#if not THE best characters to come out of the sequel trilogy

[thevoidremembers]

Looking back on it Finn really should have been the protagonist in the Star Wars sequel trilogy

[ot3]

Hi, I just finished the AA trilogy with my bf and we fell in love with it! I found your blog the other day, and it sometimes feels like you're the only one giving correct takes on these characters' writing and the minutiae of everyone's inner worlds (or the fumbling of, see Godot).

I just got here, but, something that's been bothering me about the fandom's approach to the sequel trilogy is like... the imperialist undertones are glossed over, or swept under the rug. Researching "The Dark Age of the Law" and beyond puts a sour taste in my mouth. And with Khura'in the country vs Kurain the village? It all feels racist at best (the concept of the Divination Seance gives me squick). If you have the time, I'd love to hear your thoughts about AA5 and AA6 in relation to the world of AA as a whole. Thanks again for all of your thoughtful and nuanced takes on this series!

so glad to hear you guys liked the games!! thank you for enjoying my posts, i always appreciate it.

the tl;dr of it is that i do think they are genuinely bad enough additions to the franchise that they have signed mainline ace attorney's death warrant. picking out the dark age of the law stuff and aa5 and the imperialism in aa6 you've pretty much honed right in on my two biggest critiques

however i do want to say that although they're being bundled and sold as a 'second trilogy' that's not quite accurate either experientially when playing the games or from a development perspective. aa4 had scenario design/creative direction by series creator shu takumi, with the art director being kazuya nuri (responsible for character design for rise from the ashes in the series previous to this); aa5+6 was spearheaded by takeshi yamazaki, who had been with the franchise since its first game, with the slightly less tenured takuro fuse on art direction/character design. yamazaki and fuse are not without skill, but i think they're both significantly less skilled than takumi and nuri respectively and. it really shows.

pair that with the fact that aa5 and 6 fundamentally do not follow up on any of ace attorney 4's established characters or plots more than superficially, i don't think it's particularly useful to critique 4-5-6 as if they're a single body of work in the same way the trilogy is. apollo justice isn't a perfect* ace attorney game but it's a good one.

anyway i think buying into the 'dark age of the law' stuff in ace attorney 5 necessitates cheapening all of the events preceding it. the implication that 1. the law wasn't that bad before but it Is Now and 2. a single case was the tipping point for whether or not the entire legal system would be bad just ruins the times when ace attorney has managed to acknowledge corrupt systems as a massive source of problem for the everyman in the past

i think this screenshot from the dark age of the law wiki page says a lot:

For starters, that phoenix quote. He would not fucking say that. I don't think there has ever been a point during or leading up to phoenix's career where he thought the legal system had 'glory' he would then want to restore it to. you seem to get it so im not gonna harp on this too much on this but. jesus christ

then, then there's fact that even by stating the most basic details about the franchise's events undermines the whole premise. like okay notice that the corruption that happens during the trilogy/investigations spinoffs is coming from all of the actual agencies that represent law and order/the system: the prosecutors, the police, and the prosecutorial investigation committee. however in aa5 the thing they choose to paint as responsible for supposedly unprecedented levels of corruption in the legal system is defense attorneys resorting to more drastic means, and the general public; aka not the people who are responsible for upholding the legal system but the people who are victimized by it and in opposition to it.

i don't think this was an intentional choice as much as it's just sloppy, inconsiderate, and contrived writing.

aa6 is just flat out racist. 'imperalist undertones' is i would say the gentlest way you could phrase it. like. japanese characters going to a made up south asian country that needs to be taught how to govern itself to quash its internal rebellion is like. so high on the yikes meter.

making a bunch of fake 'ethnic sounding' nonsense names filled with apostrophes to make them into silly sounding english phrasing was a disastrously tone deaf thing for the localization to do. they're really unforgivable. the worst of it all is probably "Inga Karkhuul Haw'kohd Dis'nahm Bi'ahni Lawga Ormo Pohmpus Da'nit Ar'edi Iz Khura'in III" i'm unsure if the names are quite as offensive in the original japanese because i haven't looked too much into what they actually are and have a really limited knowledge of the language. but. this name in japanese is "インガ・カルクール・ククルーラ・ラルバン・ギジール・ホフダラン・マダラ・ヴィラ・ヤシマ・ジャクティエール・クライン３世" which is written in katakana. katakana is, in contrast to kanji and hiragana which are used for writing japanese, used to phoenetically transcribe foreign languages or to write loan words. so the foreign-ness of this character is being emphasized here in the original text as well.

