#I really think it’s possible that at some point in the next two episodes bo will tell him to take off his helmet

[hopelessfandomfreak]

how I want a dinbo kiss to happen:

bo-katan has become the ruler/queen of mandalore. she tells din to remove his helmet. din says something along the lines of “that is not the way.” bo tells him she walks both worlds, and that he should to and says, “as your ruler, I give you permission to do so.”

so dim removes his helmet. bo smiles, cups his face, maybe runs her fingers through his hair, and kisses him. then she says, “only a king of mandalore is worthy of that face. my king.”

[bluepeachstudios]

GitS Asks!

Anonymous asked:

I figured we were going to go the "are you my daddy?" route, but still I'm genuinely surprised that the boys, especially Donnie, haven't even considered that Ghost might be an alternate universe Donatello. I understand that they arent aware of the existence of alternate universes, but Donnie has done research and has a whole cork board dedicated to the subject, WITH PHOTOGRAPHS of three different iterations of the turtle's, all of whom bare a surprising resemblance to Ghost! At least, more so than the Rise!Turts anyways. Meanwhile, Ghost is a mutant turtle who wasn't created by Draxum, is practically a genetic clone of Donnie, is trained in ninjutsu, has a super genius iq, wields a bo staff, wears a purple mask, has brothers who are very similar to the boys, a mutant rat for a father, and was separated by his family in a way that requires a special portal machine to get back to them. Honestly, the fact that Ghost can only return to his family via portal machine should have been a big clue. Like, why is a portal the only way for him to go home? Where on earth is his home if no traditional travel methods can get him back there?

Pizza Pit hasn't happened yet, so Donnie actually hasn't done research with photographs of the different turtle iterations! And keep in mind that Donnie felt like he was copying Ghost. Everyone but Ghost thought that Donnie was just modelling himself after Ghost because they're both intelligent. Favorite color purple? Well he might as well try out a bo staff since that's what Ghost has...

Donnie was aware of a parallel dimension as an option, but he saw Ghost being his dad as more likely. His next best theory is that he's an alien of some kind. Or at least from a different planet, even if he was created on Earth.

=================

@contumacy-supporter asked:

GITS: Do you have any plans on reuniting Ghost and the boys with the rest of the 2003 turtles? Maybe in a "they're here now (Rise verse), they're looking for him (Ghost)" possibly after the Kraang situation (once they've grown)??

Spoilers! :) I promise a happy ending. What that means, I cannot say.

=================

Anonymous asked:

Sorry for the weird ask but I saw a episode of bluey called rain the other day and the relationship between the mom and bluey really reminded me of ghost

I don't/haven't watched Bluey but I appreciate you thinking of Ghost when you're watching other stuff! I hope people who know enjoy the parallel :D

=================

Anonymous asked:

At this point the feeling of being pulled in two different directions is so strong I feel like the best case/least painful solution is having some sorta inter-reality doorway that could allow back-and-forth between Ghost’s world and Rise, kinda like how the dimensions in 03 work with the Battle Nexus. I know it’s unlikely, but I’m in denial and will take comfort in the absurd mental image of being able to do ridiculous things like traveling to another reality to borrow a cup of sugar

The 03 Turtles knocking on the interdimensional doorway "hey guys yeah can we have some sugar because the methodical destruction of all but small patches of plant-life on our planet making everything uninhabitable has made it difficult to get some."

==================

Anonymous asked:

OH MY GOSH THE LAST CHAPTER OF GITS HAS TURNED ME INTO A PUDDLE OF EMOTIONAL JELLY!!! THANK YOU!!! Question time: you said previously that Ghost’s colour pallet was going to change to match the rise one at some point. I assumed that it was going to be because of his mutation from getting stung, but the whole ‘being filled with bright neon colours thing’ and feeling more at home and like he has a place in the Rise world in the last chapter is making me think that it’s going to be triggered by emotions instead. Are the boys going to notice? Will it be commented on? I cannot wait to see Ghost’s reaction!! Also, I’m assuming that when his colour pallet changes the effect of physics upon him will also - I cannot wait to see Ghost get hit hard and then be like ‘I’M FINE??? WHY AM I FINE???’.

Spoilers! But I promise it'll be mentioned more blatantly in the story when it does happen.

==================

Anonymous asked:

I LOVED the last chapter of GITS!! A big difference between the 2003 TMNT and Rise is that the 2003 turtles are not biologically related to Splinter in any way, and they possibly aren’t biologically related to each other either. They are just four turtles and a rat that happened to be in the right place at the right time to get mutated. Splinter became their father because he CHOSE to be. They are a family through CHOICE. I love that you are carrying that on into GITS!! Biological relation doesn’t matter to Ghost - why would it? It’s a legacy of love he is passing on to the Rise boys, and I think it’s beautiful.

For 2003 it's very likely that they're biologically brothers, because they were sold at the same time from the same pet store, likely from the same tank. They were probably a part of the same clutch! But Splinter taking them in definitely taught them that choosing is important. Knowing April and Casey, meeting the rest of their friends, the turtles know. They know what it means to choose family. Biological relation has never mattered to Ghost. Even if his brothers weren't biologically related to him at all, he would still feel the same about them.

It's kind of why Ghost doesn't understand Rise Splinter well. Why would he choose to take in these kids when he acts like he doesn't want them half the time?

==================

Anonymous asked:

stuck on the idea for months that like even if in canon sainw is happening in live time while ghost’s with his kids what if his brothers just show up one day as teenagers and are like “we’re so sorry it took us so many months to get here we fought to find you with every second of the day” and ghost’s just there like “IM IN MY F O R T I E S WHAT ON EARTH DO YOU MEAN MONTHS” and that’s how everyone discovers that the rottmnt dimension moves time at rocket speed in comparison to 2k3

Oh man THAT would be a fun AU. Dang. Oof. Ouchie.

==================

Anonymous asked:

Referencing the GITS ask about 16 yr old 2003 Donnie finding newly mutated Splinter and Turtle Tots; what would change for Splinter? He suddenly has this 16 year old to deal with that’s expecting him to be amazing and wise to go along with horribly mutating into a rat and massive amounts of trauma. Would having 03 Donnie there help, or make things worse for Splinter? Would Splinter give in to his depression and mental health issues earlier because 03 Donnie is there to watch the babies? Does he feel the need to parent 03 Donnie? Does the fact that 03 Donnie has gone through some traumatic experiences make Splinter more determined not to train the Rise boys or convince him that they need training for their own protection when they are old enough? Also does Rise Donnie get given a different name because 03 Donnie is there? If he gets given his cannon name, what do the Rise babies call 03 Donnie when they start to speak? (Sorry this has so many questions - this idea kidnapped my brain and wouldn’t give it back)

I imagine Lou (because he is still Lou at this point) would feel responsible for Don as well. Don is scared, he just got separated from his family, he's been through shit. Don calls his dad "sensei" or "father" or "Master Splinter", so Lou wouldn't use Splinter as a nickname. Don would also be talking about his brothers. This boy spills everything instantly. Lou immediately knows everything about their lives. He doesn't tell Don about his, because he's still just a kid. He's younger than Lou was when he left home to be a movie star.

Don being there would help and make things worse. On one hand, Lou feels guilty for the days he can't help Don, and it feels like Don's doing everything on his own. Don helps look after the kids, he helps fix up the lair, he helps set up security, he's working on his portal. He just works all the time. The only way Lou can get him to stop is if he asks him to watch the kids. And it does sort of let his depression seep in a little faster, because he's got someone covering for him.

He still parents Don. Tries to take care of him, tries to teach him. Don is the one who approaches him asking for training, because he's been doing it his whole life, and he enjoys it. It gives him a way to let out energy when his mind is tired and he wants to rest it. It reminds him of his family, makes him feel closer to them. He still goes out to do patrols every night, still saves people in trouble as quietly as he can. Lou worries about him, but he can hardly stop him from doing what he wants. He isn't Don's father. It makes him more determined not to train the little ones, but they'll end up mimicking Don, wanting to know what he's doing. Don ends up teaching them little things. Lou and Don probably get into a big argument about it.

I think all the Rise boys would get different names in this case, because Lou knows Don's name and his brothers' names. Raphael would be Alessandro (Sandro), Donatello would be Masaccio (Masa), Michelangelo would be Angelico (Angie), and Leonardo would be Titian (Ti).

==================

Anonymous asked:

I ADORED THE LAST CHAPTER OF GITS!!! HE ADMITTED IT!!! THEY ARE OFFICIALLY HIS KIDS!!! AHHHHHH!!! <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 Does Ghost have any pictures of his kiddos anywhere?

Yes! He has a bunch on his phone. He has a few printed out he keeps tucked into his cloak. Just in case.

==================

Anonymous asked:

From the elaborately choreographed dance number the boys pulled off in “Mascott Melee”, it’s obvious that they spend a lot of time practicing dancing together. Does Ghost ever catch them at it? On a scale of 1-10 how adorable does he think it is? Have the boys ever put a little show on for him? Do they ever try to get Ghost to dance with them? CAN Ghost dance?

Watching them dance? They do it all the time, and Ghost enjoys watching. He's never joined in, always insisting he can't dance. They try to get him to join in, but he just refuses. He likes watching them more. CAN he? I feel like Ghost can dance in the same way that Aang from ATLA can dance. His fighting is his dancing.

==================

Anonymous asked:

For some reason, despite not really wearing clothes, all of the Rise boys wear pj's. Do they ever get ghost pj's? What is his reaction? Does he actually wear them?

I like to think they get a lil chilly at night and that's why they wear PJs. Sometimes Donnie sleeps entirely nekkid (Purple Jacket) so I imagine it depends on what they're feeling at the moment.

The boys 100% get Ghost pajamas. They're strawberry PJs. He loves them and wears them especially in winter.

==================

Anonymous asked:

Do the boys ever play their music for Ghost? What does he think? How does he react in front of the boys?

The boys definitely play their music for Ghost! He listens to it and sees how they can enjoy it. Personally he likes classic rock the most but he's not terribly picky, either. He tends to go with "I see why you like this song" kind of vibes, even if he doesn't like it personally. He likes hearing their music. Gives him a little insight to the inside of their heads.

==================

Anonymous asked:

GITS: Were April’s science fairs any less of a disaster with Ghost there to supervise?

Nope not at all. If anything they were even crazier. Ghost didn't help out with April's science projects! He let that be an April and Donnie thing. He does has helped April with her science homework occasionally if Donnie was too busy.

==================

Anonymous asked:

It was awesome to see Ghost and Splinter actually start to get a little closer in the last chapter. I think they both need it - they need to see each other as the actual people they are rather than the shadows of the people the represent to one another.

Yeah, they do. It's a slow process. Splinter's starting to learn how Ghost likes to be cared about, and Ghost is starting to see that Splinter actually cares.

==================

Anonymous asked:

Does Ghost have an opinion on Lou Jitsu and his movies? And does Splinter know what that opinion is? What is Splinter’s opinion of Ghost’s opinion?

Before Ghost found out that Splinter was Lou Jitsu, he enjoyed the movies quite a bit! They reminded him of something his Michelangelo would really like, of movie nights with his brothers. Splinter overheard Ghost's opinion of the movies from his boys, and from Ghost. He's very pleased that Ghost likes them.

After Ghost finds out Splinter was Lou Jitsu, he stopped watching the movies unless he was watching them with the boys. It just made him think of how different everything was. He's learning to enjoy them again, slowly.

[w0lfinsheepscl0thing]

1898: Forgetting Their Shadows - Update

Since last May, I’ve been developing an 1899 fic, and I’m as excited about it as I was when I thought of it. However, I’ve been in a writing slump for almost a month and it’s been taking away all my confidence and motivation. But I’m not going to give up on the project till it’s done! I’m mainly active on Instagram, so after I posted some teasers I made for it back in October, mainly because I thought I would somehow finish it soon, I completely abandoned the idea of posting on here till it was done. But, of course, things didn’t go as planned. I really want to keep working on this fic, so, in hopes that it’ll help with motivation, I’ve decided to try and post updates for it here, even if they are small.

But first, I haven't really introduced this project properly! Settle in, because this is going to be a long one…

How I Started the Story

(Feel free to skip this or any of the points to get to the info you want; a lot is rambling!)

In April, 2023, I checked out 1899 and was immediately invested in Ángel (and Ramiro, of course. He just came later). I had no idea what I was getting into when I started the show, so I’ll have to admit, I didn’t think I’d like it at first, and it took till episode three to really get into it. If it wasn’t for Ángel, I might’ve not seen the whole thing through, which sounds crazy looking back on it now! I started to visualize Ángel and Ramiro’s backstory and where they came from while constantly hoping they’d get their own episode, so when I finished season one and found out it was canceled, I was very disappointed. Not only because they didn’t get an ending, but because now I wanted to know everyones’ endings. It was by this point I realized how stupid I was to think it wasn’t worth watching.

Also, at this time, I didn’t use Tumbler and assumed (from an Instagram only perspective) that the community for the show was dead. I also thought the people I loved and wanted to see more of weren’t appreciated among the few people still active in it. I really wanted to see the backstory behind Ramiro and Ángel, so I tried to write it myself. It was… terrible in the beginning. It was written in a script format, the chapters were only 300 words max, and a lot of it wasn’t realistic, but at least it was a start? Over time, though, I figured out I definitely wasn’t the only person who wanted to see more of them, and it evolved into not just those two people, but the entire story of 1899. I’m really glad it changed to that.

What Exactly Is This Story? What is it trying to accomplish?

I’m writing every backstory, then hopefully seasons 2 and 3, but also trying to make them as precise and accurate as possible. They include some of my own twists, as long as they aren’t contradicted by anything already confirmed, but the point is to make it everything the show was to be and more. I want it to have all of the detail and thought that Bo and Jantie put into it, even if it is painstaking to map out. I don’t want to give too much away yet, but just to clear something up (mainly for my own sake), this is my own take on the story and it’s different from other backstory/finishing the plot fics; I’m really trying to make it as different as I can!

So, Where Are You Now With It?

That’s complicated. I thought I had almost everything done for Volume One (Spain), but after getting through a rough draft of Chapter Six, I was gravely mistaken. I decided to take a step back and plan as much as I could, so once Volume one is out, I can almost immediately start on Volume Two, and so on and so forth. However, with so many puzzle pieces, it’s been tortuous to plan. Right now, I think the best option is for me to pick apart everything pre-simulation so I can understand everything that comes next. The main goal is for me to map out anything and everything, so I don’t change things later that ruin everything I already did, then (finally) finish Volume One.

This is going to be a while, but I want this to be as perfect as I can get it. At least it’ll be done this year, and I hope you're able to stick around for the journey :).

[vvitchering]

lmao ok last review of the season

That was the most mediocre thing I've ever seen. THAT was their finale?? LAST week's episode felt more like a finale than whatever milk toast this was.

And don't come for me with that "oh Hannah you'd be upset if they actually did something too weh weh" crap. YEAH I PROBABLY WOULD BE. Cause every single episode of this entire season has been one of two models:

Lets do Absolutely Nothing

Lets do The Worst Possible Thing But Make It Stupid, Too

So I guess in the grand scheme of things it's better to have gone the do Absolutely Nothing route for the finale. But also what a disappointing end to the most disappointing and shit season yet.

