, which was emotional torture for her with Cersei bringing up both the possibility of Robb’s death and the fact that Sansa has to marry Joffrey.

Sansa is close to tears at this point and she lashes out at the only available target – Shae, who not only acts suspiciously (from Sansa’s POV) but who also is a social inferior. However, the scene takes a surprising turn after this.

Shae: Do you want me to leave?

Minutes earlier Sansa said she didn’t want her hair brushed – but she is so lonely that a insolent stranger brushing her hair is better than being alone. In this context, it is worth emphasizing that having her hair brushed has special meaning for Sansa. It was something that her mother used to do for her as an act of affection and intimacy - and Sansa misses her mother desperately.

Sansa’s hair doesn’t really need brushing but she’s sad, alone and tired – and having her hair brushed is soothing. This act also marks the beginning of Sansa and Shae’s relationship, a relationship that deepens into genuine affection. This may not be the most auspicious beginning to their relationship but Sansa and Shae develop a friendship to the extent that Sansa trusts Shae enough to express her opinions freely, which I noted in my previous post.

However, it is in ep07 that we see how much Shae actually has come to care for Sansa. The scene in question is the one where Sansa gets her first period. This is a deeply traumatic experience for Sansa, especially since it comes right after a nightmare about the sexual assault she suffered during the Bread Riot. I have previously criticized the fact that the show didn’t bring up Sansa’s assault during her conversation with Shae in the aftermath of the violent events in King’s Landing. However, by including Sansa’s nightmare, the show does hint that Sansa has an unprocessed trauma regarding the assault she suffered. The fact that Sansa discovers that she’s gotten her period right after this nightmare links the onset of her physical maturation with the sexual trauma that she’s been subjected to.

Sansa reacts with despair and absolute panic - and Sophie really delivers a wonderful performance in this scene. Sansa is in a state of panic because she knows that she’s now eligible for marriage to Joffrey by Lannister standards. Theoretically, she is not able to become pregnant and a royal consort’s first duty is to produce heirs to the throne. However, the prospect of marriage to Joffrey has become a nightmare for Sansa. That is why she desperately tries to conceal the evidence by attempting to cut away the bloodied portion from her bed sheet.

When Shae enters the room and sees what has happened, she immediately goes to help Sansa - suggesting that they flip the mattress to hide the evidence of her period.

Sadly, their attempt is foiled when another chambermaid arrives, sees what they’re doing and then immediately leaves to inform Cersei what has happened. This is where we get to see exactly how fierce Shae can be in her defense of Sansa. Shae follows the other chambermaid, puts knife to her throat and threatens her into silence.

Sadly, Shae’s efforts are in vain because when she returns to Sansa’s chamber, she’s confronted by the fact that Sansa has been found out - by Sandor Clegane of all people! The presence of the Hound is rather odd - and we never get any explanation of how exactly he came to be in Sansa’s chambers.

However, the end result is that Cersei is informed that Sansa is now a woman, physiologically at least, which is all that the Lannisters really care about: that she has become fertile.

A PIECE OF WOMANLY “WISDOM”

The following scene takes place in Cersei’s chambers where she takes on a maternal role, educating Sansa about the messy realities of a woman’s life when it comes to childbirth. Interestingly, Cersei appears somewhat sympathetic to Sansa here, which is a stark contrast to how she acted towards Sansa in the previous dinner scene.

Cersei actually does what Catelyn would have done if the situation had been normal, which the show actually alludes to in the dialogue:

Cersei: Your mother might have prepared you. You flowered, my dear. Nothing more.

Sansa: My mother told me, but I thought it would be different.

Cersei: In what way?

Sansa: I thought it would be less… less messy.

Cersei: Wait until you birth a child. You’re a woman now. Do you have any idea of what that means?

Sansa: I’m fit to bear children for the king.

Cersei: A prospect that once delighted you, bringing little princes and princesses into the world, the greatest honour for a queen.

Despite her sympathetic attitude Cersei can’t help to make a little jab at Sansa, mocking her for her youthful infatuation with Joffrey before he had her father killed. At this point Sansa lowers her gaze, not giving Cersei the opportunity to read her face - and when Cersei mentions that birthing children is the greatest honour for a queen, Sansa quietly nods whilst she visibly swallows. As the previous scene showed us, the thought of having to sleep with and give Joffrey children has now become a nightmare.