the supposed cultural inferiority of the khurainese people is baked into the game at pretty much every level, down to the gags. khura'in has the 'plumed punisher' show, which is actively criticized by the characters in game for just being a cheap ripoff of the steel samurai. they don't even get to have their own tv.

i believe the reason the racism is pretty much glossed over a lot in the fandom is for several reasons. for starters, ace attorney fans overall tend to fall into three camps: 1. people like me who fucking hate these games, refuse to acknowledge them, and would retcon them out of existence if possible. 2. people who have found things they like about the game and have a Good Version of the characters and plots that they have constructed in their head and 3. people who view all of the hate on these games as completely overblown

the first camp Does talk about how the game is racist but we're all already in agreement about that so it's kind of preaching to the choir and a bit redundant to keep going on about. the second camp tends to acknowledge the stickier aspects of the game but focuses on making content around the elements they like rather than critique. the third camp is the type to throw the baby out with the bathwater re: critiquing a thing they like. it's all haterism to them. but either way i think its kind of fucked up how many people will be like 'aa6 isnt that bad you guys are just mean' without even acknowledging these complaints.

anyway the khura'in country vs kurain village thing is really weird to me it shows both a lack of imagination and a disregard for the series' own established lore. why would a girl from a village where almost everyone is a spirit medium need to go to a place where only, like, two people are mediums to train.

i will say though that the divination seance is kind of one of the only things i found about aa6 to be an interesting addition. for a franchise with ghost summoning and murder solving, the two have a kind of hilariously low amount of overlap so i found the idea of bringing ghost bullshit into court really fun. mechanically speaking, the divination seances also felt a LOT better to play than the mood matrix segments of aa5.

in general, i think the biggest weakness of the mainline franchise under takeshi yamazaki's stewardship is its misunderstanding of stakes. both aa5 and 6 prioritize more bombastic and impressive on paper material stakes. oh no! the ENTIRE JUSTICE SYSTEM BEING GOOD OR BAD depends on this one case! on no! we have to DEAL WITH REBEL INSURGENTS! complete horseshit when there is not competent and functional enough character writing to get us emotionally invested here. yamazaki seems to think bigger is better, and that just simply isnt true for something like ace attorney

i've pointed this out in the past when critiquing aa5 and 6 but if you look at the actual material stakes on the line in ace attorney, they're at their highest after rise from the ashes. ousting the corrupt chief of police is the most impressive and impactful thing phoenix does with his career (arguably until the jurist system, but definitely in the trilogy.) but that's not the big Finale case for his character arc. his finale case is defending his college girlfriend; a nun who lives in the mountains, whose conviction would have had zero implications on the larger fabric of ace attorney's legal system. because takumi's writing clearly shows that he understands what makes a plot impactful is the emotional stakes the characters have invested in the events.

before taking over the main franchise, takeshi yamazaki was responsible for the miles edgeworth investigations spinoffs. i do enjoy both of those games - aai2 in particular is really strong. yamazaki does a great job with edgeworth's character arc even if i have some specific gripes with the duologys writing. i think theyre solid additions to the franchise. but you can see traces of this sort of misalignment in narrative priorities here as well. for example, the last case in aai1 is notorious for still going on for, like, an entire hour or two past the time when the last remaining plot point we care about has been revealed. because yamazaki seemingly had no understanding that That was the thing the case should have been about, and that should have been the final mic drop of the game. it just keeps going! he didn't know the game was done and he added a bunch more bullshit busywork after it that no one likes!

so yeah. without going into anything even as specific as how individual plotlines or character arcs were mishandled in aa5/6 that's really my overview What Went Wrong of those games.