Aight let's talk specifics.

Why the fuck was that so easy to do. Din didn't even have to be there for any of that. They could have sent him a postcard later on like "ay whats up we retook mandalore" and it would have had the same impact. Nothing anyone did mattered because Axe just ended up dropping an entire ship on top of Gideon, negating any actual struggle.

Oh he broke the darksaber, are we going to explore the ramifications of that? Will this affect Bo-Katan who has done nothing but lust after that stupid sword for two entire seasons? Will we finally get some thought about what leadership means? Absolutely not!!!! It means nothing!! Toss it away and never speak of it again!!!!! SURE OK!!!!! GREAT.

We didn't actually physically see Gideon die and and you know how that goes so maybe he'll be back. Can't say I like that the clones he was making were clones of himself, I still think evil little grogus would have been more disturbing and fun.

oh so Paz dying didn't actually matter either, good to know we did that for shits and giggles Only.

No helmet off scene, either. Bleh. Whatever, I guess.

None of this had any actual teeth. No drama, no emotion, just a bunch of (kinda shitty actually??) CGI explosions and whoop looks like we won yay great

I'm actually very annoyed they they didn't follow up on any of the suspicious shit the armorer has been doing all season. I was SURE she was going to be one of the spies last week's episode referenced. We never did get an explanation about that, did we? lol

Okay let's look at the very limited list of things I actually did like:

Din finally adopts Grogu!!! But nope we're not doing the Mandalorian adoption rites and Din is going to act as unenthusiastic as physically possible about it. Cool cool.

Din Grogu? What. Is that how Mandalorian names work???? You know what would have helped with this? Some actual Mando lore at all at any point in this entire season about Mandalorians. Wow.

This isn't really a list of things I liked huh

sorry lol

Uhhhh IG is back? I think? Maybe? Hard to tell if its actually him or just a reset IG-11 model. So was IG-12 a totally different droid??? (Also if it was literally as easy as stopping by any random bar and finding a head why didn't we do that in the first place. What the fuck.)

uhhhh they have a very tiny little house now? With a froggie pond! That's cute.

Din still refuses to actually call Grogu his child in any capacity, despite just literally adopting him as his own. Din get over your issues, that kid has been yours since the second you made eye contact with him. I wouldn't be as annoyed by this if they'd given me any reason why Din would be so hesitant to call Grogu family.

Everything about this just felt too easy and too neat. It's an entire episode of "blink and you miss it because it took 5 seconds and no work to do" events that have zero emotional payoff because they wasted the entire season on stupid shit that was never followed up on or made any sense.

My only decent takeaway is Din and Grogu both survived, nothing that happened this season apparently matters AT ALL to ANYTHING, so maybe things can get back to normal next season.

I hope we get some kind of official explanation for this at some point. I maintain that something must have happened internally for the writing to suddenly take such a drastic and obvious nosedive. All I can hope is that this was a temporary fluke and I don't have more seasons of this kind of boring nonsensical bullshit to look forward to.

Season overall gets a .5/10. And that's being generous. Disney, you should be ashamed of yourselves. "Best season yet" my entire ass.

I wash my hands of this season.

[chitto]

I ANALYZED ALL OF THE NEW SONGS ON RANBOO'S LORE PLAYLIST - HERE'S WHAT I FOUND

Back in March, I listened to every single song on Ranboo's DMCA Lore Playlist. I came up with a solid theory, published my evidence and that was that. My work was done.

But nope! Ranboo's back and he's deleted a ton of songs and added more. And so I listened. Again. And I'm back with a theory, and it does not look good.

This new batch of songs shows us that this is a new era of c!Ranboo. Redesign Your Logo is meant to tell us that things are changing, and so is c!Ranboo. This could be do to the fact that something bad is most likely going to happen to c!Ranboo in the near future, probably the taking of his first canon life. Songs like Eyewishes and Goodbye heavily point to the ending of a chapter (or life) of c!Ranboo. The song Blue Monday isn’t anything revolutionary, as we were already well aware of the toxic relationship between c!Ranboo and c!Dream. Another thing to point out is that Everybody Wants To Rule The World sets up an interesting take on nuclear weapons, a thing that c!Tubbo has and c!Ranboo doesn’t know exists. If c!Ranboo were to find out about the nukes, it could lead to the two fighting over whether or not they were a good thing. Going into Time Moves Slow, the narrator there discusses a relationship that just ended between them and their lover, meaning there could be a c!Beeduo divorce arc in the near future.

Below are the analyses on each individual song and the added and deleted songs

Deleted: Prologue (StarKid), Introduction to the Snow (Miracle Musical), Dream Sweet in Sea Major (Miracle Musical), Turn the Lights Off (Tally Hall), The Mind Electric (Miracle Musical), The Ruler of Everything (Tally Hall), Ain't No Rest for The Wicked (Cage the Elephant), The Bidding (Tally Hall), Stranded Lullaby (Miracle Musical), Hidden in the San (Tally Hall), & (Tally Hall), I'm Gonna Win (Rob Cantor).

Added: Redesign Your Logo (Lemon Demon), Everybody Wants to Rule the World (Tears for Fears), Blue Monday (New Order), Eyewishes (Lemon Demon), Bystanding (Lemon Demon), Goodbye (Bo Burnham), Time Moves Slow (BADBADNOTGOOD and Samuel T. Herring).

Redesign Your Logo (Lemon Demon) - This song is about a pdf that went around during 2009 about the Pepsi company logo. In it, the Arnell group is trying to sell Pepsi a new logo, so that they can make tons of money. I feel that this song symbolizes evolution and growth, we’re entering a new era of c!Ranboo. He’s redesigned and rebranded. This song could also be on this playlist because of a fan animation on youtube set to the same song by Shyshui.

Everybody Wants To Rule The World (Tears for Fears) - This song was written about the Cold War between The Soviet Union and The United States that happened during the 20th Century. The main line of the song ‘Everybody Wants to Rule the World’ is about how everyone wants power, and the misery that it brings with it. This is a theme we can see clearly on the DreamSMP, with many leaders such as c!Eret, c!George, c!Bad, c!Wilbur, and c!Dream all leading lives of misery in one way or another. This is also important for c!Ranboo, as he is the most powerful man on the server. It tells us that his power will soon be his misery. Also a small little thing I’d like to point out is the line ‘Say that you’ll never, never, never, never need it’ which is meant to be about the use of nuclear devices during that time period. Many governments had them but claimed they would only use them if another country was launching a nuclear attack. This could translate to c!Tubbo owning nukes and c!Ranboo possibly finding out, which could cause discourse between the two.

Blue Monday (New Order) - Blue Monday is about the singer pondering the mistreatment of their person by someone they trusted. The person seems to be manipulative and toxic for the singer but the singer is too far under their control to leave them. Immediately we can tell that this song is most likely about the relationship between c!Ranboo and c!Dream. c!Dream uses c!Ranboo as his errand boy, making him do all sorts of tasks, although this hasn’t really happened since the Disc War Confrontation. However, we know the c!Dream still has some sort of hold over c!Ranboo because we saw c!Sapnap trigger an Enderwalk episode by giving c!Ranboo a message from c!Dream.

Eyewishes (Lemon Demon) - Eyewishes is a song about a distraught man who has no eyelashes, as he used them all on wishes, and now he can make no more wishes. The man pours out his frustrations and then resolves to committing suicide. While I don’t believe c!Ranboo would take his own life, I believe that he soon will die. The last line of this song is ‘So take care of my plants and pets and now I’ll say good-’. c!Ranboo has many pets in his care and he would want them taken care of after he dies. I could see him saying this line to a character like c!Tubbo. However, c!Ranboo is still on three canon lives and would not perma died if killed.

Bystanding (Lemon Demon) - Bystanding is the direct sequel to Eyewishes, starting off with bi, completing the phrase ‘goodbye’ started at the end of Eyewishes. Other than this, the song has no real points of interest as it’s just the singer repeating different words, working his way up from 2 to 5.

Goodbye (Bo Burnham) - I’m going to split this song up into two sections, just because I think there’s a lot to cover here. Let’s start pre-bridge. For context, Goodbye is the final track from the comedy-musical special Inside, done by Bo Burnham. Bo says the special was a long project for him as he filmed the entire thing in his house during COVID-19 Quarantine. The beginning part of this song talks a lot about how Bo doesn’t want the special to be over because now he has nothing else to do, and he’ll just have to live his life. This could translate into c!Ranboo losing a lot of things that he worked for, such as his valuables (totems and riches) and just being a normal person again. It could also signify an ending of a chapter for him, maybe his marriage ending, his partnership with the Syndicate ending. However, I believe that its most likely to be c!Ranboo’s neutrality ending. During the recent lore stream he did with c!Wilbur, we finally saw c!Ranboo pick a side. He chose Wilburger over Las Nevadas, losing his trademark neutral stance. c!Ranboo thought his neutrality made him more than others, that he was the one able to see over the conflict, but now he’s just like everyone else. He has a side and an enemy. Let’s move into the bridge and ending of the song now. The first line I’d like to call specifically is ‘Wanna guess the ending, if it ever does.’ This line could maybe signify the fact that throughout the history of the SMP there have been many times that the conflict and story feel like they’ve finally come to a close, only for everything to start up once again. The next lyric is ‘If I wake up in a house that’s full of smoke, I’ll panic, so call me up and tell me a joke.’ This is a callback to another song on Inside, Comedy, in which Bo talks about using his comedy as a way to help people, but really it was he who needed help. c!Ranboo acts as a protector for a lot of characters, most notable c!Tubbo and tried hard to please most people and aid as many as he can, but most of the time he’s the one needed the most help. Similar to Bo, c!Ranboo doesn’t realize he needs help until it’s too late.

Time Moves Slow (BADBADNOTGOOD and Samuel T. Herring) - This song is about a person who’s lover has left them, and although it’s painful they know its for the better. This could, unfortunately, suggest a c!beeduo split but there is another part of this song that I’d like to touch on. ‘Running away is easy, its the living that’s hard.’ This is the chorus for the song and it talks about how running from your problems is easier than facing them but having to live without them is hard. Throughout the story, we often see c!Ranboo ignore his problems, most recently with the vandalism of c!Tubbo’s cookie shop. c!Ranboo found it and decided to fix it and tell no one it happened, which lead to a hostile confrontation between c!Quackity and c!Tubbo.

[princessamericachavez]

Fjorester Talk in episode 117

also known as Sofía goes buckwild and overanalyzes 10 minutes of conversation and body language.

ready?

Ok, first of all, Fjord looks so worried from the get go as he asks Jester if Lucien/Cree was speaking to her directly. 

And when she confirms it he does this little grumpy sigh

He no like it. No like it at all.

Fjord: Does it seem like he’s keying in on you in particular?

LISTEN GUYS

I’VE BEEN WAITING FOR LIKE TWO WEEKS

HOPING FJORD WOULD GET PROTECTIVE OVER JESTER CONSTANTLY GETTING SCRIED ON/MESSAGED BY LUCIEN BUT I DIDN’T THINK TRAVIS WAS ACTUALLY GOING TO DELIVER

AND HE DIIIIIID

Ok anyway he goes on about how when they see someone else scrying it’s usually just a representation of the spell and wonders if Lucien is more powerful and therefor can see the person

and then he makes a pause mid-argument

because Jester makes this face and he realizes this is upsetting her, so he quickly backtracks trying to reassure her. 

Fjord: I’m sure it’s just coincidence but...

and here’s where the idea comes and god how long has he been thinking about this???

Fjord: since we’re not in the sea... would you... want to wear this?

YES HELLO DO YOU SEE THE PARALLELS TO THAT ONE TIME HE WANTED TO GIVE HER AN EXTRA POWERFUL HEALING POTION TO MAKE SURE SHE WOULD BE SAFE??? PROTECTIVE FJORD PARALLELS!!!

and then he just brushes off the fact that he’s a huge Uk’otoa beacon everytime they are on water —baby, you died once already, don’t act like it’s whatever???

Fjord: maybe it would provide some protection if we were to keep checking in on him?

Jester: I mean... it’s worth a try. 

Of course, as she points out, Lucien has already met all of them and he could just as easily scry on any of the M9 if he wanted to, but that’s not really what Fjord is worried about, what is bothering him. Fjord knew Lucien was watching and it’s not the first time they are scried on, but he makes it clear that he’s concerned about how centered on Jester that’s been lately. 

Jester: Maybe it’ll keep me from getting seen next time I scry on him?

Fjord: I guess we’ll find out next time we try it. 

The way he chuckles softly, trying to defuse the tension, and she smiles back even though this subject clearly has her nervous??? 11/10

Jester: Thank you. 

SHE SAYS IT SO SOFTLY. SHE’S CLEARY SO TOUCHED THAT HE’S WATCHING OUT FOR HER AND HAVING HER BACK JUST LIKE HE ALWAYS DOES. 

LOOK AT THOSE HEART EYES THEY BOTH HAVE WTF

THEY ARE BOTH SO SOFT 

Fjord: Yeah. Just in case it’s not... coincidence. 

Listen there’s such a heaviness in how he says the word. 

Like the possibility of anyone —especially this very dangerous stranger with the face of a friend— purposefully targeting Jester is his worst nightmare. It probably is. 

Jester: It’s also creepy. He did say that he kind of knew me, right?

NOTICE HOW JESTER IS STILL PLAYING WITH THE AMULET IN HER HANDS??? 

Idk why but that’s getting to me. She’s so nervous with this whole thing. 

Fjord: He did?

Jester: When we got there he said he hadn’t met anyone except for me. 

OH FJORD DOESN’T LIKE THIS AT ALL

So of course Jester tries to defuse the tension talking about how she must look like through the scry

AND HE’S JUST SO IN LOVE

And so he plays along

LOOK AT THE WAY HE MAKE HER SMILE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(same, Ashley, same)

And so, more reassured by the goofiness, Jester finally puts the necklace on. 

Fjord: And of course, it’s Caleb’s...

Jester: oh

LISTEN SHE DID NOT LIKE THAT. She was clearly so excited to get a present like this from Fjord and you can see her face fall a little when it’s deviated towards someone else. 

Jester: should I ask him if it’s okay?

Fjord: Well, he gave it to me to use it..

Fjord: and you seem to need it more. 

AKA THE AMULET WAS FOR FJORD’S WELLBEING BUT THE WAY HE IS OK IS IF HE KNOWS JESTER IS PROTECTED

Jester, now that she knows this is something that he is personally choosing to transfer to her: Okay...

LOOK AT THE WAY SHE CLUTCHES IT TO HER HEART I’M DYING

Fjord: And just be careful.

Fjord: I don’t like the possibility of him keying in on you or using that connection between the two of you to manipulate something. His magic seems strange. 

LISTEN GUYS LISTEN 

THIS PART HERE IS HUGE OK?

