#i know i said i wouldn't really talk about jackdaw but

[aseriesofunfortunatejan]

Just finished watching Providence. I'll probably have some more thoughts to share about it after sleeping on it, and possibly later if I rewatch S3 again (😍).

Providence and S3 spoilers ahead!

The first thing I can't stop thinking about is that upon giving the Psycho-Pass subreddit a quick look before watching the movie, the only post I saw was about how "this movie should have come out before S3". I didn't read the body of the post in fear of spoilers, but throughout watching the movie, I kept thinking about how much I disagree with that. How insignificant would Akira be if you didn't know he was Kei's brother? How random would Atsushi be as a character if you didn't know what he meant to Arata? Imagine this random kid showing up. No one would react positively to Arata, Maiko and Kei. Akira would feel like a side-character we only cared about for a split second and Atsushi would be confusing in the wrong way. Season 3 wouldn't be the same without the mystery of Tsunemori's incarceration. Objectively a wrong take if you care about the storytelling and characters at all imo.

With that out of the way, while Providence answered some of our burning questions, some have been left unanswered, such as:

Did Gino change his haircut so drastically all of a sudden because he realised the wind blowing in his face meant he couldn't see shit?

I'd be willing to buy that he just enjoys changing styles regularly, though.

Since I'm looking at her... do we know what Frederica's deal is, exactly...? I also can't help wondering - is there a reason why Shimotsuki hates her this much? While she's always complaining over petty things, she seems to hold a pretty specific dislike towards Frederica. Is it really just her personality? (I'd be willing to buy that, too...)

I feel like we have gained a net zero information about either Homura Sr. or Jr. Or Bifrost.

I feel like I had another serious question... before I started joking about Gino's hair. It'll probably come back to me. I guess there's always "can Shou's backstory get a Moment? Anyone else remember how S2 didn't give its new cast the same amount of time S1 did? Babyboy's still kinda just Here rn."

I'm still a bit confused about Jackdaw and Vixen, and the fact that I only just realised that Vixen is a woman probably does not help.

I miss Azusawa and Obata...

Oh right, I think I remembered what I meant to talk about. There are events that clearly happened between Providence and S3 that haven't been detailed, such as Gino leaving the Bureau to join Foreign Affairs, Kunizuka running the fuck out of there or even, I believe, Arata and Kei being appointed as Inspectors. We know that Tsunemori contributed to the latter - I wonder if we may learn more about her reasoning in the future. I think we can also infer that Gino, who stated in the movie that he intends on protecting Tsunemori, had to change plans one way or another due to her arrest.

I feel like we still don't know enough about Akira's relationship to his brother or to Atsushi, and I don't know whether that will be forever left in the air of if it will be detailed. The exact implication of Stronskaya Sr. and her relationship to her daughter are also vague.

Honestly, there's a lot going on in this movie. A lot of politics... a lot of religion... and a thick wall of the story's context. It's complex, and it's interesting how Psycho-Pass is continuing in this direction that already stood out in S3.

I'll just say I'm upset about Saiga. Evil evil bad. I'm really hoping for more content with Arata, Maiko and Kei in the near future because I seriously love them!!! And I want closure for them!!!! Akira was a pretty interesting character, though his quick death was frustrating - which I assume was not not on purpose. Though it happened maybe a little too fast due to the movie format (compared to an episodic format), the revelation of his allyship was set up pretty well. Like I said, details are definitely missing - Atsushi didn't explain why Akira was so willing, and he was interrupted before he could say who he was in his own words.

It was pretty nice to see Kougami be a little cringefail. I didn't enjoy his characterisation in S3, but in Providence, it feels a lot more sensible - like he can really feel that he doesn't have control. I'm satisfied with his and Tsunemori's dynamic in the movie, wherein they care about each other deeply - dare I say, Kougami might even care a little more than she does at this point? - how does that dynamic shift feel my guy? - but Kougami's wrongdoings have weight and the narrative doesn't force him back on her. You can feel that he wants to be back, you can feel that to Tsunemori he never really left, but like I mentioned in a more personal post, Gino's her source of comfort, her trustworthy teammate; Kougami isn't welcomed back by default. This feels natural. This feels like the writing cares about their feelings.

What else... Oh yeah... Did anyone else feel like Saiga was kinda................. hot?

[too-true-to-believe]

Transcripts of Silas Anderson’s investigations regarding a group called Siblinghood of Skull and Flower. Events take place over a 3 week span from late October to mid November. 

[CLICK] SILAS

Audio recording regarding the research of a potential cult. Call themselves Siblinghood of Skull and Flower, indirectly linked to several investigators disappearances. Gonna try and avoid the group's focus while looking into how they make money and get new members. I suspect they are the kind of group to not worry about getting money in less than legal ways, but I could always be surprised.