[aquamarineglow]

Things I'd love to see in the Future of the Layton Series:

Some of these are unlikely, borderline impossible. But here's hoping Apollo may grant me the gift of prophesy on just one thing:

1. The rest of the Layton Games get a HD release on mobile.

This just makes sense! The original trilogy got a HD release, time for the prequels! And what if we get new cutscenes and content like Curious Village did? That would be amazing!

2. The entire series gets released on Switch.

This also makes sense. Since NWOS is releasing on the Switch, it makes sense to add the original games so new fans can play all of them! Especially since the Nintendo DS is dead. Rest in Peace. 💕

3. London Life gets a sequel/reboot and is available for all regions.

I've been playing London Life on an Emulator and it is so fun! It's a shame my region never got it!

My hope for the future is that if Spectre's Call gets a HD release, it will include London Life for everyone! But this version will include characters from Miracle Mask and Azran Legacy!

And here's a fun idea: what if befriending Dimitri Allen unlocks the ability to use his time machine! Unfortunately, it doesn't work perfectly; it can only take you twenty years into the future. So you can meet and befriend characters from Mystery Journey and Mystery Room!

4. Layton Brothers Mystery Room Sequel

It's been ten years since the mobile game was released and it's been largely ignored by Level 5. Until recently, with Alfendi's cameo in the anime, and then the manga series. It's clear that there's still love for this game. I think it's perfect time for Alfendi and Lucy to get the sequel they deserve! I'd love to see how they are doing!

5. Layton's Mystery Room Sequel/ Layton Mystery Detective Agency Season 2

I know Katrielle's game and anime wasn't the best received, but I think the series has a lot to offer! With the return of Layton and possibly an appearance from Alfendi, I believe the best is yet to come! Also, we still don't know the backstory of Sherl.

6. Lost Media gets found:

What is Professor Layton and the Phantom Thieves? What is Professor Layton Battle Royale? What is Professor Layton and the Deathly Mirror? I have no idea. But I'd like to know.

7. Roid Artwork

I don't know much about it, but I believe Level 5 had some kind of mobile app where, amongst other things, you received really cute artwork of various characters. Most of if the ones I've seen are poor quality, so I think it would be great if the Level 5 Twitter said, "check these out" and released HD images, including ones we've never seen before.

8. More Games

So, the original series was a trilogy. And the prequels were a trilogy. So what if NWOS is the first entry in a new trilogy, starring Luke in America! The Detective Triton Trilogy!

Also, it's been a while since Professor Layton's first and only crossover game. What about another? I don't know much about the Phoenix Wright series, but a crossover between Apollo Justice and Alfendi/Katrielle could be fun?

9. Rook and Bishop

This message is for Akihiro Hino's eyes only. If you are not Akihiro Hino, please skip.

Hey, Akihiro Hino. I know you read my blog. I will give you £29 and my ham sandwich if you put Rook and Bishop in the new game. They don't even have to do anything, just stand awkwardly in the background. It would be hilarious because nobody would care. Everyone wants to see characters like Flora, Emmy and Descole. You put Benny in LMJ and nobody cared about him. Do this for me.🥺

10. Flora

Just.... Acknowledge her existence in some way. Let her appear in NWOS. Give her something to do.

11. Mangas Series

I was so happy when it was revealed that Level 5 was making a manga series about Mystery Room. I can't read Japanese, but I just love the artwork. So expressive and fun! Completely different from the original 2d sprites.

So I was thinking, what if they made a manga about each of the original games? I don't mean like the Cheerful Mystery Manga, but with beautiful artwork that followed the original stories, maybe with new scenes? I'd like that.

Feel free to add what you'd love to see for the Layton Series! No matter how impossible it sounds! If the list is long enough, at least one thing has to come true, right?