This is the part where Fjord took 18 steps forward instead of one since Rumblecusp

Whereas before he could’ve hide his concern as something tactical, something useful that made sense and could help their mission... or could’ve hidden behind group speech to disguise his concern...

here he says “I don’t like the possibility of him keying in on you.”

here he is straight up saying “I am worried about you”

(quietly hopes Lucien does exactly that to trigger more protective fjord instincts in the future and lots of angst based shippy shenaingans)

Fjord: Alright. More adventures tomorrow. 

BECAUSE THAT’S ALL OK

THAT’S IT

HE SAID HIS PIECE, HE KEPT HER SAFE, MADE SURE SHE LAUGHED A LITTLE AND THAT’S ALL HE NEEDS... THAT AND MORE ADVENTURES BY HER SIDE

But then Jester hesitates

AND LOOK AT THAT, THE WAY SHE PULLS BACK LIKE SHE’S AFRAID IF SHE SAYS THE WRONG THING HE’LL CLOSE OFF

THE WAY HIS FACE SCRUNCHES WITH WORRY OVER WHAT COULD POSSIBLY BE TROUBLING HER THAT SHE’S HESITATING TO SAY

Fjord: What?

Jester: H- How are you?

FJORD MELTING IMMEDIATELY: 

The way he goes from super concerned to extremely soft in 0.2 seconds.

(i am ashley and ashley is me)

Jester: *explaining all the very valid reasons she has to be worried about Fjord too and all the crazy shit that happened to him only a few days ago*

Fjord: *bursting with feelings of love*

seriously travis pls have some mercy of my poor yearning soul

Also I wanna talk about the way Jester brings up Avantika.

Jester: She tried to pull you into the water... you guys had a thing... it must have been weird to see her all kinda dead and stuff... was it weird? And then you killed her... again...

The way she calls them “a thing” and the way she checks if it was “weird” for him to see her as undead really says a lot to me. I think Jester never quite got over the heartbreak during the pirate arc and part of her probably still thought that Fjord harbored some sort of feelings or attraction towards Avantika. 

I think she believes whatever they two had was far more intimate than it actually was. Or, at the very least, Jester thinks it must have meant something to Fjord. 

How could she not? The whole thing had her bursting with jealousy and pain and unresolved feelings... you can tell how anxious she is around this subject but also she needs to know if he’s alright because she cares too much

Fjord: It was weird. Yeah, it was weird, for sure. I wasn’t expecting that...

HE DOESN’T EVEN REGISTER IT AS AN “EX” THING I SWEAR

Fjord: I’m alright. 

And so she finally relaxes.

Fjord: It feels like I keep trying to start newer chapters in my life and leave the old stuff behind and then it just... keeps popping up. 

Fjord: It feels like it’s hard to... pursue something new, when the past is not dealt with. 

YOU CAN’T SEE IT IN THE SCREENSHOTS BUT JESTER STARTS NODDING VERY GENTLY WHEN HE STARTS TALKING ABOUT NEW CHAPTERS AND MOVING ON 

ALSO THIS

(ashley knows what I’m talking about)

Jester: Do we need to deal with the past?

WE

SHE SAYS WE

BECAUSE AS USUAL THEY ARE A TEAM ALWAYS FIRST AND FOREMOST

AND IF THIS IS SOMETHING HE NEEDS TO DO SHE’S GOING TO HELP HIM AND BE BY HIS SIDE WITHOUT A DOUBT NO MATTER WHAT

Fjord: I think so. 

Fjord: Yeah... I want to. 

THE WAY HE LOOKS AT HER WHEN HE SAYS ‘I WANT TO’. HE WANTS TO HAVE A FUTURE WITH HER. HE WANTS TO LET GO OF THE PAST SO HE CAN HAVE A FUTURE WITH HER. HE’S LETTING HIMSELF ‘WANT’ THIS AND ADMITTING IT.

Fjord: I feel like I need to close all of that before...

AND THEN HE JUST GOES THROUGH THIS BLESSED FACE JOURNEY FOR 6 ENTIRE SECONDS

LOOK AT IT

AND THE WAY SHE SLOWLY SMILES LIKE SHE MIGHT KNOW WHAT HE MEANS

LOOK AT HER OWN FACIAL JOURNEY

ASHLEYYYYYYYYYY

And so Jester jumps into action mode offering her help. 

and Fjord —once again— proves that he’s able and willing to open up to Jester about things that he’s keeping close to his chest... like Sabian. 

Fjord: I um... I actually... I put a bounty out for S-Sabian. 

IDK WHY THIS FACIAL EXPRESSION AMUSES ME THIS MUCH

THIS IS FJORD’S ‘IM ABOUT TO CONFESS SOMETHING PERSONAL TO JESTER FACE’ AND WE’VE SEEN IT BEFORE AT THE KILN AND IN RUMBLECUSP

Jester: A bo- When? How?

SHE’S SO BEWILDERED LMFAO

and a little offended that she didn’t know

and I think Fjord can tell by the way he quickly tries to excuse it as a way to keep Kotho occupied after the whole Vokodo ordeal

But Jester quickly gets back on track and starts looking for a way to help him with this. If finding Sabian is what Fjord wants —what he needs— right now, she’ll do anything to help him. 

Jester: *describing how she would be able to help Fjord*

Fjord, who never had anyone be this ride or die for him ever and who is bursting at the seems with love for this kind and wonderful woman:

Fjord: Sure.

Jester: You want me to do it?

Fjord: Yeah. 

THOSE HEART EYES SHOULD BE ILEGAL 

Jester: *uses a sixth level spell to send a message for Fjord because this is totally her number one priority now and it’s not like they are dealing with stuff that literally drained her today or like they are stuck up north for god knows how long... nope... she needs to find a way to help Fjord right now*

Fjord:

okay okay okay

so after the message

you can see how Jester is worried that the news she finally found for him are bad news and not going to cheer him up

Jester: Oops

Fjord: No, no, no, no! No oops! That’s great! That’s great!

I love the way he rushes to reassure her, to make sure she knows that what she just did for him is amazing and means so much and please jester do not be sad about this because this already means so much to me you have no ideaaaaaa

Fjord: That’s... totally distracting but that’s great. 

Fjord: Thank you.

Jester: You’re welcome! Now you know!

Fjord, with more feeling and emotion behind it like he wants to tell her that she and everything she does for him out of love mean the entire universe to him: Thank you.

Jester, blissfully unaware that he’s in love with him but delighted that she was able to help and that he is letting her in enough to help deal with his past: You’re welcome! I’m glad I could help!

Fjord, still not over how good she is and how diametrically different her kindness is compared to everything else he’s known in life so far and still after these many months shook and surprised by how wonderful she is: That’s very nice of you, I-

Jester: It’s just a (6th level) spell. Easy to do.

SHE HAS NO IDEA THAT WHAT HE MEANS ISN’T THE MAGIC NOR THE SPELL NOR THE INFORMATION... IT’S HER HELP AND SUPPORT THAT HE IS SO SHAKEN WITH. 

Fjord: I.... will think about that all night. 

Sure you will Fjord. We know you will. But we know it’s not about Sabien but about Jester’s kindness that you’re gonna be thinking all night. We know that’s what’s keeping you up. Not the past, the future. 

AND OF COURSE

THE OBLIGATORY AWKWARD ENDING

Fjord: I’ll race you to the top!

Both: UP!

THEY ARE SO ADORABLE AND GOOFY AND PERFECT FOR EACH OTHER WTF HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO LIVE MY LIFE INSTEAD OF THINKING ABOUT THEM 24/7??

ANYWAY WHO IS READY FOR PIRATE ARC PART 2 AND MORE SHENANIGANS WITH THESE TWO WHILE FJORD GETS FINALLY READY TO MOVE FORWARD TOWARDS THE FUTURE HE WANTS WITH JESTER? I AM

[cybernaght]

Guardian rewatch: Episode 5

I thought this would be a shorter recap. Ha!

Every now and then throughout this show we are getting CGI wide shots of the Dragon City, mostly establishing the time of day. They have three settings: nighttime, daytime, and sunset/sunrise. While quality-wise those wide shots would not feel out of place in a video game from ten years ago, with buildings looking all rubbery, I actually really like this sunset sky. I also appreciate that they firmly establish that this is city is not, in fact, a real place. I almost wish the architecture was a little bit less familiar, but making the city look truly otherworldly here would make location scouting much harder. As it happens, the buildings on the forefront have a very 60’s art deco revival inspired feeling, and there are some distinctively neoclassical buildings peppered around as well. We can also see that the roads are very wide, and generally there is a hint of Stalinist grandioseness about the downtown. Unfortunately, it looks nothing like the locations and sets the characters are running in; we also get a feeling that the Dragon City is very large, which is not entirely consistent with the very few locations that were available when shooting the series. This shot does, however, remind me the city I grew up in (Moscow).

The actual plot of the episode centres around Huang Linqi and his fiancé, Li Jiaqi, going missing - it will be important, because their disastrous wedding will produce the most Clark Kent moment that Shen Wei will ever have. We also meet the parents of the couple, who are stinking rich and extremely unpleasant. It also introduces us to Butler Wu (Wu Tian’en) and his son, who will become important in later episodes. Butler Wu is not actually the villain of the piece, despite this shot clearly telling us otherwise. 

Back at the university, Shen Wei is having a morning tea with his dean. He holding his teacup with almost god-like elegance, very close to actually covering his mouth when he drinks, which is extremely old-fashioned. This is in stark contrast with him brazenly and un-gentlemanly showing his ankles. 

Shen Wei is asked to move off campus, because, apparently, having a chief of the special task force showing up at your office is bad for the reputation. Since the professor does not look surprised, and states that he has already found a flat, I’m guessing that he was clever enough to have predicted this turn of events, and used it to secure the place a breath away from Zhao Yunlan. It is up to speculation as to when he started scouting for an apartment: it could not have been more than a few weeks since he met Zhao Yunlan, and finding a flat can take a while. 

At the SID office, we are treated to a lovely moment between the team members, crowding around Lin Jin’s new invention: a popcorn-specific microwave.

It’s very sweet to see the team indulge in some nonsense outside of their case work, made even better by Wang Zheng being there. The fact that Zhao Yunlan is on board with his department’s time and resources being spent on a popcorn maker only makes this scene better. He is crouching on the table, because chairs are for the weak.

After inspecting the crime scene, Zhao Yunlan is spending some time outside chatting to Buttler Wu, and comments on Li Jiaqi’s good looks, since Zhao Yunlan is a man who can appreciate beauty.

As Xiao Guo is awe-struck at his boss’ ability to note someone’s prettiness from a distance, Chu Shuzhi literally rolls his eyes calling those “instincts of a beast”, and Zhao Yunlan fails to reprimand him for the remark, because… fair enough. Very fair enough. It’s hard not to relate to Zhao Yunlan, a self-admitted bi disaster. 

Shen Wei is being shown his new apartment. He does not even look around it, staring instead at Zhao Yunlan’s front door across the hall from him.

Moving here is a completely senseless thing to do. How on earth is he planning to hide his Hei Pao Shi persona while being a next door neighbour to the chief of SID? My conclusion is that from a character stand-point, it’s nothing but an act of desperate devotion; from a narrative stand-point, this codifies that their relationship is about to get very intimate indeed. 

The SID members are interrogating Buttler Wu: as is often the case, instead of bringing him in, like they did with Shen Wei, they hijack a cafe nearby to have a more relaxed conversation. As they talk, Shen Wei is making his way past the cafe, which both Wu Tian'en and Shen Wei notice. 

Shen Wei proceed to follow Butler Wu, who calls him out on it. This leads to a removal of his glasses so epic it warrants a jump-cut to close-up, on top of the dutch angle used mere seconds prior to it.

Instantly recognizing Shen Wei as Hei Pao Shi, Wu Tian’en sinks to his knees in reverence. Again, fair enough. After having a brief conversation about their shared history, Shen Wei states that Butler Wu is not allowed to lay a hand on Zhao Yunlan. 

“Chief Zhao? You’re stalking him?” 

“You don’t need to know more.”

That is not a no. Mostly because that is a yes. 

Shen Wei promises to not take Wu Tian’en away before the man resolves his current problems, adding that he hopes his old acquaintance won’t have any regrets when that happens. As Shen Wei walks away, he muses “Then how much time is there left for me?” 

(And I have to fight an uncomfortable sinking feeling in my stomach, which is occurring a lot as I rewatch those series.) 

The same evening at the SID offices the team is struggling with the case so much Da Qing suggests asking Hei Pao Shi’s help. Zhao Yunlan bristles at the idea, and… calls Shen Wei instead. Of course he does.

To be fair, he does so to check whether the other man is stalking him, but he also calls him by his given name rather Professor Shen, reinforcing that he makes this enquiry as a friend, not at as the chief of the Special Investigations Department. 

During the phone call Shen Wei is absentmindedly playing with the corner of the publication he is reading. 

While Yunlan does not deny that he still thinks Shen Wei is potentially up to something dodgy, he still proceeds to ask his advice on the case. This continues the dynamic from the previous episode: it’s not that Yunlan is completely blind, it’s just that he trusts Shen Wei regardless of the secrets he might be hiding. 

Moving on, here’s what I have to say on he topic of bad CGI. There are several reasons in the world for a piece of visual media to have a poor quality computer animation. It could be laziness, or it could be absence of imagination, both of which are inexcusable. It also could be absence of funds, as is the case with the Guardian. And, honestly, I am alright with that. It’s not their fault, and I would much rather see this drama as it is - bad CGI and all - than none at all. 

And, the quality of CGI here has energy similar to Live Action Sailor Moon (PGSM), which I honestly find both nostalgic and endearing. 

That show also has a talking cat, but it’s performed by a literal plush toy on strings, so Guardian certainly wins here.

While Huang Linqi and Li Jiaqi are being kept together (possibly in an alternate dimension, seeing as how they have emerged from the lake completely dry), they talk through their relationship issues, and the audience finds itself with a sugar-sweet take on the arranged marriage/strangers to lovers trope. I feel a little bit bad about their disaster wedding now. 

At the same time, Xiao Jun and Wu Tian’en’s story is a tiny echo of Shen Wei end Je Zun: the son thinks his dad left him to fend for himself when he was young and vulnerable, and distrusts the very concept of love because of that perceived abandonment. Unlike Je Zun however, he stops to have an actual conversation, which ultimately forces him to quit his senseless act of revenge, and make the first step on the path of reconciliation and redemption. This is Guardian telling us that communication skills do, in fact, matter. 

He also drops this bombshell of a line, which hurts my heart a lot.

“In the face of death every love in the world is mere foam”

On an entirely separate note, I am very glad that the actor who plays Butler Wu is wearing nice thick knee pads. 

They are very visible, and they make a little “boing” when he hits the ground, but the actor has to fall to his knees twice in this episode, both times on hard surfaces, one of which is literal gravel, and I’m happy that the production is being considerate of their actors’ physical well-being. 

While this episode does not mark the first time Zhao Yunlan is being understanding to the Undergrounders in pain, this is the first time anti-Unvergrounder bigotry is explicitly framed in a negative light. The two evil businessmen, who cast a child aside just because he has special powers, are shown as unquestionably in the wrong. Xiao Jun is lightly scolded for his rash actions, but he is not brought back to SID in cuffs, and he is not immediately given away to Hei Pao Shi. Far from that: he is brought in softly, to spend some time at his dying father’s side. 