After a short silence where the camera switches between medium close-ups of Cersei and Sansa, Cersei is surprisingly honest with Sansa about Joffrey:

Cersei: Joffrey has always been difficult. Even his birth, I labored a day and a half to bring him into this world. You cannot imagine the pain.

Cersei reminisces about how her husband would flee to the Kingswood whenever she was in labour whilst Jaime wouldn’t be kept away from her birthing bed - and then she warns Sansa:

Cersei: Joffrey will show you no such devotion. You may never love the king, but you will love his children.

Sansa: I love His Grace with all my heart.

Cersei: That’s so very touching to hear.

Once again we see Sansa delivering her little spiel about how much she loves Joffrey. She doesn’t let down her guard, even if Cersei appears somewhat sympathetic. This is also the reason why Sansa is so subdued in this scene. She doesn’t trust Cersei, she knows that just a slip of the tongue can get her into trouble because even though Cersei is no Joffrey, she is still one of Sansa’s tormentors.

Cersei: Permit me to share some womanly wisdom with you on this very special day. The more people you love, the weaker you are. You’ll do things for them that you know you shouldn’t do. You’ll act the fool to make them happy, to keep them safe. Love no one but your children. On that front, a mother has no choice.

Sansa: Shouldn’t I love Joffrey, Your Grace?

Cersei: You can try, Little Dove.

That last exchange is different from the rest of the scene. So far Sansa has been very subdued, she doesn’t trust Cersei but I think that she’s confused and unsure how to respond to this “womanly wisdom” that Cersei shares with her. Cersei’s acknowlegding that Joffrey is “difficult” (an understatement!) throws Sansa because she never expected Cersei admitting that her precious son is not a perfect prince.

I find this scene rather interesting because, unlike the dinner scene, Cersei doesn’t torment Sansa here. Rather she thinks that she giving out sound advice to her future daughter-in-law. However, Cersei’s advice about not loving anyone but your children reflects her toxic world view. Loving people is not a weakness, it is the repudiation of love and compassion that is the weakness.

IN THE ABSENCE OF HER MOTHER

An interesting thing about Sansa’s season 2 arc is the fact that the show places her scenes with Cersei and Shae in close proximity to each other. In fact, her scenes with both women always directly follow one another. This narrative structure invites the audience to compare and contrast how the two women interact with Sansa and this is incredibly important since these are the only women that Sansa has significant relationships with in season 2.

Cersei is a source of torment for Sansa but also a kind of toxic mentor who “educates” Sansa about the reality of a woman’s life in the patriarchal order of Westeros. Shae is a woman who becomes an ally, a source of comfort but also someone who educates Sansa about aspects of life that Sansa has been blind to: mainly the plight of the common folk (after the bread riot in ep06). Cersei plays the role of an evil step-mother in Sansa’s life whereas Shae becomes a confidante and a friend.

However, I also think that there’s a maternal subtext to Shae’s relationship with Sansa. This maternal aspect to Shae’s interactions with Sansa begins with her brushing Sansa’s hair - something that the show (and the books) explicitly connects to Sansa’s relationship with her mother Catelyn. Furthermore, the fierceness with which Shae tries to protect Sansa also subtly evokes Catelyn’s fierceness when it comes to the safety of her children.

On the show Shae is very different from her book incarnation, where she’s portrayed as petty and avaricious. Personally, I rather like this change. GRRM has a couple of blindspots and one of those is the complete lack of positive female relationships! I cannot think of a single relationship between two women that is depicted in positive terms in the entire series - so I am perfectly fine with the showrunners creating a positive and caring relationship between Sansa and Shae. Sansa may be Shae’s social superior but Shae provides Sansa with emotional comfort and a kind of maternal care that she sorely lacks. As previously said, the narrative structuring of Sansa’s scenes with both Cersei and Shae highlights how the two women acts as stand-ins for Sansa’s absent mother Catelyn. Cersei takes the role of the evil step-mother whereas Shae provides some of the emotional comfort that Sansa so desperately needs.

To be continued...

(GIFs not mine)

#game of thrones #sansa stark #character analysis #cersei lannister #shae #winterfell's daughter

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rannadylin · 6 years

Note

Fluff, Network, Offspring for Vi; Alignment, Grudge and Question for Anselm; Law, Pistol, Upcoming for Audie; Jaded, Law and Question for Glynis; Alignment, Fluff, Kin, Question and Touch for Ianthe

A-Z Headcanon Asks

Violet:

Fluff :: What hits their soft spot? Doesanything them into emotional goo?Edér’s sense of humor, mostly. Vi is a Very Serious Fluff and hisability to make her laugh even when things are pretty terrible is a large partof her falling for him. Seeing him go all silly over every stray pet theycollect brightens her day, too.