[tea-with-evan-and-me]

man about town interview | spring/summer 2014

for the tweam! click through for my best attempt at deciphering this (maybe impossible to find?) throwback interview

‘’I don’t think I’m scary at all. It was kind of funny watching myself being scary. Because I’m not scary.’’ Says Evan Peters, the up-and-coming up-for-anything actor best known for his extreme roles on American Horror Story, the prestige television series that treats social taboos as map points. For three seasons, Peters has excelled at playing against his offbeat boyishness by amping up his young Malcolm McDowell intensity, with results that fall somewhere between ‘’teen dream in strangler’s gloves’’ and ‘’terrifying Michael Cera.’’ He most recently appeared in American Horror Story: Coven as Kyle Spencer, the good-natured university student who is decapitated and then reanimated with the body parts of his Kappa Lambda Gamma brothers as a temperamental Rocky Horror who beats his sexually abusive mother to death with a trophy.

Over a bold chai tea with stevia, at a restaurant in Venice, California, Peters is lighthearted and dryly humorous, like a young Michael Shannon, with whom he should costar in a successful disturbing family sitcom. He wears black jeans, a well-worn t-shirt under a plaid flannel, and a necklace with a toy dinosaur pendant. He drives a 2004 Pontiac Vibe that he correctly describes as ‘’vintage’’; says that he just feels like growing his longish blond hair into a ponytail, and has a red thumbs-up permanently inked onto the to pof his right hand, that was traced over a nightclub door stamp. At one point, he raises his forearm to show off a temporary tattoo that he received the night before at the castle park family entertainment center in Sherman oaks. ‘’This is a Belle tattoo. It’s not real,’’ he explains playfully of a small portrait of the beautiful young heroine from the animated Disney film Beauty and the Beast. I tell him it’s very pretty. ‘’Thank you. She’s gorgeous,’’ he responds. I ask if Belle is his favorite Disney princess. ‘’Well, I picked her out. There was also Jasmine, Ariel and Cinderella. My other buddies got those.” ‘’What about Belle appeals to you?’’ ‘’She likes the Beast.’’ Peters says.

This summer, Peters appears as the teenage Mutant speeder Quicksilver in X-Men: Days of Future Past, the sequel to 2011’s X-Men: First Class, which has proven to be an eventful ??? movie. In October 2012, director Matthew Vaughn – who relaunched the franchise with much needed style and a new cast of young, indie + credible actors – left the film to be replaced by original trilogy director Bryan Singer. As such, fans were already touched when Singer announced that he would retell ‘’Days of Future Past,’’ the seminal X-Men time-travel storyline from 1980, an ambitious plan turned wild when he revealed that both franchises would merge into one. Cut to the 2012 San diego Comic-Con whereby unthinkable feats of scheduling – the sprawling casts of the modern-day first series and the 60’s era prequel (that include expensive names like Jennifer Lawrence, Hugh Jackmon, Halle Berry, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellan, Michael Fassbender, and so on). Convened with ??? new additions like Peters to unhinge popular culture. ‘’You think to yourself, ‘’wow, people really, really love this stuff.” And it makes you appreciate it more. It makes you work harder at it.’’ he says about the experience.

Peters’ role in the films is crucial but concise. ‘’It’s a huge, huge opportunity but I always make sure to tell people it’s just one scene. Easy, it's just one scene.’’ Peters says, as if talking down a rearing horse. Quicksilver has already been the subject of film industry chatter regarding lawful usage of the character, who is both the son of Magneto and a colleague of the Avengers, making him fair game for inclusion in both Days of Future Past and the 20n5 Avengers sequel (in which he will be played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson of Kick-Ass). An Empire magazine Preview of Quicksilver’s costume design was greeted with comparison to Kid Vid, a ‘90’s cartoon form of the Burger King ‘’Kid’s Club,’’ and the news that Peters had been saddled with the Halle Berry “rough wig’’ role. But his fan’s enthusiasm for the project—in which desperate X-Men from a dystopias future try to stave off mutant genocide by altering the present day—is undimmed. ‘’I think it’s the best film of the francise yet,’’ proclaims Peters. ‘’It’s pretty dire. It’s a pretty epic situation. But there’s definitely some humor in there. Its’s just badass, man.’’