As Butler Wu slipping away, we once more see Guo Changcheng being recklessly heroic, as he is prepared to use the Longevity Dial to share his life force. Instead of letting him do it, Zhao Yunlan snatches the Hallow away and decides to perform this particular miracle himself. This is the same man who will later sacrifice his eyesight to bring people’s lives back. Bai Yu’s acting in that moment is utterly phenomenal, showing a whole range of emotion from horror to determination to dismay in mere seconds. 

Hei Pao Shi teleports in, and, without a preamble, scolds Zhao Yunlan (the first episode in the series-long “don’t touch the Hallows” saga), and then asks him whether it’s worth shortening his life for an Undergrounder. This is in equal parts a provocation and a test, because I’m fairly certain that Shen Wei was going to save Wu Tian’en anyway. 

As SID members beg Hei Pao Shi to save Butler Wu in perfect unison, Zhao Yunlan states that a person is a person, regardless of their origin. Shen Wei notes inwardly that SID had changed, and, as expected, heals Butler Wu, while Yunlan stares at his power with relief and awe.

Since I have talked about the wide shot of the Dragon City, let’s talk about its counterpart in the Underworld. 

I have failed to notice before that there appears to be a vast city next to the volcano river, some way away from the royal Palace, looming over it. Geographically, this makes little sense: we will see characters leave the Palace and instantly end up in a city square throughout the series, but I still really enjoy this wide shot. It is also interesting to see the architecture of the place. It is somewhere between (western) medieval abodes and futuristic shipment container blocks, with living spaces built on top of each other, crammed-in, and unpleasant. I also love the lighting here, contrasting blue and red.

Hallows random power #n: projecting their brethren. Imagine how useful it would be if they also did that for the Brush and the Lantern.

The next day, Zhao Yunlan and Da Qing are on a leisurely morning jog, while Yunlan is wearing bottoms that my partner refers to as “sheggings” (as in, shorts + leggings)

They are talking about Shen Wei, naturally. In my head-canon, Zhao Yunlan is driving his colleagues nuts because can’t help himself but bring the good professor up every goddamn minute of every goddamn day.

As they turn the corner to go home, they bump into the subject of discussion, who informs them that he moved into the building, and leaves abruptly looking more than slightly pleased with himself. 

Finally, we are treated to Guo Changcheng’s surveillance exam. I don’t know why he thought this outfit would make him look less conspicuous. 

Eventually, the SID will learn that some of their staff members don’t have to be fighters or detectives. In Xiao Guo, they have found the heart of their team, and that is enough. 

Next up, Episode 6: The Coat Zhao Yunlan Will Buy

—

PS: I have mentioned earlier, that I have a sinking feeling as I watch Guardian, and I would like to elaborate on that. You see, I am very scared of flying. It’s an irrational fear, but it is the one I nonetheless have. There is a very specific feeling I get just as the plane starts gaining speed on the runway: there is joy, because at the end of this journey they is something to look forward to (my parents’ hugs, a drink with a friend, a favourite place, a new city to explore), but there is also a painful anticipation, as I brace for the moment the aircraft will tilt upwards, knowing that I will be pushed back into my chair by gravity, battling against an onslaught of a panic attack, shaking, learning to breathe, fighting with everything I have to keep my heart rate down. Watching Guardian from the beginning, knowing where the story is going, mirrors that feeling perfectly.

PPS: The following conversation happened with my partner as I way typing this recap.

My partner: Do you think Shen Wei ever wears sheggings?

Me: Sweetie, I think he would rather die. 

[thisisawonderfulusername]

let's save the world

season one, episode four

five hargreeves x reader

summary: after the break in, five comes back with information, and you two go to check it out.

trigger warning: cursing, drinking, a fluffy moment 👉 👈

word count: 2.5k

a/n: damn, already part four O-O. i don’t really have much to say, so, enjoy!

after getting attacked by the commission assassins, you had gone up to five’s room and passed out on the bed, not even taking the time to clean or patch it up. you told yourself that it would be fine for the night, though there was a nagging voice in the back of your head, warning of the possible infection, but you inevitably pushed it away.

your morning wasn’t too great. you were shaken violently to be woken up, and you sat up quickly, hissing and grabbing onto your leg when you felt the pain the coursed through it. looking up at five, you glare at him. “what the fuck?”

“i take it you didn’t find any clues?” he questions, the smallest hint of a smirk on his face as you groan softly. of course he would do this. you knew it meant sitting in that van all day, he actually found something, and he was ready to rub it in.

leaning on your arm to reach for the med kit, you don’t meet his eyes. “no, i didn’t.” you mutter, opening the box and pulling out the supplies to finally patch up your leg. “i assume that you did?”

glancing at him as you doused a clean rag in rubbing alcohol, you raise an eyebrow. “yup.” he grins, and you roll your eyes, pulling your skirt up a bit to pull the make shift tourniquet off and reveal the wound from the glass that so rudely decided to cut through your flesh.

“how did that happen?” five questions, cringing slightly at the sight of the injury that you quickly placed the soaked rag over, biting your lip harshly to hold back the cries of pain from the stinging pain.

once the pain settled, you took a deep breath and looked to him. “long story. people, from the commission, i’m sure of it.” you threw the rag to the side, grabbing the needle and stitching thread, quickly putting it through and getting to suturing the puncture.

he watched as you stitched the wound, staying quiet for a moment, before he decided to speak again. “remember the guy we talked to? at meritech?” he asks, and you nod simply, eyebrows furrowed in concentration, “well, he’s definitely doing something sketchy. so we need to figure out what.”

you finish the stitches before throwing the needle to the side, looking back to him. “seriously? if this leads to another dead end, i’m going to kill you.” you grab some gauze and quickly wrap it around your leg, sighing softly as you toss everything back into the medical kit.

“i’ll deserve it if i am. but i’m sure of this.” he tells you, standing from the bed beside you and holding out his hand to help you up. it hurt a bit to stand on your leg from the pain, but you had endured worse, so you could suck it up.

-

waiting on the street, you leaned against a building, following five’s gaze and staring at one of the cars that lined the street. “how do you know he’s here?” you question, crossing your arms over your chest.

“i followed him, and when he went into the vet, i figured i had time to get you.” he responds, neither of you risking a glance away from the vehicle. “there he is.” he mutters as the man walks to his car, putting his dog in the backseat and getting in himself. five grabs your hand and the next moment you’re in the car, sitting by the dog.

smiling slightly as you give him a pat, your attention is brought back to the situation when the man turned and jumped at the sight of five right next to him. within a millisecond, a knife is held to his throat. “one chance.” he snaps at him, and you purse your lips, leaning forward in your seat. “you’ve got one chance to tell me what is going on in that lab.”

obviously terrified, since he was held at knife point, the man quickly speaks. “i manufacture prosthetics for fake patients.” his eyes are wide, staring straight into five’s, “i bill the insurance companies then sell them on the black market.”

resting an arm on the head rest of his seat, you lean towards him. “including eyeballs?” you press, and his gaze flickers towards you before back to five.

“yeah-” he stutters out, his head shaking slightly, “they’re my biggest seller. i’ve got a list- a wait list- probably twenty buyers!”

five nods, “so the serial number i told you?” he raises an eyebrow.

“yes, it- it could’ve already been bought.” he tells him, his breathing shaky.

as five stared into the guy’s eyes, you swore he could see into his soul, and though you had seen it multiple times, it still unsettled you. “i need that list, lance.” the knife pushes against his skin slightly, and he visibly flinches, “names and numbers, i need it now!”

“i don’t have it,” you can see his eye’s glossing, and you don’t blame him for being close to tears. “the only copy’s in my safe at the labs.” he quickly adds on, probably praying to himself that he wouldn’t die today.

smirking, you slap a hand on his arm, and he jumps at the sudden touch. “alright then, start the car, bud.” you lean back against the seats, petting the dog again. “we’re going on a trip.”

-

stopping the car just a street away from the building, all of you get out, you and five both holding onto lance’s arms to make sure he wouldn’t make a run for it. he could probably easily push you guys away, as you were practically thirteen years old, probably no muscle at all, but you assumed he was too afraid to even think about running.

as you rounded the corner, the building up ahead, your eyes widen. flames engulfed the lab, smoke pouring out of the windows. your heart practically stops. your only clue to go off of, was totally destroyed.

you could only stand in shock as lance slipped out of your grip after five ran forward, both of them looking up at the burning building. as five stood in front of the entrance, there was a sudden explosion, sending him flying back into the road.

that got you moving, quickly running to his side and crouching down next to him, ignoring the burn in your thigh. “holy shit, are you okay?” you question, slightly panicked, as it definitely wasn’t a simple fall to the ground. first of all, it was the middle of the road, concrete, and he had been knocked back pretty hard.

pushing himself up as he nods, five looks at the building. “there goes the only evidence we had.” he mutters, and you sigh softly.

standing up, you hold a hand out to him to help him up, which he gladly takes. “guess we better get to searching for another lead, then.” you glanced to the lab, pursing your lips at all the rubble that surrounded the entrance where it had exploded.

“i guess so.”

-

you sat on the floor of the library, the glass looking down at the lower floors behind your back. books surrounded the two of you, scattered around as you tried to search for any clues inside of them.

bottles of alcohol also surrounded you, which you guys weren’t holding back on. with your only piece of evidence gone, you were ready to give up and just let the world turn back to the rubble it had been when you first got stuck, as long as you didn’t have to be in it again. you didn’t know if you could handle that like you did the last time.

“you know, i thought we’d be able to figure this out faster.” five mumbles, breaking the silence between the two of you. his words were slightly slurred, from the alcohol. he sighs softly, flipping the page he had been reading to move on to the next.

taking a sip from the bottle you held, you lean your to the side to rest your head on his shoulder. “so did i.” your words are just as jumbled, maybe even worse. “but i guess the world is just... against us.” you close your eyes, feeling tired. you weren’t sure if it was from trying so hard and failing miserably, the alcohol, or actually being tired. you didn’t care.

five stayed quiet for a moment, his gaze still trapped on the book, until he glanced to you. “remember the first night? at griddy’s?” he questions softly, tracing the lip of the bottle with his finger as you nod. “you were saying something about how you felt when we were both separated in the apocalypse.”

you remembered that moment very clearly. even with a hazy mind. you had been preparing to tell him about the feelings you had had for him, before those guys crashed the party. you weren’t sure why you didn’t tell him after. probably slipped your mind after the big fight. “oh.” you sigh softly, eyes still closed as you thought, “yeah, i was just going to tell you that i used to like you. in more than a friend way.” you chuckle, sitting up and shaking your head.

“it’s so stupid.” you look at him, your head tilted to the side, “when we got stuck and i couldn’t find you, i felt like i lost the whole world- well, i guess i did, but not in the literal way.”

his eyebrow’s were furrowed at the information you gave him, probably processing it all. “you liked me?” he questions, a hint of confusion in his tone.

“well, yeah.” you take another drink from the bottle, frowning when there was only a tiny bit left. “i guess i stopped once i found out you went crazy and fell in love with a mannequin.” you laugh, motioning to the mannequin that he had brought along and sat between you two, looking up at the lights on the ceiling.

pursing his lips, five nods, humming in acknowledgment at what you said. “find anything that might help us?” he asks, and you groan, looking back to him.

“i don’t know if we ever will.” you felt like this whole mission was hopeless. you had been ready when the two of you first made it back, prepared to do whatever it took to keep the world safe, but now, all of that confidence and hope was gone. you were close to just giving up.

setting his now empty bottle down, five leans back against the glass. “maybe.” he mumbles softly, and another silence falls.

you don’t even realize when you fall asleep, slumped against his side.

-

when you wake up, it takes you a bit to feel the arms holding you up, your body bouncing slightly with each step they took. your eyes shot open, and you sigh in relief when you see that it’s just diego.

“it’s not secure.” you hear luther’s voice behind him, turning your head to see him walking behind with five in his arms. “those psychopaths could come back at any moment.”

“hey.” you mumble as your eyes fall closed again, and you groan as you feel your stomach churn. it probably wasn’t the best idea to drink that whole bottle, but your mind would clear up once it’s effect wore off a bit, and it would leave you with a killer headache. that was something to worry about later.

you hear five speak, but you can’t focus on his voice, only hearing fragments of what he says. something about puberty. and the end of the world. when he asks what they had been talking about, luther sighs. “two masked intruders attacked the academy last night.”

“they came looking for you!” diego says, the accusation clear.

sighing softly, you let your head hang, “hazel and cha-cha.” you inform him, words jumbled together, “assholes from the commission.”

“best of the best.” five adds on, chuckling, “other than us, of course.” you grin, nodding slightly.

both of the men seemed to be annoyed by your lack of genuine answers, but it’s what they get for thinking that questioning to drunks was a good idea. “the best of what?” luther urges, glaring at five.

“you know, delores always said she hates it when i drink.” five ignores the question, patting the plastic woman on the head as you groan loudly.

you grab onto diego’s arm slightly, “fucking delores. stop talking about her!” you pull yourself up a bit, looking at diego, “he’s in love with a fucking mannequin? can you believe it?” you grin, shaking your head and letting yourself fall back again.

“hey!” you jump as diego suddenly yelled, apparently down to his last straw of patience. “i need you guys to focus.” he stops in his tracks and turns so he could see five as well. “what do they want? this hazel and cha-cha.” his tone is firm, and you’re surprised he’s still expecting actual answers.

you see five’s amused grin and you laugh, but the two men don’t seem nearly as entertained. “we just want to protect you.” he adds on, tone a bit softer but still demanding.

five lets out a mocking laugh, and your grin is obvious. “protect us?” he derides, leaning forward in luther’s arms. “we don’t need your protection, diego. do you know how many people we’ve killed?”

“we’re the four fucking horsemen!” you laugh, throwing your arms up slightly, “the world is ending, and the apocalypse is coming. there’s nothing you can do to help.” you glare at him.

you hear five heave and throw up, and your nose scrunches up. “that’s fucking disgusting-” you can’t stop yourself from doing the same. both the men look at each other in irritation.

-

taglists

main: @horrorklaus​

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let's save the world @aspiringwriter1​ @thetrashypanda423​ @lilacs-lavender @academy-umbrella​

if you’d like to be added to any taglists, just ask!

[bedlamsbard]

Putting aside aesthetics and characterization (inasmuch as I can), I have been trying to logic out why Mando Ahsoka feels so different from Rebels Ahsoka (to me, personally; I know many other people feel fine about it), especially in terms of having a character who’s known in Rebels for her “I am no Jedi” line going to a character who is specifically introduced as “The Jedi” in The Mandalorian.  (And who is identified as “Ahsoka Tano, Jedi Knight” on merch -- merch is merch, it’s essentially meaningless, but it’s still a choice that was made somewhere along the line.)

“Shroud of Darkness,” Rebels 2.17

“Twilight of the Apprentice,” Rebels 2.21

This is strictly Doylist and not Watsonian; I don’t care what went on in the character’s life in between Rebels and Mando; I’m trying to guess what was happening in the writers room.