Also, Eothas. It’s obviously gonna be a complicatedrelationship she has with her god after Sun in Shadow, and worse, after hewrecks Caed Nua, but the first time she gets to actually talk to him in theDeadfire just melts her. Her devotion after that point isn’t just theoreticalor practical; she’s delighted to find him, well, likeable, even in the midst of another of his crazy schemes.

Network :: Are they connected to the people?How much do they reach out to others?

She takes that aspect of priesthood very seriously, thoughshe has to push herself to reach out at times when she’s more geared toward thecontemplative, introspective side of her calling. In the Dyrwood, she welcomes secretEothasians to her secret chapel in Caed Nua and has Edér to help her find suchfolk through the Night Market. Apart from church folk, she keeps incorrespondence with some of her family – Audie especially, before the clanvisited Caed Nua, and more of them after that – and with friends from her Dyrwood adventures, especially Kana and, when he bothers to write, Aloth – but she’s not much for socialevents and that kind of networking.

Offspring :: What kind of parent would they be?Would they prefer one, or multiple?She’s got lots of experience wrangling younger siblings, but ofcourse it’s different when it’s your own. Vi’s compassion and resolve and tendencyto give every situation careful thought would all come in handy with her kidsthough; she’s a devoted and caring mother, though on the other hand that“giving things careful thought” can make her hesitate to act quickly whendiscipline is called for. And…given her clan/city traditions…I’m not sure shecould handle having just one child, if she’s going to have any at all. XDThey’re meant to have siblings, right? Lots of those?

In the Soul & Shield world state, she and Edér willprobably adopt. In other world states – Deadfire canon included – she andAnselm will have a bunch. I think that letter to Eidis mentioned at leastthree? There will probably be more after that.

[more behind a cut, so many wonderful questions! ;-D]

Anselm:

Alignment :: What would be their D&Dalignment? How might it come into play?Hmmmm…this is tougher than it seems it should be. I mean he’s got arather particular sense of honor but also does not hesitate to use his Watchauthority to bend the rules if they get in the way. And he was certainly moreselfish in his youth whereas he’s trying to be more altruistic these days, so Isuppose he’s mid-shift from something like Lawful Evil to True Neutral? Oof,that’s my best guess anyway.

Grudge :: How bad does an insult go over? Dothey hold a grudge long?He’s got a lot of confidence (or…well…retains the veneer of it atleast, possibly to cover up a self-doubt that’s been growing since Violet leftand only now being challenged) to shrug off an insult, or more likely fire asubtle comeback. Grudges…are beneath him, mostly. Vengeance is more effective. Why stew over an injury done to you when you have the power to retaliate and assert your own superiority?

Question :: How often do they feel doubt? Whattopics are they defensive about?He’s always doubting whether he’s really any better now than he was whenViolet left. (Recent developments regarding someItzli sisters’ views of him may help to quiet those doubts. 😉)And he’s a little defensive about being a cipher, always expecting people tomistrust him for it and having to prove himself.

Audie:

Law :: What do they think about abiding rules?Are they selective about it?Audie thinks people should abide the rules that she makes, basically. Those that stand in her way, on the otherhand, were ill-advised. (To be fair, the world would run pretty smoothly if she were running it. Pity she wasn’t around when the Engwithans were deifying people.)

Pistol :: Is this character skilled with aweapon? What’s their opinion of violence?Oh, very skilled with her knives, both for stabbing and throwing.Being in the Citlatl militia longer than the rest of the Itzli siblings has hardenedher to violence, as well, though not to a great extent as the city’s been atpeace for all her life and it’s just fairly routine patrols and scouting andsuch for now. She’s not necessarily looking for a fight (not physically, at least: she’s almost always challenging someone at least psychologically) but she won’t back down from one either.

Upcoming :: How much do they think of thefuture? Do they make long-term plans?Lots of contingency plans, I think. She has the most influence onthe family’s business pursuits these days, so she does a lot of networking fortrade contracts (oh, and I think I’ve settled on the family business being inthe textile industry… :-D They totally make fabric from Ginny’s alpaca yarn,too, and some of the embroidery on the finer bolts of cloth and on the garmentsmade for export is done by some Itzli siblings as well as hired employees…) and she oversees plans for production and that sort of thing. But then she also hasPlans B and C and several more degrees of what they’ll do if anything goeswrong. So it’s a long-term series of short-term plans? Sort of?