Quicksilver is a departure for Peters in some ways if not others. Both X-Men and Horror Story are tight productions that take extensive precautions to protect story lines. Peters says that he did not receive the full script for X-Men until arriving at the Montreal location days before shooting. Horror Story pages are often delivered the night before a scene. The short lead time can demand a ??? almost improvisational acting process. ‘’The minute we get the script, plans are cancelled, dinner is cancelled,’’ he says about working on Horror Story. ‘’Some of it you’re like, ‘Oh shit, I have to do that?’ Screaming and crying, realizing that my whole body is pieced together and I’m not myself? I’ll probably have to work on that.’’

Peters owes his career to television. ‘’I was watching a lot of TV and I kind of wanted to be on the TV and in movies. I love movies and TV,’’ he says, and cites inspirations like Joaquin Phoenix, Heath Ledger, Christian Bale, George Clooney, JIM Carrey, Chris Farley, Tom Hanks in Forrest Gump, and the millennial teen comedies Even Stevens starring Shia Labeuof and So Little Time with Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen. ‘’That sort of stuff. I just really wanted to be a part of it and loved acting and performing.’’ He moved to Los Angeles with is mother when he was 15 years old, and steadily won work in television, on shows including Phil of the Future (2004) and One Tree Hill (2008), and in movies like the independent films Clipping Adam (2004), his first big break, and later Kick Ass (2010). Being cast as Tate Langdon in the first season of American Horror Story in 2011 was his tipping point, playing a Skull Boy-faced high school shooter in a latex catsuit who rapes his girlfriend’s mother to please a ghost. He has since become one of the five main players to appear in all three season of the series, sterling company that includes Jessica Lange, Sarah Paulson, Lily Rabe and Frances Conroy.

Now the world gets to enjoy a lighter side of Peters, like when he appeared on a 2011 episode of the G4 networks Attack of the Show and blithely volunteered that he was working a a rap song called ‘’I’ll Tap That Fucking Ass.’’ He laughs off a request to recite a verse. ‘’I can’t. That never materialized. I tried but it was too much pressure. It was just a concept. I was just trying new ideas,’’ he says, and then volunteers a different musical direction. ‘’It’s called ‘Natch Snatch.’ Like all natural snatch. Big bush. Snatch. Cause it’s nice. You know, ‘girl, you’ve got that natch snatch.’ It’s another nice concept. Probably on the same album.’’ Peters laughs in agreement at the suggestion that he is a kook in the best sense of the word. ‘’I get called a weirdo sometimes,’’ he admits ‘’But it’s like, I don’t feel that weird. I don’t feel that different. I look at everybody else and I’m like, ‘’you’re a fucking weirdo, too. You like all of your shit. I like my shit.’’ Why does one have to be weird and one have to be normal? It doesn’t make any sense to me.’’ Meanwhile, he seems to be successfully negotiating his public and private persona. ‘’I’ll try to be myself as much as I can but you obviously can’t be who you are at home in your skivvies eating donuts. You can’t be that.’’ He explains, before confirming that guy exists, with his tongue sort-of-in-cheek. ‘’You bet he does. Yeah, definitely watching New Girl. Crying.’’ But while Peters seems fairly comfortable in the public eye, fame no longer interests him. The development is not unrelated to his intense, closely-watched relationship with fiancée and two-time costar Emma Roberts (on coven and in the 2013 ?? Adult World) ‘’When I was younger I was like, ‘’That would be awesome!’’ now I don’t particularly love it,’’ he says ‘’Emma gets paparazzi a lot, and because I’m with her we get paparazzi, so it’s kind of a weird thing that I don’t love. But it’s so small in the big picture of all the positives that come with this job that I can’t really complain about it.’’ he may be surprised by the attention he and Roberts receive, but he is hardly self-ptying. ‘’Honestly, it’s not that bad. If you don’t set up a Google alert on yourself and go out searching for it then you’re not going to see it. So I don’t see it.’’ Roberts has already endured the Hollywood learning curve that Peters is now experiencing. ‘’She gives me advice, like cut your hair. She likes my hair to look nice,’’ he says, and laughs. ‘’She’s been around and knows the ropes and how to play the game very well. And she has incredible social skills. She can talk to anyone and everyone loves talking to her. I’m not that good at that stuff so she kind of helps me out with that.’’ I wonder what guidance she offers him. ‘’You’ve just got to be personable and talk to people, even if you don’t want to. Put on a happy face and buck up. Grow a pair of balls. Don’t be a little wuss.’’ Petersa says, and laughs. ‘’I mean, she doesn’t say that, but you know what I mean.’’ 