I was noodling through this on Twitter, in case it looks familiar.

My first thought was Dave taking a cut scene from Rebels as canon going into Mando, something he shared on Twitter back in the lead-up to S4.  Looking at this again I’m not sure this was a cut scene or a scene that he wrote that never made it into the actual script. (Certainly I can’t see how it would have fit into the episode.)

Here Bendu specifically identifies Ahsoka as “former Jedi Knight.”  This is also obviously not canon, because Twitter posts aren’t canon, Dave.  (Though that doesn’t mean that he might have taken it as part of his working backstory for the character anyway.)

I was then thinking about TCW and the unused TCW arcs as they existed in 2016 when this aired (with the rough guess that Rebels S2 was probably written in 2014).  There are three Ahsoka arcs that were written and existed in 2016 in some form (”scripts and some artwork” is what Pablo Hidalgo says, and some pre-viz and recordings from the original Walkabout arc that were shown at a couple Celebrations), but which hadn’t made it into S6 (which came out in 2014): Ahsoka’s Walkabout (in its original form with Nix Okami instead of the Martez sisters), the Siege of Mandalore, and an arc which would have taken place between those two, “Return to the Jedi.”  We know about these because of a panel from Star Wars Celebration Europe in 2016 called Ahsoka’s Untold Tales -- I was actually at this panel, but I haven’t thought about it in a while.  Here’s the SW.com liveblog of it; here’s the video.

I remember hearing somewhere that the TCW team had nine seasons or so written, but can’t find the source for that number now.  When S7 was made, there were obviously a lot of compromises made that we’ll never really know about, minus a tell-all memoir or documentary, which probably isn’t coming any time soon.  Knowing that this Return to the Jedi arc existed, I wondered if at one point Dave had tried to get all three Ahsoka arcs into S7 before having to give one up for the Bad Batch arc (especially as we now know there’s going to be a Bad Batch TV show); it’s also entirely possible that at one point in the production process there was the possibility of a full 22 episode season floated, which would have made three Ahsoka arcs in one season less unbalanced.

I went to go look up what the Return to the Jedi arc actually was, since 2016 was a long time ago and I haven’t really thought about this panel since.  My guess is that it had been intended for one Ahsoka arc per remaining season (7, 8, 9).  Pablo Hidalgo says that after the Walkabout arc, Ahsoka would have stayed on Coruscant as “an under-city vigilante of some degree, helping people who can’t help themselves,” and Dave points out that he talked about this with George Lucas, as well.  The Return of the Jedi arc would have involved Ahsoka finding out about a nefarious plot targeting Yoda and working with the Jedi to figure out what’s what with that -- this revealed that below the Jedi Temple was an ancient Sith shrine. (Some details of this were revealed at Star Wars Celebration Anaheim in 2015.)

Ahsoka would have been protecting the holocron vault from Darth Sidious, putting her lightsaber blade through the door while Palps shoots Force lightning up the blade.

“The whole purpose of that particular arc would have been to bring Ahsoka back. She’s not a Jedi, she doesn’t change her decision, but she gets involved in Jedi business again.”

The next Ahsoka arc and the final arc of the series would have been the Siege of Mandalore arc, which “reunites Ahsoka with the clone troopers, with Anakin.”  My guess is that the end of the Return to the Jedi arc would have involved Ahsoka making the decision to go to Mandalore because the Jedi themselves couldn’t get involved in that conflict at the time (especially the emphasis in the panel that Pablo and Dave put on Ahsoka as being “a responsible person” who couldn’t ignore that the war was still going on, and because Ahsoka knew Satine).  (It would be interesting to know when if this arc would have fallen before or after the Darth Maul - Son of Dathomir comics, which are based off another unmade TCW arc.)  This would probably have put as much as a season between this arc and the final arc -- given TCW’s funky timeline that doesn’t mean much, but in terms of audience expectation it helps.

(also, damn, the context of the beginning of Siege of Mandalore in the original concept vs. how it actually happens in S7 is very different -- like, on the surface identical but the emotions involved are totally different.)

Before going into the next part of the panel (post-war), Pablo Hidalgo adds “We consider it to have happened and that’s how we inform the writing in Rebels, because that’s the history that these characters carry in their heads.”

So going into Rebels, the writing team was working with the background that Ahsoka had not only left the Jedi Order once, in “The Wrong Jedi,” but had reinforced her decision not to go back to the Jedi by not returning to the Order during the Return to the Jedi arc.  That explains why in Rebels she’s so adamant about not being a Jedi or being in the Order; it’s a decision that she has made not once, but twice.

Fast forward four years to 2020, where we have the Siege of Mandalore arc in S7.

It’s heavily implied that Ahsoka was planning to go back to the Order after the end of the war, and in fact Yoda treats her as such.

Now, there’s no way to know if this exchange was in the original Siege of Mandalore scripts short of those being released at some point (which is possible but seems unlikely when the character is still in play), but because of the way S7 plays out there is no way to put the Return to the Jedi arc back into the story, which means all the emotional context and Ahsoka doubling down on not returning to the Order is thrown out of the window.  That’s a fair chunk of backstory to take into the Rebels writers room.

(It should also be noted that presumably E.K. Johnston wrote the Ahsoka novel with the assumption that that arc was still part of Ahsoka’s working canon, though she may not have seen scripts for it; I feel like I read somewhere that she had seen scripts for the original version of the Siege of Mandalore, which changed quite a lot between original concept and the eventual 2020 version, as is evident from the novel vs the show.)

Going into The Mandalorian, then, Dave Filoni is not only working without a writers room (as Mando has only had two writers, Dave Filoni and Jon Favreau), but working with an entirely different continuity than what the Rebels writers room was working with.

Trying to backtrack when various scripts were written is an exercise in futility to some extent; I usually guess anywhere from a year to two years out from when the shows air.  (I seem to remember that around this time in 2016 it came out that Katee Sackhoff was doing something for Disney, which ended up being the recording for Bo-Katan in Rebels S4, which wouldn’t air for another year, but don’t quote me on these dates.)  Dave ends the panel by saying that “After the season 2 finale for Rebels I was very adamant that that was it for Ahsoka...in Rebels...but after this reaction it might just be possible...it might be possible to see her again. She might have something to do. Maybe.”  (For those trying to run dates in their heads: the con was in July 2016, the season 2 finale aired in March 2016, WBW aired in February 2018.)  My guess is that they hadn’t recorded for that part of S4 yet (and S4 is so weirdly paced that I have questions about how it was made), but that the initial scripts for S4 had already been written at this point.

Looking back at the Star Wars Celebration Chicago 2019 TCW panel where Ashley Eckstein talks about getting the news about TCW S7 from Dee Bradley Baker (rather than from Dave Filoni, and hoo boy is this uncomfortable to watch knowing that the script for “The Jedi” had almost certainly been written and Dave may have already made the decision not to talk to Ashley about it), there’s still not like...a clear way to tell when that happened.  Except that Dee talks about “wine tasting with the Rebels,” which likely puts it back when Rebels S4 was either still actively airing (2017-2018) or before it had wrapped filming (2017).  (I actually vaguely remember seeing pictures from this wine tasting but I can’t remember whose twitter it was on and going to look feels creepy.)  Probably the scripts weren’t fully revised at that point but they may have been -- still, this was certainly after S2 and could potentially be before S4 had been fully finalized.  We got the TCW renewal announcement in 2019, but the animation wasn’t fully completed yet so didn’t get more than that teaser trailer.  This is only important insofar as it involves which set of backstory was being used for WBW Ahsoka, an episode that Dave Filoni wrote and co-directed.  (Honestly? I think Mando Ahsoka matches okay with WBW Ahsoka but is a little off Rebels S2 Ahsoka, but that’s off my memory of WBW, an episode I refuse to rewatch.)  Certainly with the epilogue he knew he was setting up for something else.

ETA: I FORGOT AN IMPORTANT PART OF THIS TIMELINE AND THAT’S THE RISE OF SKYWALKER because I try not to think about TROS, frankly, but as we may remember Ahsoka is included in the “be with me” scene in the final confrontation.  This always struck me as weird given the “I am no Jedi” thing from Rebels, but she’s the most well-known female Force-user so I had just mentally written it off as easy shorthand and JJ Abrams being lazy about it. HOWEVER, presumably JJ talked to Dave about which prequel era Jedi to include (there’s a note in one of the previous SWC liveblogs about Rian Johnson being in the Rebels writers room at some point).  TROS came out in December 2019, I can’t recall exactly when they did the voiceovers for that scene (if anyone has ever mentioned it), but it was probably fairly late in the process since I believe that there were still edits being made up until fairly soon before the premiere.  (I have a completely different theory that the Lego Star Wars Holiday Special from this year was written off an earlier version of TROS.)  If Dave had already moved towards making Ahsoka more inclined towards the Jedi, with a full-on return to calling herself one regardless of the existence of the Order (as Mando implies), then her inclusion here makes a LOT more sense than it did a year ago.

Anyway this is all very conspiracy theorist, but it does explain something that was puzzling me: Rebels S2 Ahsoka and Mando Ahsoka (as well as TCW S7 Ahsoka and potentially Rebels S4 Ahsoka) were written off slightly different backstories which differed in one very key thing: how committed Ahsoka was to no longer being a Jedi.

Now, this sort of thing happens all the time in anything with an ongoing continuity; obviously TCW makes major changes to how viewers might read or write Obi-Wan and Anakin/Vader in RotS or the OT.  I was just trying to narrow it down in this particular case because until I started thinking about it I had assumed that it was all being written off the same assumed backstory. And many people read Ahsoka differently in Mando than I did or found her perfectly in character, this was for me to track references down about something that was bothering me in hopes of an explanation that would satisfy me.

[curiosi-tea-writes]

Outcasts (One Survivor pt. 1)

Pairing: Din Djarin x Cobb Vanth

Setting: Survivor AU / Modern AU

Summary: Grogu begged his father to spend 39 days stranded on an island with 15 strangers, and who was Din to deny his son such a simple request? What he didn’t anticipate was meeting Cobb Vanth while on the island and developing the largest crush he had ever had on a person. But in the game of Survivor, you can anticipate nothing.

Disclaimer!!! : While you don’t need to have seen Survivor in order to understand this fic, it is based off of 07x07-08 of Survivor. (Also a bit from an episode from Season 6, though I cannot recall the episode.) So if you have not seen those seasons, read at your own risk. 

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

When Din had signed up for 39 days stranded on an island with 15 complete strangers, he was mostly doing it as a joke. His son was fascinated by the show, insisted that they watch it every week. Din thought he just liked the drama of it. It was Peli who brought up one day that Din should go on it. 

“Papa, pleeeeease,” Grogu had begged. And Din would do anything to please his son. So, he agreed to give it a shot. 

It was honestly fun, he had to admit. Seeing Jeff Probst in person was honestly one of the coolest moments of his life. And then he saw him.

Silver hair, just a little bit taller than him, gorgeous eyes. But the thing that caught Din’s attention most was his red scarf. Never mind that it was 110* on the island, but man could this guy pull off that scarf. 

Din felt it was destiny when he watched the man slide a red buff around his wrist, matching his scarf almost perfectly. However, his heart broke as he pulled a blue one over his head and settled it around his neck.

It slowly started to become an issue. Din would slack in challenges because the guy, Cobb he had learned after a day or two - though most of his tribe called him Cowboy, would show up shirtless. It was distracting to say the least. All of his tribemates were getting increasingly frustrated with him but Din couldn’t care less. His tribe was winning most of the challenges, so what was the big deal if he was like a deer caught in the headlights every time he had to go up against Cobb?

Sometimes Jeff would even call them out. During one challenge where they had to play a matching game, Din kept going to Cobb to ask him for items and Cobb kept going to Din.

“Din,” Cobb called with a smirk and he chuckled as his tribe groaned for the fourth time at him. When he got a hum in response, his smirk turned into a charming smile. “Do you maybe - possibly - have a seashell?”

Jeff laughed and shifted, crossing his arms. “Cobb, why don’t you just ask him what you really want to ask him?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Jeff,” Cobb tried hard not to laugh, “Din?”

“Can you see into my box, Cowboy? How do you keep doing this?” Din laughed and walked the shell over to Cobb. He tried not to notice how Cobb’s calloused hand lingered on Din’s for a second longer than necessary - the way their hands had been lingering on each other’s the entire challenge.

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

After what felt like far too short a time, Din’s heart shattered. 

“Noyapara, getting a look at the new Marseydotes tribe,” Jeff said as the other tribe came onto the beach. 

“Oh my god,” Fennec sighed and Din whipped around, his eyes wide.

“Cobb voted off at the last tribal council,” Jeff finished as Din tried not to show too much emotion for a guy he hardly really knew.

Fennec, the only member of Din’s tribe he had told about his little crush - really, she confronted him and he had no choice - took a step closer to him as Jeff continued speaking. “So close to the merge too,” she mumbled. 

That’s what Fennec kept telling him. “Just wait until the merge and you’ll be able to get to know him!” and “There’s no way they won’t keep him until the merge at least!” Din sighed sadly. The merge was any day now. They were so close and his tribe just had to vote him off.

“Alright,” Jeff spoke clearly, bringing Din out of his thoughts. “By now, you have collectively voted off six members from this game. And now, that’s gonna come back to haunt you.” The final ten players turned around and looked at each other. “Come on in, guys!” 

The six players who had been previously voted off came out on to the beach and Din and Fennec shared a bright smile as Cobb jogged out as the last person. It was impossible not to catch the wink Cobb gave him as he made his way past Din.

“Here’s how it’s gonna work,” Jeff started as Cobb took his spot on the third mat. “There are now three tribes - Marseydotes, Noyapara, and the Outcasts - the six people you have voted out over the last couple of weeks now have a chance to rejoin the game. Today’s challenge is for immunity. Whichever team loses to the Outcast tribe has to go to tribal council. That means, if both tribes lose, two tribal councils. Then, the Outcasts will have their own tribal council to vote in members to fill the slot of the people you just voted off.”

Din looked over to see Cobb and some of the other Outcasts smiling at each other proudly and Din couldn’t help the smile of his own. At this point, he was hardly listening to Jeff.

“Additionally, anybody voted back in from the Outcast tribe will be immune for the first tribal council following their return to provide them time to reintegrate back into the game.”

After explaining what they had to do for the challenge, all the Survivors took their places. Din watched, tied to the wooden gate, as one member from each tribe rushed to begin untying their teammates. Of course, Cobb was one of them. Fennec was flying through the knots for her and Din’s tribe but Din could see that Cobb was far ahead. He wasn’t surprised at all. 

Once he was untied, Fennec yelled at him to start helping with finding the key but he hardly heard her. “Djarin!” she scolded harshly, forcing Din’s attention to her. “Stop staring and help us!”

It wasn’t much use at that point. Cobb’s team had already gotten the key and was unlocking the gate. “Outcasts win immunity!” Jeff yelled and there was cheering from the tribe. He opened the other tribes’ gates and addressed them, “Two tribal councils. Two people will be voted out tonight, and two members will rejoin your tribes. You have the rest of the day to decide who’s going home. Head back to camp.”