Glynis:

Jaded:: Do they buy into the “happily ever after” ideal? What’s their standard?Her life is the gods’. And…she’s a visionary. Like, literally, theHaven is the product of her visions (from the gods, she assumes, and she’s probably right). And theyhaven’t told her anything about settling down happily ever after, so that makesTicatl’s attempts at courtship kind of awkward for a while.

Law:: What do they think about abiding rules? Are they selective about it?She is a very rule-abiding missionary, convinced that only by being above-boardand doing all that they do among the heathen in the light of Eothas can theyconvince people to convert. (On some level she feels like consorting with Ticatl is breaking the rules, though asfar as I know there isn’t any such rule, but it’s more to do with her role asRectrix and her fear of dividing her attention too much if she falls in love…atsome point she was, ahem, selective enough about that self-imposed rule thatshe did in fact end up pregnant, though, so there’s that.)

Question:: How often do they feel doubt? What topics are they defensive about?She is not a philosopherlike Violet, so rather than welcoming doubt as a chance to examine the truth closer,she tends to try to outshine it and cling tighter to the tenets of Engwithanfaith, of which she’s pretty enthusiastically convinced. She’s a littledefensive about her visions of the Haven, when that first starts happening andshe’s trying to convince the other missionaries they need to build this thing.

Ianthe:

Alignment :: What would be their D&D alignment? How mightit come into play?Hmmmmm. Lawful neutral maybe, given her respect for authority evenwhen she’s not fully on board with Thaos’ methods?

Fluff :: What hits their soft spot? Does anything them intoemotional goo?Hugs from Glynis. Appreciation – Ianthina so regularly feelsoverlooked and persuades herself to just live with it, that if someone treatsher with genuine regard it’s a little overwhelming (and she’s forever grateful,once she gets over the initial suspicion depending on where said regard iscoming from).

Kin :: What’s their role among their relations? Do theyconsider others family?Hmmm well for actual blood relations, her parents died young but Idunno [yet] why, and I don’t think she had much other family – no siblings,maybe an aunt or uncle or something out there? And of course she ends upviewing Thaos as a father figure but that takes a while. I don’t know if sheeven got to the point of considering Glynis like family, though she’ll alwaysconsider her as her best friend, but their time together in training was brief,relative to the rest of Ianthe’s time in the gods’ service. (As for hersort-of-stepmother Deoiridh, in whatever version of the story gives them achance to get to know each other better, she kind of views her more asa…sister, or cousin or something, but keeps that view to herself. XD)

Question :: How often do they feel doubt? What topics arethey defensive about?Having had her doubts about the gods confirmed after theInquisition, and yet coming back to serve them anyway, she’s got a tendency nowto be even more skeptical and assume her doubts about anything are true. But tostill do what seems most practical, even if contrary to her doubts. She’s defensiveabout her role in the Inquisition, especially the lover she had who went overto Iovara’s cause, but she’s even more defensive about her inclination to mercyafter she returns to the gods’ service. It goes against all her practical nature,after all; but she’s just seen too muchruthlessness in the Inquisition to let that be her first resort anymore, evenif she feels at first like this disappoints her mentor…

Touch :: How do they handle contact? Is their personal bubblebig?She’s fairly aloof, definitely a big bubble, maybe something to dowith being an only child. Glynis was almost instantly granted an exception tothis standoffishness – look, when the first acolyte you meet in the barracks upon enteringtemple training greets you with an enthusiastic and very fluffy hug and then lookschagrined at overstepping and clearly hopes she hasn’t started off on the wrongfoot with her new roommate, sometimes you can’t help but set aside your awkwarddiscomfort and tell her it’s fine. And take a liking to this fluffy littleidealist with eyes as big as her dreams who clearly needs a more sensiblefriend to help rein in her wilder ideas. (Oh goodness, I really need to writesome early Ianthe & Glynis fic, don’t I?)

#a to z headcanons #violet #watcher violet #anselm coatl #audrisa itzli #glynis #ianthina #inquisitor ianthina #csi: citlatl #thanks for asking!#grumpy-jedi

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breachy-breeches-creation · 6 years

Text

Cordelia Eilidh Cousland

Age: 18-19 (Origins)

Class: Rogue || Duelist | Bard | Shadows (Awakening) | Assassin |

*(4th Specialization in Witch Hunt)

Love Interest: Alistair

Origins: Human Noble - House of Cousland of Highever.