Next for Peters is Lazarus, opposite Olivia Wilde, Donald Glover and Mark Duplass a 2015 feature from director David Gelb, known for the documentary Giro: Dreams of Sushi. Peters describes the project, about a team of brainiacs working magnanimously to reanimate the dead, as a “contained Sci-Fi horror thriller” as it mostly takes place in one laboratory setting. He plays the party animal scientist. Peters encouraging sidesteps the questions of his involvement in the next season of American Horror Story, to be set in 1950 and the present day, for which Jessica Lange is practicing a German accent. ‘’I don’t know what I’m allowed to say so I’m going to say no comment,’’ he says.

‘’At the end of the day it is acting. You want to go with the biggest, weirdest, boldest shit and see if you can actually do it and go there,’’ Peters concludes, ‘’I’m very curious about everything. I feel like I don’t know that much. I’m trying to learn it all and figure it all out.’’

[happyhauntt]

➡ faye's writing masterlist.

here you can find all my published oneshots, blurbs & series! some content may be crossposted on my ao3 account, happyhauntt. i accept requests! check out the list of characters / fandoms i'll write for.

𝐡𝐩 & 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐞𝐫𝐚.

young gods ── canon [1.2k] ➡ the gryffindors have a little tradition on their first night back at hogwarts.

famous last words ── james potter x reader [2.1k] ➡ you and james are sworn enemies. you find you quite like it that way.

a writer & his muse ── sirius black x reader [1k] ➡ renowned mystery writer sirius black has a new muse in his life, and unfortunately, it's you. castle!au.

la vie en rose ── sirius black x reader [1.8k] ➡ it's just a regular tuesday in july until an escaped convict appears in your kitchen. oh, and he happens to be your ex.

oh, captain! ── cedric diggory x oc [series masterlist] ➡ megan wynne jones wants to be the best, but there's one annoyingly perfect boy standing in her way: cedric diggory.

𝐠𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐚��𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞.

haunted ── alina starkov x reader [1.1k] ➡ alina starkov is dead, except she isn't, and the memory of her haunts you constantly.

gold rush ── nikolai lantsov x oc [series masterlist] ➡ it doesn't matter what she calls him. pirate, privateer, prince, sobachka, her heart aches for a man she knows she can never truly have. nikolai lantsov, the hope of ravka. anya kamenev, ravka's bane. oh, what a pair they make. a series of interconnected oneshots about nikolai & anya.

𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐬.

a grey day ── spencer reid x medical examiner!reader [1.3k] ➡ spencer meets the newest member of the department.

a lack of caffeine ── spencer reid x medical examiner!reader [1.8k] ➡ caffeine makes the world go 'round. that's something you and spencer can agree on. follow up to 'a grey day'.

bury these bones ── spencer reid x medical examiner!reader [1.9k] ➡ spencer’s day isn’t anything more than average, but a surprise phone call and impromptu hospital visit have him rethinking his expectations.

𝟗-𝟏-𝟏.

a touch of colour ── eddie diaz x reader [2.7k] ➡ eddie and chris' home is freakishly empty. you decide to redecorate a little.

𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐬.

fight or flight ── poe dameron x solo!reader [1.6k] ➡ you and poe have never seen eye-to-eye. most days, you wonder if you ever will.

beautiful ghosts ── star wars [series masterlist] ➡ nearly thirty years after the empire’s fall, something darker has risen in its place. helmed by a monster who makes puppets out of lost, broken boys, the first order seeks to crush the galaxy once and for all  ━━  and the resistance, led once again by general leia organa and her wife, colonel ashka cybele, will stop it by whatever means necessary. if that means sacrificing their children, then that is what they must do. multiple x ocs. a sequel trilogy rewrite.

𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐮𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬.

burial ground ── finnick odair x oc [series masterlist] ➡ In District Four, they teach you  how to survive the Games. They don’t teach you how to survive what comes after.

𝐝𝐨𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐰𝐡𝐨.

in the light ── the doctor x oc [series masterlist] ➡ the doctor doesn't believe in lost causes. fox is determined to prove them wrong.

𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬.

hello sunshine ── steve harrington x oc [series masterlist] ➡ cleo has lived in the house next door her whole entire life ─ and nobody has ever questioned what came before, not even once.

𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐢𝐚𝐟 𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞.

we are a god ── rhaenyra targaryen x oc x alicent hightower [coming soon] ➡ none could have foretold, when viola first set foot in the red keep at the tender age of seven, the havoc she would wreak upon the political landscape of the seven kingdoms. least of all the girl herself.

inkpot gods ── jaime lannister x oc [series masterlist] ➡ a tourney at Harrenhal causes a war to ignite, and cassia finds herself caught in the very center of a world where good men do unforgivable things, and the bad men are even worse.

[litcityblues]

I'm So Annoyed, But Not For The Reason You Think

Look, I'm just going to go ahead and say it: Ahsoka should have been the basis of the sequel trilogy. The whole damn arc from start to finish made for a vastly more compelling story than anything The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi, or The Rise of Skywalker managed to put in front of us.

Rogue One and Andor managed to take the original themes of Star Wars (rebellion against tyranny, the costs, etc.) and give them some actual depth about what it means to try and take down a tyrannical government. The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett and now Ahsoka are exploring what I think is a vastly more interesting idea that Star Wars should have centered itself around for the sequel trilogy: now that you've defeated the evil empire, you've got to get into the messy and sometimes boring business of actual governing and how do you do that on a galactic scale? How do you deal with the Imperial Remnants? How do you deal with corruption? How do you, the New Republic, extend your authority and show that you're better than the Empire was?

There are so many story possibilities there and those shows mine that territory and do so effectively-- but what annoys me is that this is such an obvious arc to build into a trilogy of movies and they just... didn't. If the prequels were about the collapse of the old Republic into the Empire and the originals were about the Empire and its defeat the sequels should have been about the New Republic and securing the post-imperial future. That's the perfect arc of a trilogy of trilogies and saves us from such awful writing as, "Somehow, Palpatine has returned."

But, Ahsoka:

The series opens with Baylan Skoll (Ray Stevenson), a fallen Dark Jedi, and his apprentice, Shin Hati (Ivanna Sakhno), assaulting a New Republic cruiser to rescue Morgan Elsbeth (Diana Lee Inosanto) who had been previously captured by Ahsoka Tano (Rosario Dawson). Elsbeth informs Skoll that Ahsoka is searching for Grand Admiral Thrawn who has been missing for years- along with her former companion, Ezra Bridger who was dragged to an unknown location by a Purrgil.

(It should be noted at this point that I have not seen any episodes of Rebels, but know enough of the characters to piece together what's going on. It would probably provide more context if you have seen the show, but it's not at all necessary.)

Ahsoka and Huyang (David Tennant) find the Star Map they've been looking for, but it's locked so, on the advice of General Hera Syndulla (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), they head to Lothal to meet with Ahsoka's former Padawan, Sabine Wren (Natasha Liu Bordizzo), who agrees to help them and manages to unlock the map, only to have Hati show up, steal the map and stab her during a lightsaber duel.

Skoll and Hati take the map to the planet Seatos where Elsbeth reveals that Thrawn is trapped in another galaxy. When Ahsoka and company track down the droids that attacked her to Elsbeth's factories on Corellia- they and the New Republic get an unpleasant surprise, as a massive hyperdrive is being built, not for the New Republic but by Imperial Remnants for reasons unknown. They manage to get a tracker on the ship and it's revealed to be the critical parts for Elsbeth's ship, the Eye of Sion, ready to go and find Thrawn and return him to the proper galaxy.