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

Din breathed a sigh of relief as Jeff read the final vote and it was neither him nor Fennec. Both knew that pairs can go far in this game if they play their cards right and Din and Fennec were determined to add their names to the list of pairs that prove that statement. Fennec bumped his shoulder as they carried their torches back to camp. 

“Hey,” she whispered, “maybe Cobb will get voted back in and end up on our tribe.”

Din chuckled and shook his head, shifting to rest his torch against his shoulder as he walked. “Don’t you dare get my hopes up.”

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

Cobb took his seat next to the other Outcasts. At first, he couldn’t believe he had been voted off and he was furious. He was easily one of the strongest guys out there, definitely the strongest in his tribe. But he knew his tribe was preparing for the merge. Boba had teased him endlessly at camp about his crush on the other tribe. Cobb and Din had hardly spoken, just quick comments to each other during challenges, but he knew there was a connection there- physical if nothing else. It was understandable that his tribe assumed in the case of a merge, he might flip his alliance to be with Din. Cobb knew that wasn’t the case, but his tribe didn’t. And now, after almost his whole tribe voted him off, that was definitely going to happen if he had the chance. Sweet revenge.

“Here’s how this is going to work,” Jeff started once everyone was settled. “You’ll all have the chance to plead your case as to why you should be voted back into the game. Then you’ll vote. Two names, on two different parchments. Two people with the highest number of votes get put back into the game.” Once everyone nodded their understanding Jeff smiled and gave his own nod. “Cobb, let’s start with you.”

Cobb sighed happily and turned to address his tribe of fellow outcasts. “All I can really say is that I know I kick their asses. If you want an Outcast to win the game, I think I’m your best shot. Once the merge hits, I know exactly who I’m going to align with. I beat any of them at any physical challenge and I’m quicker in puzzles than half of them. I think I have one of the best chances out of us to make it to the end of this game if I get back in.” 

Everyone nodded and Cobb’s head began to spin. All he could think was, “did they all just agree with me?”

He listened to the other Outcasts plead their cases and then it was time to vote. Cobb casted his votes and dropped them in the urn. His heart was beating impossibly fast as Jeff said the words that are typically so dreaded and now held so much hope, “I’ll go tally the votes.”

Cobb shared a look of hopeful anxiety with his fellow Outcasts as Jeff came back with the urn tucked under his arm. Jeff cleared his throat and smiled and all the Outcasts couldn’t help but chuckle nervously. “Once the votes are read, the decision is final. The two people with the highest number of votes will return to the game.” Cobb attempted not to cringe at the change from the usual dialogue. “I’ll read the votes.”

Cobb held his breath as he name came up first. Then again. The somebody else’s. Then his again. Then again. “Sixth vote- Cobb. That’s five, our first Outcast revived in the game.” Cobb felt someone pat his shoulder and another tell him congratulations but he could hardly process it. *He was back in the game!*

“Alright,” Jeff continued once the second person, Bo Katan, was chosen and everyone had congratulated her as well. “Bo Katan, Cobb, the tribe has spoken. Come on up here, and relight your torches.”

Bo Katan and Cobb shared an eager smile as they steadily dipped their torches into the fire at the center of the counsel area. Cobb felt a wave of pride as he looked back at the other Outcasts, seeing their excited faces. They had all agreed in their time together that whoever was going back into the game, everyone was going to be proud of them. Sure, everyone wished it was them going in, but the fact that any of them had the chance was more than enough for them all. 

“Now time to choose what tribe you’ll be going to.” Jeff held out a bag to the two of them. “Who’s going first?” Cobb nodded at Bo Katan with a smile and she nodded back before turning back to Jeff with a smile, stating she would. “Alright. Since you were from opposite tribes to begin with, if Bo Katan pulls a red buff, you’ll be returning to the opposite tribes. If she pulls a blue one, you’ll be returning to the tribes that voted you out.” 

He held the bag out to Bo Katan and Cobb held his breath, attempting to will the universe to have her pull a red buff. 

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

Din and Fennec had stayed up to wait and see who would come to their island. It was getting later and later and eventually, Fennec laid her head on his shoulder. 

“When Cobb shows up, don’t throw me off too quickly rushing to him,” she mumbled.

“Why do you keep saying ‘when?’” He questioned back, still fully awake. “What makes you so sure he got voted back in?” 

Fennec hummed and smiled. “Because, you two are destined.”

Din rolled his eyes. “You’re ridiculous.” He squinted his eyes a little to see out towards the ocean. He could just barely make out the outline of a boat. “Fennec,” he shifted his shoulder so she’d sit up, “they’re here.”

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

Cobb leaned against a pole on the boat, taking in the feeling of the ocean mist on his face. He ran a hand through his hair before dropping it back into his lap. He let out a small chuckle as he rubbed the fabric of the buff on his wrist between his fingers. It had been such a long and taxing day. He could only hope that he would be able to get some rest once he made it back to camp.

He thanked the man driving the small boat as he hopped over the edge. He sighed as he took in the island before him, slowly making his way through the water towards the beach. He saw a familiar figure walking down the beach to meet him and he smiled brightly and honestly.

“I knew you’d get back in, Cowboy!” he heard them call to him with a laugh. 

He walked a little quicker to get up the beach before pulling the other man into a tight hug before pulling back and getting a good look at the other man. “Hey, Boba,” he sighed.

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

Din’s tribe walked out onto the beach first. Din’s heart raced as he willed himself to turn around to see the other tribe come in. 

“Marseydotes and Noyapara, getting a look at each other’s new tribes,” Jeff said as the other tribe entered. “Bo Katan voted into Noyapara and Cobb voted into Marseydotes at the last tribal council.”

Din could hardly contain his smile. Now if both of them could just stick around until the merge.

There was mumbling among the tribes, each talking about who was voted back in for the other tribe. Jeff cleared his throat, drawing the attention back to himself.

“As you have all figured out by now, this game is always changing.” Everyone chuckled and nodded. “It’s about to change again. Everyone drop your buffs,” he tossed a bag to Din who caught it easily, “and put on your new ones- you are merged.” 

Some members cheered, some gasped, but everyone had the largest smiles on their faces. Din reached into the bag and began pulling out the fresh purple buffs and handed them to the members of the new tribe. He tried not to care when Cobb took the buff from him the same way he had taken the sea shell just days prior. He also tried not to care that his face was burning, though he attempted to convince himself it was the heat of the sun. His heart jumped as Cobb started to say something but their attention was quickly drawn away from each other and back to Jeff.

Once the matter of which camp was better was sorted, the now merged tribe was sent off for a merge feast and getting to know one another. 

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

When the food was done and everyone was broken off into small groups, Din excused himself from Bo Katan and Fennec to search for firewood. He wasn’t far into the jungle when he heard someone clear their throat behind him. With a jump he turned quickly to see Cobb just a few feet behind him.

“Sorry,” he laughed holding up his hands, “I didn’t want to startle you.”

Din sighed with a smile. “Good to see you back in the game.” He turned his back to Cobb as he picked up a dry branch. 

“Yeah, you’re telling me,” Cobb spoke softly, taking a few steps closer to Din. “I had been hoping the whole game to make it to the merge.”

“I think that’s everyone’s goal at the least,” Din tried desperately to sound casual, despite that he could feel Cobb’s eyes on him as he moved to pick up another branch.

Cobb chuckled and finally took the final steps up to Din to pick up a branch of his own, causing them to stand up straight at the same time, their faces just inches apart as they looked at each other. Cobb couldn’t help his smile as he watched Din’s eyes flicker down to his lips before coming back up to meet his gaze. 

“I don’t think everyone had the same reasons for wanting to merge as I did,” Cobb whispered, attempting to keep the atmosphere they had created.

Din stuttered for a moment, shifting the branches in his arms nervously. “And- uhm-” he cleared his throat, “what reason would that be?”

“You.”

There was a beat of silence as they stood inches apart. Din’s eyes continued to flicker up and down and Cobb would be lying if he said his weren’t as well. Din’s heart was beating impossibly loud, he was surprised he could hear anything over it, let alone hear Cobb’s breathing. Din took half a step closer and Cobb followed suit. They were impossibly close, both smiling brightly, having waited for this moment since the beginning of the game when-

“Hey, lover-boys! Hurry up with the wood, we need to boil water!” Boba called from around the bend of the path. Before shaking his head and walking away again.

Din and Cobb didn’t pull apart, just started laughing. They could feel each other’s breath and they took a moment to calm down.

“I suppose we should go back,” Din whispered.

“Yes, I suppose we should,” Cobb mumbled back, still allowing his eyes to flicker down and back up.

But neither moved. 

Before either of them knew it, Din quickly leaned in and placed a small kiss on Cobb’s lips. It was soft and sweet and Cobb thought he was in Heaven, he almost dropped the branches in his arms. It was over before it really began and Din was walking away with a smile. Cobb held back a frustrated groan because he didn’t get the chance to really kiss back. “Come on, Cowboy. They need to boil water,” Din called over his shoulder.

Cobb stood awestruck for a moment, watching Din walk away. He could still feel Din’s presence on his lips and all he could do was stare and smile.

“You coming?” Din called from up the path with a laugh. 

Cobb shook his head clear and grabbed another branch to add to his pile. He cleared his throat as he stood straight again and jogged to catch up to Din. 

They were only a couple of steps down the path when Din bumped Cobb’s shoulder with his own. “We should get fire wood together more often,” he spoke with a chuckle which soon turned into a laugh as he saw a light dusting of red spread across Cobb’s cheeks.

Cobb gave his own small laugh. “Maybe next time Boba won’t interrupt us so soon.”

“Let’s hope not,” Din replied as they entered camp and the conversation was quickly dropped.

The next time Fennec made a passing comment about needing more wood, Din tried not to laugh at how quickly Cobb volunteered. Meanwhile, Cobb tried to ignore Boba’s laugh at how quickly Din offered to join him. Both sent Boba a glare that screamed ‘don’t bother us this time,’ and thankfully he got the message.

[sepublic]

Understanding Willow!

           Big surprise- ANOTHER great episode!

           You know what, let me just try to process what happened, by going through the beginning and from there! Firstly, it’s funny that the show confirmed that Amity is only tolerating Boscha and Skara at this point (and I guess some of those other friends), and she’s making it pretty clear to them as well- At BEST, her expressions are neutral around them! Honestly, Boscha and Skara’s parents being friends with Mr. and Mrs. Blight makes sense, it’s messed up but not surprising that they’d use their kid to try to establish connections with OTHER families! I have to wonder what Boscha and Skara’s parents are like… We know Boscha’s mom is, well…

           Also, I was wondering why Dana confirmed Skara’s name, and now we know- It’s because she’s slightly plot relevant in this episode! I love the details of the literal butterflies being converted into birthday invitations, that’s always neat… Apparently Skara is also considered ‘popular’, too? Anyhow, I also noticed that the one girl in the Healing Track with glasses, who was also at Amity’s Moonlight Conjuring, got the haircut we saw Matthieu Cousin draw her with! THAT was a neat little easter egg! We also see a young Bo with Boscha at some point, and this is super-pointless… But would their ship-name be BOscha? Boschabo? Bo squared?

           Gus’ little B-plot was pretty funny, and I’m glad we’re getting more interactions between the cast now! I love the callback to Sense and Insensitivity, with Not-Dana/Tiny Nose being ‘missing’ ever since her deal with Piniet… I can only imagine what happened there! Honestly, there’s not much for the dude to squash into a cube, but you get the idea! Eda and King competing for Gus’ interview was also hilarious, and DANG IT KING, answer the question- WHEN were you born, I know a couple of people, myself included, who are VERY interested in this answer…! I suspected Hooty would be chosen and I was right, but also not surprised, when Gus quickly regretted his decision! But hey, at least Hooty is happy!

           (Also, that Eda dance.)

           Luz is such a dork as always, loudly declaring that she’ll stick her face into something random, and then just going NYOOM when Inner Willow chucks her in- I wouldn’t have her any other way, and I love that we have ANOTHER picture of her when she was younger! Season 1B just keeps giving… Although let’s be real, it’s an extension of Season 1, and THAT gave us this entire show and Luz to begin with!

           Onto the meat of this episode! First off… WILLOW’S DADS ARE GAY! Honestly didn’t see that coming, but I love it and I wish we got to see more of them! I’m also interested to see which dad (assuming it’s not both) has a Magic Staff, and if it has a Palisman, but that’s another discussion for another day! I WANT MORE WILLOW AND HER LOVING PARENTS, dang it! Parents who put her in Abominations but also still mean well and have Christmas morning with her! I want to see Willow’s house and life at home, dang it! I want to MEET her parents properly, see them react to Luz!

           YOUNG WILLOW AND AMITY! YOUNG WILLOW AND AMITY! That’s just adorable… I love their little memories together, and the egg-pit gag was hilarious! It’s also super-minor but I adore that we got a cameo from the librarian during their past memories as well!

           Inner Willow, though… At first I thought the flame-being was just, like, the incarnation of Amity’s spell. But then Eda mentioned the Inner Willow, and was like, OHHH… Oh boy. She was out for BLOOD, too! Angry Willow is pretty terrifying, but rightfully so- I’m glad the show didn’t shy over her anger and her genuine grievances with Amity! That had to have HURT, being on fire, but at the same time you can tell that Willow also genuinely wanted to burn her memories with Amity, too… Oof. How many years of pent-up rage and grief, manifesting, before spilling over at this final straw of being burnt? Amity is thematically associated with Fire, which burns plants, and her last name literally refers to a plant disease! You can tell just how BADLY Willow has been hurting on the inside, possibly even hating herself in the process, and I...!

You know, I doubt there’s any substantial connection between Willow and Belos beyond this, but I think it’s interesting to see that they BOTH have glowing green eyes- It’s interesting that such characters are shown (or at least implied) to be powerful, and now I can’t help but imagine Willow meeting Belos, and Willow going HAM for her friends… I wonder if the glowing eyes are a sign of being emotionally repressed, until it all just comes flowing outwards? Given how Belos values control, this may also apply to himself as well… Anyhow, I adore Willow’s friendship and love of Luz though, she has NOTHING against her and I love how even after almost losing her mind she still jokes with her! Willow’s got that scary side, but she’s also sweet and I love the show acknowledging how gangly Luz can be!

           Amity! Looks like her dad got to have a voice, after all! Not much to her memories (Makes sense, we’re going into Willow’s here), but we clearly had insightful character moments! I have to wonder, did Amity know about how destroying the photos would destroy the mind as well? We don’t know if she’s in Photo Class and if she knows about the Memory Tweezers, so who knows? Either way that was NOT cool…

           Honestly, I like that the show doesn’t shy away or forget what Amity did to Willow! I love Amity with all my heart, but I was definitely anxious to see how these two felt about one another- I had a feeling that Amity may not have totally gotten over her issues and still felt a little harsh towards Willow, which makes sense! She’s a flawed, messed-up character with her own problems. But speaking of problems…

           DANG, her parents really made Amity get rid of her friend, on her own BIRTHDAY?! Jeez, at least wait until tomorrow at least… And not a big fan of them apparently deciding Amity’s guest list for her, it’s like they’re using their kid as a means to heighten their social status! Not that I’m shocked, I’ve already suspected this, but c’mon. I wonder how Emira and Edric felt about the whole thing with Amity breaking ties with Willow- Were they concerned for Mittens? Did they know about the parents threatening Willow, or to them did their little sister just suddenly become so cold and distant? I can only imagine how harsh Mr. and Mrs. Blight could be to them, but the twins seem a lot more independent and self-assured; It helps that they have each other!