Major & minor Decisions:

Side with the Mages

Reasoned with both Elves & Werewolves; Break the Curse

Side with Caridin. Destroy the Anvil. Made Bhelen King

Saved Redcliffe,

Saved Connor w/ the help of Circle Mages

->Saved Arl Eamon

Let Brother Genitivi made the Urn public (although warily).

Did not kill the High Dragon

Duel Loghain but let Alistair execute him.

Made Alistair King, **while ruling beside him.

Agreed to Morrigan’s Ritual

------------------------ Cordelia identifies herself first and foremost a Ferelden, then second as a Cousland [noble] which she does pride to be well-educated and a long-line loyalist family to their homeland. As the ancestors before her, she is fiercely loyal to her country, genuinely cares for her country and people regardless of origin. Lastly as a Grey Warden which to her is it “convenient” position to protect her homeland, or so it was in the beginning. “If it the price I must pay to protect my homeland and avenge my family, so shall be it” She learns to become more accepting of people from other nations.

— Cordelia is a wild mischievous little gremlin when she's a child, setting up traps and playing pranks - harmless... mostly, such as throw a bag of flour and/or buckets of cold water from the top of the Castle, occasionally even to important guests -though usually she’s not aware of, which brings her mother Eleanor many headaches. She often slips treats for the servants when Nan isn't looking. As she has gotten a little older, Cordelia used to sneak out of the Castle a lot, hiding her identity by dressing up as a peasant when she's away. Had many rough and tumble play with the local children, and even made a few friends at the nearby Alienage in the Highever area. She's bold and righteous and will fight them if some shit head (more often than not are nobles) harass her servants and/or friends especially if the victim was an elf ( as Bryce always reminds her to treat the servants in the household with kindness and respect and it is her duty to protect them)

Cordelia calms down a bit and became more '”lady-like” after she met her sister-in-law Oriana, Fergus's wife; learned many subtle and feminine arts from the Antivan woman. They were very close. Although the notion of being aunt makes her feels "old', she was completely ecstatic when Oriana became pregnant with Oren. She loves her nephew dearly.

Her personality becomes more reserve after the massacre of the Cousland Castle due to the trauma of the loss of her family, and much harder to get into her good grace. Rarely genuinely smiles other than to her close companions/inner circle.

Before leaving her family that night, she tries to take as much time possible to defend and save as many people as possible. She is saddened to not able to see Gilmore anymore as he is her close childhood friend.

She’s both logical and emotional woman. While she would steel herself & put her feelings aside for agenda, she also would hold hard grudges towards people or do personal favours for people. She’s more passive-aggressive when she’s upset.

When being put in charge of the group’s agenda, while at first, she was desperate to find Fergus, Morrigan (figuratively) slapped some sense on her when they arrived Lothering. She views her duty of being the de-facto leader as a distraction to cope with the loss of her family. Cordelia finally shed tears and break down in front of her companions when she met her father Bryce’s “ghost” at the Gauntlet in the Temple of Sacred Ashes. ------------------------

**Originally I headcanon that she is content simply being a mistress since she doesn’t know what would happen in future, especially when there’s still a Blight to fight at the moment. However, later in the Post-Coronation celebration, Alistair decide to take the matter in his own hands and proposed to her - making her his Queen Consort)

Many thanks to this modder making this dream come true

https://www.nexusmods.com/dragonage/mods/4034/

------------------------

Initially, I was going simply replay Charlotte w/ a different name bc I feel "Charlotte" sounds too French (Orlesian). After stepping back and consider what she would think, turns out more than I have expected.

One of the fascinating things about replay the same characters over and over again is to sometimes discover new qualities about one's OC(s) that one may not be thought about and/or develops into quite a separate individual. Despite the end result/decisions are the same, the reasoning behind it is not quite.

There are many things about her I'd love to talk about but it is scattered all over the place, as one may lead to another and there will be no end to it - considering how my thought process works.

Perhaps I should do the Character Sheet for my Warden at some point if I can find the template.

All questions are welcome.

#dragon age #dragon age origins #dragon age oc #Cordelia Eilidh Cousland #warden #warden cousland #warden commander #cousland #warden oc #hero of ferelden #my oc

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