The Siblinghood’s goals are unknown, however due to the name it is likely the group is interested in scavenging carcasses for bones. No problems with that, till they start nabbing people of course. Can’t ever condone murder even if human bones look cool as shit. 

[CLICK]

Turns out, Mariana Fletcher, owner and proprietor of Fletcher's General Store has a dirty little secret. Apparently, she has a tendency to cook the books to get better interest rates from the bank. Course, this is all coming from Pierre Byron who's the current proprietor of Daily Select Grocery and Pharmacy. Claims he knows she's doing cause "the amount of stock she carries don't match the amount of clients she gets." Gonna have a looksy at Fletcher’s to see if I can get to the bottom of this. Might just be a competitor trying to bad mouth someone. 

[CLICK]

Watching Fletcher’s for 'bout a week and a half now and only ever saw one customer. Some dirty guy in his late 30s, didn't seem to like lil' old Mariana’s food. Shame, seems like she is in dire need of some loyal customers. Mariana herself ventures out into the Jackdaw Fields on an almost nightly basis, the only days she didn't go were days where it was below freezing. Unknown if this is general activities for the Siblinghood or simply due to the fact Mariana is a little old lady whose bones disagree with the cold. I could look farther into that of course but you know … can't investigate anymore if I get disappeared.  Ha ha … 

[CLICK]

So I managed to talk to Mariana’s grandson, no idea who or where Mariana’s child is, with the help of buying him some candy and a promise to teach him how to widdle. Kids about 9 so take anything he says with a grain of salt, or like a whole salt shaker. Says his grandma likes to go out into the woods to collect bones but on nights when she goes out he's not allowed to get out of bed once the sun sets. Apparently she's got some kind of box that ‘smells like the apples left after we harvest’ that the bones go in once she finds them. 

[CLICK]

Turns out Mr Byron was wrong about how much she ought to pay for products. Kiddo showed me their apple orchard, pointed out the hunting trails Mariana takes to collect meat, and introduced me to their pet chickens. Mean little bastards. Stole a whole button off my jacket.

Anyways, the kid also showed me “Grandma’s biggest secret”. Get this, she's got an honest to god bone stash buried out in the woods, under an old hickory tree. Couldn’t move them “or else Grandma’ll get really mad,” but contains a mix of human bones and animal bones. All degreased and defleshed. No clear organizational system, but the kid said Grandma put them right where she wants them. Kid says Grandma has a whole bunch of stashes like this, but he wouldn't show me any other ones. 'Parrently showing me this one scared him, coz he mad me pinky promise not to tell anyone or move the bones.

I … I’m gonna be honest I don’t know what to do? Like, clearly there's someone's bones under that tree, but what am I supposed to do? If Granny Mariana is willing to kill and stash whoever they are, then she’d have no problem doing the same to me. But I can’t just do nothing … right?  

[CLICK]

The Fletcher kid likes me apparently. At least enough to give me a bracelet with about 25 teeth on it. Mix of human and animal, carnivore and herbivore. No ID yet.

I'm keeping the bracelet of course, don't want to upset my new friend, but ... fuck. What do I do?

[END TRANSCRIPT]

[crtalley]

while I post jackdaw over on my sideblog ( @never--the--less​ ) I’ll probably still drop some quality jackdaw content here from time to time simply because I love these characters a ridiculous amount. so here’s a post on the starsiblings (and beth!), the main characters of the novella! (picrew source!) 

jackdaw is our pov character. they are 21 or maybe 3000 or maybe 7 million? they don’t really know. they are too young to be this tired, this cold, and this bruised. they really just want to find their way home and go back to being an immeasurably powerful celestial being pls thx.

beth was found in the woods 20 years ago and honestly she’s okay with that backstory. she rots everything around her into an early grave, and it takes all her concentration on the daily to keep that magic under control. she’s a big fan of gardens, leaf crowns, scarves, and jackdaw.

unkindness is the eldest starsibling by eons. she’s also been in lorne the longest, having taken up residence in a mysterious spire deep in the woods and faded into myth by the time the other two arrive. she surveys the land through the eyes of her ravens, and isn’t interested in going home.

the crow man is a familiar kind of mystery. he stands at the edge of town, jacket and wide hat bustling with blackbirds. you can’t prove he’s done anything wrong but you’re pretty sure he’s committed literally every crime known to man and some known only to gods. his crows speak for him in human voices.

bonus:

rpg alignments are, in order, • jackdaw: neutral evil • beth: lawful neutral • unkindness: lawful evil • the crow man: chaotic evil

because the starsiblings are all terrible people with terrible moral codes (but jackdaw does kind of learn to be better, mainly because of beth)

and an extra-special crow man with his hat (even though it needs to be way wider and full of approximately thousands more crows)