           ALSO, Amity is in the Owl House for the first time! She gets to see how weird the shenanigans are, and I love how she makes the choice to enter a wanted criminal’s home to fix what she did wrong! I really have to wonder what went on in her head, when she chose to burn that photo of her and Willow… SUPER MESSED UP, of course, and I love how Eda just unapologetically gives Amity flack for it! But at the same time, I wonder if that moment was Amity’s greatest regret… It’s unlikely, but perhaps there was the tiny hope in Amity’s heart that if Willow forgot (assuming that was the intention), maybe they could be friends again? Again, not likely- What is more likely though is Amity not wanting Luz to think badly of her and ‘lose’ THAT friendship, but I digress!

           Poor Willow… I can only imagine how much PAIN she was in, both beforehand and when her Inner self was on fire! It was cute seeing her young and current Inner Selves interact, but at the same time it hurts because Willow is clearly someone who is used to being quiet and not noticed, and she just bottles up her rage and wrath inside until it manifests! I wonder… Could this be related to her glowing eyes? Could this apply to Belos? I dunno.

I appreciate the detail of Willow and Amity not exactly being willing to be friends again, I half-expected it and it makes sense! Amity clearly regrets what she did, it wasn’t her choice to begin with and she partly did it to protect Willow (Seriously, Mr. and Mrs. Blight were going to abuse their power to RUIN Willow’s education, what the heck?!) but she still let Boscha and Skara bully Willow. I’m glad she apologized for it, it shows a lot of growth on her part… It’d have been easy for Amity to blame her parents for what happened (and she wouldn’t even be WRONG, either) but she still owns up to not only her mistake of burning the memories, but just in general of being apathetic to Willow’s plight!

(Unrelated but I appreciate the Azura poster in her bedroom)

Overall- A fascinating episode, as expected! I did have issues with DisneyNOW constantly cutting the episode off with its Error symbol… And recently, every time the Error thing shows up and I click back in, instead of resuming the episode as always, the website is now forcing me to watch a few ads EVERY SINGLE TIME- I had to watch, like, seven times the ads I normally would have! Near the end it got pretty bad too, although I suspect this is because a lot of people are watching the episode! And I know it only became available at 2:08 AM or so (yeah I was EARLY and checked) but let’s be real here- We’re ALL pulling all-nighters for this show!

(I mean, I didn’t, I slept and woke up at the most convenient time without meaning to, but you get the idea.)

I didn’t touch on it as much earlier, but I love Luz’s whacky antics (or should I say shenanigans?) and how Willow and Amity are just… USED to it at this point! Willow totally expects Luz to try to repair her friendship with Amity, her kindness is just so well-known at this point and she’s so unconditionally well-meaning! Luz could’ve easily relegated the task of fixing Willow’s memories to Amity, who caused the problem- But her friend was at stake! And yeah she also wanted to experience Willow’s memories too, but still.

Honestly, with how much Luz is willing to do for both of these girls, it’s no wonder they love Luz so much! And with Enchanting Grom Fright up next… Even if there is no ‘declaration’, I can see their being the beginnings of a certain crush… for Amity, Luz is an anomaly who came out of nowhere but offers her unconditional love and support and has been changing her life for the better!

[thatkindofgurl]

Star Wars shows

So I've been doing a lot of thinking about the new shows for Star Wars, mainly the Mandalorian spin-offs, and what plots we could potentially see, so this is just me speculating for the fun of it, and I wanted to see what you guys think.

Also, I don't know how true this is, but I've seen rumors about a crossover event for the shows, and I'm gonna talk about that too

The book of Boba Fett.

I'm starting with this one because I truly don't know what could happen here. I mean, it's probably Boba seeking comeuppance for whatever happened to him after he was left for dead in Tatooine, or maybe he just wants to rule the criminal underworld, and Jabba's palace was the first step for that. Anyhow, I have this weird feeling that this might be an special or movie, rather than a fully fleshed out series, and since it most likely will air before The Mandalorian s3 premier, it might just tell us more about how things are going on with the galaxy

The Mandalorian s3.

So I believe that this next season is going to be focused on two different plotlines, that at one point, probably the middle or end of season, are going to connect somehow.

Mandalore and the Darksaber

As we know, Din Djarin accidentally ended up with the Darksaber, and therefore the right to claim the throne of Mandalore, which we know he doesn't want. But I don't think they just put this seed for a very interesting plot in the finale, just for Din to give it up in the first episode of the 3rd season, so that means we are going to have Bo-Katan as an antagonist, at least at the beginning of the season.

Of course I have nothing to back it up, but maybe the first chapters are going to be Din being chased by Bo-Katan and simultaneously being like "for god's sake, just take it and leave me alone", until something most likely related to Grogu more on that later will make him change his mind and actively go after Mandalore's throne, which would turn Bo fully into the antagonist for the season.

Either that, or Din and Bo feign a battle in front of other mandalorians so Bo would be left as the only contender to the throne, and the rest of the season is political games and scoring wins against the remains of the Empire, which would also be amazing to see.

Jedi Shenanigans

I don't think this is the last we will see of Grogu. Either early on the season something will make Luke leave Grogu back with Din again, or we are actually going to see some of the Jedi training.

(If we are going to see Luke again, it would be easier to just call Sebastian Stan, instead of the cgi thing. He more or less already has Mark Hamill's blessing anyway)

Again, this is just speculating, but what I would like to see in this plot of mine, is to see Luke or whatever Jedi community he has formed somehow getting involved in some conflict that would put Grogu in potential danger, and so, Din would realize that the only way to influence the conflict to end and help keep Grogu safe would be to take Mandalore's throne, or maybe Bo-Katan is pouring gasoline to the fire of this conflict, and so, Din must remove her from the throne.

My point is, the only way to keep Grogu safe will be by taking Mandalore's throne, and we know there's nothing Din wouldn't do for his son.

Ahsoka

In "The Jedi" episode of the Mandalorian, we learned that Ahsoka is looking for Admiral Thrawn, and therefore remainers of the empire, which is most likely what this show is going to be about. It is a great opportunity to bring more characters from the animated shows to live action, now that we know it can work, like Ezra, or maybe even Cal Kestis from the video game if they want to go there. The plot also has potential for Luke to show up here too.

Regardless of what other characters might appear here. I believe this show is going to follow up, one way or another, the clone with high M-count plot that was introduced in season 2, that we know ties in with the sequel trilogy. It would make sense, since the return of Palpatine would be less that desirable for Ahsoka, and I imagine Thrawn would be involved with this specific order.

Of course, assigning this plot to Ahsoka is her getting the short end of the stick, because we know the Empire/First Order will win this one and bring Palpatine back eventually. But then again, Ahsoka has to die before Episode IX, since we hear her voice alongside other force ghosts.

Rangers of the New Republic

This one is probably going to feature Cara Dune a lot, if she's not one of the protagonists to begin with.

It is here that I believe we are going to see what other things Moff Gideon has up on his sleeve. I can see Cara turning this guy in with the Republic, and them being like "cool!!! Do you want to maybe join this group of rangers to keep messing around with the Empire?" And Cara would be like "I guess?".

This one might cover the plans the Empire have in general, explain the orders the Emperor left in case of his death, ala whatever that was happening in the Aftermath books, since that was never brought up in the sequels, and tie in with Ahsoka.

Crossover event

Again, I just saw the rumor and I thought it was dope, I don't know if this is true, and even if it is, it would most likely happen after a couple of seasons for each of the new shows.

Of course, I'm basing this on just the potential general plots I just described to you, but if there was something that could tie in this plots and characters, it would be something like the Battle of Jakku.

I'm not saying it would be The battle of Jakku specifically, because it supposedly happened a couple of years before The Mandalorian's first season but I mean something of the style. Or it can be Jakku, just do a little retcon, it's not like it was mentioned at all on the sequels, just on the visual guides.

But, like, the only thing that the protagonists of these shows (Din, Ahsoka, Cara/Rangers) have in common is their desire to put an end to the Empire, even if it's for different reasons.

Kuiil said in the first season that things would not change until the old ways die, but sadly we know that lowkey never happens, since the First Order eventually rises, which puts these characters in a tight position and probably in the losing team.

However, I believe at this point all of them have proved to be great fighters, and they would put one hell of a last stand against the Empire. And to be honest, this story line that started in The Mandalorian is building up, and it only will continue to do so with two, maybe three other shows, regardless of what plots they decide to follow. It will get to a point where the only outcome possible is a big, all-out battle, which brings me to the last point I've been thinking about.

If a battle is to come, and I believe it will, it's going to be big. Like, define the future of the galaxy big. Of course, there is not much room for creativity with the sequels ahead, but this battle, if the good guys win, can push the Empire/First Order to hide even more, and be the reason why they don't come out publicly until the climax of The Force Awakens.

Listen, season 2 finale showed that they are not afraid to bring big players to these shows, and with a battle like that so important, it would make sense that they would bring Luke again, and if Luke keeps popping up, I don't see why Leia and Han can't.

I mean, they already have the guy from the Solo movie, just age him up a little and he's good to go. For Leia, they could go on talent hunting and find someone who is reminiscent of Leia, the way Sebastian and Alden do respectively to these characters. Also, a Lando show is on the making as well, and while we don't know who will portray the character, if it's Donald Glover, you can add him to the mix as well.

*-*-*

Okay, before you say it, I know this is not like things are going to go, it's just the things and plots I would love to see. I know Dave Filoni and Jon Favreau already have the way this is going to go, and I completely trust them with it. It's just so easy to get lost in these stories, both seasons of The Mandalorian gave me such a good thing to look forward at times I really needed to and to see this storyline expanded to more shows really excited me. I can't wait to see what they have in store for us c:

[overthinkingkdrama]

how are you feeling about Record of Youth? i was into it at first, i especially enjoyed how grounded the female lead was. i was invested in the male lead's struggle to succeed as well. but for some reason the episodes feel like a chore now, i haven't got through episode 6. i can't place my finger on why it hasn't clicked for me. the uneven focus on the side character plots maybe? and they keep going through the same conflicts over and over...

I’ll be straight with you, I’m not sure I can honestly say I’m watching RoY. I’m mostly fast forwarding through it at this point, and only watching Park Bo Gum’s and Park So Dam’s scenes. I think about 4 or 5 episodes back I started fast forwarding through anything that has to do with Hae Hyo’s mother or Hye Jun’s toxic family relationships, and anything with Hye Jun’s former manager and the fuckboi top star he’s currently representing. This strategy cuts the episodes nearly in half. The strange thing is...I feel like I’m missing nothing. You basically don’t need any of those scenes in order to follow the plot--truth is...there isn’t really much of a plot when you get right down to it.

I’m very frustrated with how little Jung Ha’s story matters to the central plot. The focus is nearly all taken up by Hye Jun’s rise to stardom with their relationship as a side dish. Jung Ha gets a few brief scenes each episode dealing with her work woes and her family damage, but it’s so heavily sidelined you would think that Jung Ha was a side character and Park So Dam was some no name actress. The show runners should be ashamed of themselves, quite honestly. Jung Ha might actually have less screen time, minute for minute, than Hae Hyo’s mother does. Wtf is that about? And we are finally getting a little bit more about her trauma and her relationship with her two parents, but it took such a long time for that aspect of the story to get any attention at all, especially when taken with the sheer quantity of screen time Hye Jun’s family drama gets, it feels like an afterthought. I’m pissed about it, to be honest with you.

I love Park Bo Gum, I think he’s doing as much as he can possibly do with the script he’s been given, and I don’t hold any of this against him, but Park So Dam is at least equally good if not better and is coming off the meteoric success of Parasite, and she is supposed to be the co-lead. Like, what were they thinking?? The imbalance of emphasis they’re getting is baffling to me.

I didn’t remember until fairly recently that the screenwriter for RoY is the same woman who wrote Temperature of Love. I couldn’t get through Temperature of Love but I watched the first few episodes, and I heard enough about what happened later in the run, so I should have been wary of the writing for this one going in. I’ve also been noticing a lot of issues with the scene to scene editing in RoY, where scenes from much later in the chronology are jammed into the end of episodes so they can end on a high note, just for them not to come back up in the course of the story until 45 minutes into the next episode. It’s disorienting and frustrating for the viewer. Not to mention it completely destroys any sense of pacing the drama is trying to have. What this feels like to me is a major writing problem: a script that plods along, lacks focus or focuses on the wrong things, with too few moments of high tension or excitement to hold the audience’s attention. The show runners know that this is the case, and are trying to solve the problems with the script in the edit, butchering the show’s scene flow all to hell in hopes of boosting ratings and keeping people tuning in, but ultimately hurting the quality of the show overall.

That’s my take anyway. After the “twist” at the end of episode 10 (you said you haven’t finished episode 6 so I won’t get into specifics) I’m rather disgusted with the writer and I might end up dropping it this week, despite already being more than half way to the finish line. I haven’t quite decided yet. I might start clicking through episode 11 and see how the spirit moves me.

Anyway, thank you for the ask. I hope we both find something we love to watch soon!

Jona

[djxrxn]

"one of the strongest episodes"?? You either need to go back to school or if you had an storytelling analysis degree you gotta fucking return it because no way in hell was that born out of good judgement

That episode relied heavily on fanservice, forced Din into a passive role wont allow him to take initiative in a series ahout him and wretchedly botched a coherent narrative by showing Din knows jack shit about other Mandalorian factions, by which makes no sense and complicates his plotline that may make some pre established threads implausible. That's even exlcuding the fucking cult comment, which is the crappiest thing to do for what may actual the most decent fictional rep of a persecuted religious minority but hey I forgot its still ultimately directed by a couple of white non religious men

i think you bring up a few points that i agree with and are incredibly valid, but also i didn’t fucking ask?? thanks tho lmao

fan service isn’t a Bad Thing, i think we sort of expect it to be, but it’s actually not. a lot of season two relied on fan service which is why it’s so much weaker than season one — like skywalker’s cameo is fan service, ahsoka’s episode is fan service, BOBA FETT BEING ALIVE???? fan service. it’s not a bad thing, and it’s not handle sloppily in this episode with bo like the rest of the season. and when i mean strongest, i mean it can stand alone, it does t need the rest of the season to look good — i think this episode is stronger than it’s counterparts. like what, is the passenger a better episode? like i do not know what u want from me.

also din is passive? that’s the whole joke of the season if not the SHOW is that he doesn’t want to be the main character ?? like, i think this episode showed din being a passive mandalorian and showed bo katan being aggressive, that’s important  — AND ITS ONE EPISODE ABOUT SOMEONE ELSE din is the main character still and the episode was still about him like sure it featured a lot of bo katan and her crew but it also showed a lot of din and grogu too like?? okay??? 

as for din’s clan, before season two, it was always speculated that din’s covert was an extremist group — some even thought it was a part of deathwatch, the armor of the mando that saves din was a similar shade of blue. it would have had to been an extremist group, because other mandos from rebels and the clone wars have removed their helmets and still are considered mandalorian. from an outsider, the children of the watch would look like a cult, because they have extremely strict rules based around religious teachings of the Way, and if you break those rules you don’t get to stay in the covert and you lose your beskar. they also rescue children with no family left and have them join the group, THEY INDOCTRINATE CHILDREN INTO THEIR RELIGION and that’s not sus??? i’m not saying bo katan is a proper mandalorian, and im not saying din is bad or a cult member, but bo katan’s comment does have some truth, even if it’s harsh. the cult comment is rough, especially coming from miss deathwatch sure, but from a mandalorian outsider, you’d be annoyed too if you had to re-educate someone who’s been completely sheltered. that’s why i think it makes sense that din doesn’t know about every mando clan and lifestyle — he’s extremely sheltered. i think it explains a lot about din, and his upbringing. it speaks a lot to the children of the watch that they don’t even tell din the name of their covert, they tell him from a young age that This is the Literal Only Way, and now din is learning that there’s more to mandalorian culture. 

i don’t think it ruins all aspect of din knowing about other coverts or mandos, there’s a line that din is looking for mandos and coverts. he assumes that his way of life is the only way, and mandos have to live underground and hide their face. whether this is din just being sheltered and making assumptions or actually true (half the mando pop is in the children of the watch, half isn’t), i don’t really know. as we haven’t seen another covert, i’m assuming that din just assumed every mandalorian was like him. 

i’ll be honest — i am not apart of a persecuted religious minority, so i feel uncomfortable trying to speak on that. all i will offer is my own perspective on the scene/line. it’s very possible that this is a dig at religious practices, but this might also be another reference to mandalorian infighting, and how no one mandalorian group is appreciated by the next. this could be setting up the wielder of the dark saber uniting (again) the clans and factions of mandalorians to take back mandalore. 

also, your comment about the show being directed by “white non religious men” isn’t true, jon and dave are show runners, but there have been multiple directors who have been women or members of the BIPOC community, actually the best episodes have not been directed by white men. the heiress was directed by bryce dallas howard, so ok. 

i am by no means an expert, esp since my degree is a fucking studio art degree, but whether or not you think i’m qualified to give a hot take or analysis on an episode of a fictional tv show doesnt give you the right to be a dick because i think a character is hot, like please

[twilightofthe]

@nerdgatehobbit Hey! Thanks for the question! Ik you asked this to my main but imma respond on my SW blog if that’s okay?

So whew that’s a big question. Do I honestly think that Dave kept Obi Wan and Padmé and then Anakin and Satine from interacting in the TCW show because they didn’t want shipping wars?

(Remember, these are all just my personal opinions. I do me and you do you!)

Short version? Yes and no. Long version? Under the cut because I can never shut up.

Firstly, I don’t wanna say this was all Dave’s decision. He was one of the top guys in charge of TCW, yes, but he was far from the only one, there was an entire creative team working on the project, and during the time of TCW’s original six seasons Lucasfilms was not owned by Disney yet and George Lucas himself had a very large amount of creative control over the entire show. So I don’t really think it’s fair at all to point fingers at any choices the show made and go “yep that’s completely 100% Dave’s fault alone”.

I also don’t quite think they were concerned about shipping wars in the way ATLA had them. Avatar’s shipping wars were so absolutely toxically rancid that they legit drove me right out of that fandom. I’m still hesitant to come back during the current renaissance because of them. Star Wars, prior to the Sequel Trilogy, never had shipping wars close to that calibre of pure nastiness. The fandom was a godawful cesspool that fought to the death on most aspects of the franchise, this has always been true, but shipping, if I’ve read right, was somehow never really one of those hot button issues within fandom. I don’t think Lucasfilms kept the Clone Wars four apart because they were afraid of fans fighting over ships.

That being said, Lucasfilms HAS always been Very Strict on how they want their characters to be seen, romantic-wise, way back to when they would terrorize Original Trilogy slash shippers back in the 80’s and 90’s with threats of legal action. It’s part of why they were Very Firm in their insistence that they had absolutely nothing to do with all the Luke/Mara Jade EU stuff. You either abided by LF’s canonical romances or not at all in their world. So yes, in the case of Obi Wan and Padmé, I absolutely think the writing team’s decision to keep the pair of them apart was almost entirely so fans didn’t ship them together.

Why do I think this? Because there is no other rational reason why Obi Wan and Padmé haven’t had a single second of screentime in TCW that hasn’t had either Anakin or Satine also in the room as a buffer. Not when Revenge of the Sith EXPLICITLY portrays their relationship as relatively close friends who care about each other. So nope, I genuinely think the show just doesn’t want the fans to consider any other relationship for Padmé besides Anakin.

But why would they do this just to her and Obes? Obi Wan and Padmé both have other friends of different genders, why don’t they worry about us shipping THEM? Well for Obi Wan’s case, it can be excused that he flirts with everyone, so we’re conditioned to think that it’s never anything serious, and none of the other characters are married to the main character of the series. This is entirely because of Padmé’s position. Yes, she has other male friends, but either they’re nonhuman and not conventionally attractive so the series doesn’t see them as a threat, they’re Clovis, who they actively show Anakin going into a jealous fit over, or they’re Bail, who can be excused by the fact that he’s already married and also because he’s never actively shown as in competition with Anakin for anything, so he’s not threatening either.

Obi Wan, on the other hand, is a major threat to Anidala in the show’s eyes. They already constantly make a point to compare him and Anakin in almost every opportunity. Which is strange, the show’s decision to force them into the role of narrative foils to each other when in the movies that isn’t the case at all— Obi Wan is much more of a foil to Sidious and Anakin’s foil is Luke —but yeah, the show very often has Obes and Ani going through similar situations with competing viewpoints— ESPECIALLY their canon romances, and I won’t rant about how the show’s attempted Anidala and Obitine parallels fall apart under scrutiny right now but if yinz want the rant sometime let me know.

Obi Wan also has the canonical ability to charm the pants off of literally everyone he meets. Nearly everyone in canon is in love with him, 80% of the fandom at least is in love with him, and I KNOW most of the crew was in love with him too. Anakin, on the other hand, has a very abrasive personality and is much easier to dislike. The show was ALREADY terrified of the fans not liking or wanting to root for Anakin to the point that they reworked his entire personality to make him more palatable to his critics from the movies. Plus, Obidala fans already existed! Since the first and second PT movies, a big group of people already shipped these two because they already thought Obi Wan was a preferable match to Padmé than Anakin. The studio did not want to encourage this.

So yes, I think it was a combination of the show’s tendency to already try and get the fans to compare Obi Wan to Anakin for everything else plus their insecurity in Anakin’s image and likeability as it was, that they did Not want the handsome charming not-future-evil guy around the leading lady and threatening her canon romance by existing as a possibly better option. So Obi Wan and Padmé got no stories together, just kinda throwing the opening ROTS left them in the garbage ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ The worst part is, there is so many potential places in TCW where Obi Wan and Padmé could talk to each other, like during her investigation into her friend’s murder, during the Clovis arc, bits during the Malevolence arc, the earlier Naboo crisis arcs, even the one time where she’s just hosting a damn party and wants to invite her friends gahhhhhhhh

Anakin and Satine, I also think yes, but this is also a case of half and half because Satine isn’t nearly as major a character as the other three are, and out of the nine episodes she appears in, she only has more than a singular line in seven of them, and out of those seven, only two of them aren’t revolves entirely around building her relationship with Obi Wan. So really, there is a defence for the writers here in noting that there’s not as much room to explore Satine’s character as it is, let alone trying to shoehorn in a scene with Anakin.

Except no, I’m not gonna give them that defence because in the two episodes where she only has a speaking line or less— Obi Wan’s funeral and the Ahsoka and Lux meet Death Watch ep —I can already easily think of ways she and Anakin could have really meaningful interactions in them both. Y’all have already heard my bit on how they could have a real important conversation at the funeral, but y’all HAVEN’T seen my idea for a rewrite of the Carlac ep where it’s a two-parter, Anakin comes with Ahsoka and Padmé to the negotiations on Mandalore, and it ends up with a subplot of Anidala chasing after Ahsoka and Lux with Satine as the put-upon third wheel and we get foreshadowing to Satine being Bo Katan’s sister, so when the reveal happens the next season it actually means something.

So yeah, it was partially because of timing constraints, but it was also DEFINITELY in part because they didn’t want Satine being shipped with Anakin— which ppffffft, if they were brave enough to actually try writing these two in a conversation in-character, they’d understand how much of a not-worry this would be xD —because the show is set on the fact that despite maybe there being other flings at some point, Obi Wan and Satine are each other’s one true tragic love (Or, at least Obi Wan is Satine’s. He’s always had more freedom and decision than she has in this narrative, and that’s always kinda bugged me). So, that means Satine can’t interact with any men unless they’re gonna betray her trust and try to kill her by the end of the episode, because the show needs Obi Wan to have a loyal, steady, good girlfriend because he is a good man.

(And yes, before anyone says it, I have heard the more unpleasant rumors behind why exactly Obi Wan was given a girlfriend in the show, but as I’ve yet to see any official proof of them besides fandom salt, I’m not gonna spread them because those are hefty accusations to throw around).

So yeah, Satine can’t talk to Anakin partially because time constraints, but also because she isn’t allowed to talk to any other nice men besides Obi Wan and her son (no I don’t particularly like the Korkie Kenobi thing, but it is blatantly obvious that that is what the show was implying and I’m not gonna pretend otherwise), and Obi Wan and Padmé can’t talk to each other entirely because the show saw Obidala as a threat to Anidala.

Again, just my opinions and things I noticed, y’all are more than free to disagree and discuss with me.

[gumnut-logic]

Fanfic Asks 2

This one is for @hedwigstalons who asked for A F L Q along with @fictivekaleidoscope , @willow-salix , @coffee-and-lenna and @janetm74 who all asked for Q. You guys are so kind to me ::hugs you lots::

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A. What was the first fandom you wrote for?

Star Trek: TOS…I’m a Trekkie from way back. Discovered it in 1986 through books in my school library (it wasn’t on TV and hadn’t been since 1975 of which I had the vaguest of memories…and yes, I’m old :P ). I wrote my first fanfic as a teenager, by hand in a notebook. It was submitted to the local club printed fanzine (which I still have lying around here somewhere along with a stack of classic printed zines). Looking back, it had a strong concept behind it, but it was horribly written. I do not have an electronic copy, though sometime ago I thought to re-write it, but never got around to it. You can find my second ever fanfic, written when I was eighteen on FF.net – Goodbye, Spock – it was a movie tag, written in early 1991.

F. How long have you been writing fanfic?

Hmm, I think I’ve given that massive number away in the last question :D Yeah, since I was about eighteen, possibly a little earlier. ::does the math:: Okay, that number is scary. Next year it will be thirty years since my first fanfic ::headdesk:: but having said that, I didn’t really start writing until the internet arrived with my first computer and maturity gave me the ability to finish things (sometimes). I really jumped in with Stargate SG-1 fandom in 2003. From that point on I wrote continuously until I had children in 2008. Then I stopped and didn’t really start up again until July 2018 when TAG hit me like a ton of bricks. The last two years have been amazing and I have learnt so much.

Oh, and if anyone ever says writing fanfic is wasting time or will never get you anywhere, writing fanfic and participating in fandom has done wonders for introvert little me:

Led to me getting my job – writing is a skill that can get you many places

Taught me how to blog and how to manage a blog – valuable skills in or out of business

Teaches you multiple online tools – chat, publishing and other multimedia applications – you’d be surprised how many people are not comfortable using many online tools. I use my experience every day on the library floor.

Allowed an introvert to reach out and learn how to converse and gain confidence in conversation – online interactions has many advantages

Is excellent for mental health…and equally unhealthy if you’re not careful – which leads to learning about yourself and managing conflict (unfortunately…which is why I have zero tolerance for fandom wank and will not participate in or create nastiness – I’m here for fun and to hopefully make things more fun, not miserable)

I’ve learnt to type. My first novel length fic was 75,000 words long and hand written before being typed into the computer – let’s just say that that three months back in 2003 finally enabled me to break the touch type barrier :D Which is a skill that I use every day.

If some one does say you’re wasting your time, they obviously have no idea what they are talking about – ignore them. As long as you’re balancing your fic writing with life in general, things are okay (I got addicted at one point and things were not okay, so don’t do that).

In summary, apparently I’m old, been writing forever and have found it a very valuable exercise which will no doubt lead me even further into interesting places.

 L. What is your favorite fic idea that you don’t think you’ll ever write?

I tend to write most things or forget them. There was that random fanfic idea I posted a few days back. It’s a cool idea, but I don’t have time at the moment. ::opens ups fic planning book::

Ideas sitting, not yet started, but might be:

Eos gets hacked by the Hood and injures two brothers before John realises it and saves her.

Episode tag to 3.21 that explores the Mechanic

Alan’s Vlog: I have a note for the next story that I haven’t yet written.

The Kermadec sequel

A fic idea I had the other day inspired by a news article – that one might actually get written at some point.

A sequel to V. T. Green (which apparently is my most popular fic) – which I had a concept for, but haven’t written down, by the looks of it. Oops.

A sequel to Bo where Virg gets buried in an avalanche – this one was started.

Eh, I have lots of ideas, most get lost in the mess that exists in my head. Sometimes I write a note down, but then I forget what the note means. I usually have to grab the inspiration when it strikes.

 Q. If you could pick one fic of yours to rewrite, which would it be?

Love and Sacrifice – I wrote that fic out of order and smushed it together and it shows. It is also full of technical holes. The plotline sucks because I wanted a certain scene and forced it. But it is such an integral piece of the series that I can’t alter it much. The whole of Warm Rain was written in bits. I usually write in order and that experiment shows that I’m not great at writing out of sequence. Most of the fics work okay, but Love and Sacrifice, while having some good scenes in it, is poorly constructed.

A Little Distraction and a Little Too Much Attention suffers from self-indulgence. Virgil wasn’t supposed to get hurt – I should have stopped at A Little Distraction, but apparently, I can’t help myself and the results weren’t great.

Two fics instead of one…there are more, but I’m not supposed to publicly criticise my fics – I do enough of that in my own head :D

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EDIT: @weirdburketeer reminded me of something I meant to list but forgot regarding the above reasons why writing fanfic is not a waste of time.

The friendships! My goodness, how did I miss that? I flew to Sydney to meet a good fanfic writing friend in both 2004 and 2005, another friend flew all the way from Chicago (as part of a business trip) to Australia and made a special trip to Adelaide, just to meet up with me. It was frickin’ amazing!

And this fandom....I have met some absolutely amazing people here. You guys have influenced me like you wouldn’t believe. As I have said on many occasions, this fandom is just amazing ::drags you all into a massive group hug:: And yes, I have some fantastic friendships forming here ::loves you guys to bits::