Hera is convinced that allies of Thrawn and imperial remnants are seeking ways to bring him back, the Senators of the New Republic less so, and despite a sympathetic Mon Mothma (Genevieve O'Reilly), they refuse permission to send Republic forces to Seatos. So Ahsoka, Wren, and Huyang go themselves, find the ship, and are close to figuring out just what it's doing when they get shot down and are forced to land on the planet below, where Skoll, Hati, and company come and hunt them down.

What follows is quite literally one of the best lightsaber duels in the history of the franchise. I would put it right up there with 'Duel of the Fates' from The Phantom Menace or even the original confrontation between Obi-Wan and Darth Vader in A New Hope. Ahsoka and Baylan Skoll absolutely go at it and it's awesome. Ahsoka tries to tell Wren to destroy the map, but not wanting to lose her last chance and find Bridger, she hesitates and Ahsoka goes over the cliff, where she spends time In the World Between the Worlds where she meets none other than her old master, Anakin Skywalker. (Hayden Christensen)

Ahsoka makes some peace with her past- but not before Wren, Skoll and Elsbeth activate the Eye of Sion's hyperdrive and head out of the galaxy, just as Hera and a few New Republic forces arrive for a clandestine and unauthorized mission. Ahsoka and company figure out a way to follow Wren to the next galaxy, while it takes a timely intervention from Threepio (Anthony Daniels) to bail out Hera from being in real trouble with the New Republic authorities.

(Seriously: imagine how fucking badass that scene would have been if Leia herself had walked in. This is what I'm saying when I say this story arc should have been the basis for the sequels.)

In the next galaxy, Ahsoka and company find themselves at Peridea, home of the Night Witches of Dathomir and Admiral Thrawn (Lars Mikkelsen) and his fleet. Wren goes out to find Bridger (Eman Esfandi) and Ahsoka and the company eventually reunites with them and has one grand finale. They try and stop Thrawn and Elsbeth-- but the Night Witches of Dathomir reanimate the Night Troopers sent to confront them (zombie Stormtroopers!) and eventually the parties are split once more, with Bridger hitching a ride back to the galaxy with Thrawn before sneaking off his ship and reunited with Hera and Chopper while Ahsoka, Wren, and Huyang are stranded on Peridea.

Overall: I absolutely loved this show. Love the characters, love that you didn't need to have seen The Clone Wars or Rebels to enjoy the shit out of this show. Loved so much new stuff! No Tatooine in sight! Loved the Night Witches! Loved Thrawn and his falling-apart Star Destroyer! Loved that he's loading up what I'm guessing are Palpatine clones-- which retroactively provides a clear, story-driven explanation for "Somehow, Palpatine has returned."

This is the Star Wars I should have seen on the biggest screen possible in the theaters. If I'm annoyed, it's because I can see the missed opportunity throughout all eight episodes of this show. That doesn't mean this show isn't awesome though. It is. Give me more, please. My Grade: **** out of ****

[notebookishtype]

Hello, do you have any recs for star wars books and comics with the best lukeleia content? In my lukeleia era and I really wanna start reading some OT legends stuff but I don’t know where to start.

Stories that take place during, between, and shortly after the Original Trilogy? We are lucky to have decades worth of content set in this time period! It’s the only place we can find things published before the sibling reveal, and/or acknowledging that Luke and Leia were attracted to each other.

✨I’ve included links to every book and comic mentioned below. I don’t think it’s immoral to pirate from a corporation. If you (general) take issue with that, I have bought most items listed at least once, and I would lend it to you if I could.

✨Some of the comics are only available in large collections, you may need to scroll to find the correct issues.

Legends Books

The first that comes to mind is Splinter of the Mind’s Eye. It was published in 1978, Luke and Leia were still love interests, and it takes place after ANH. They crash land on a mining planet and discover there is an Imperial presence there.

Fun Facts:

This story was commissioned to be a low budget sequel if A New Hope flopped.

This novel also inspired some of the canon lore for kyber crystals.

I started an impromptu reread earlier this year, and I did not remember how shippy this book was. This is just four pages into the book:

Splinter of the Mind’s Eye was also adapted into a comic in 1995… and it was still incredibly shippy? I recommend both if you have the time and executive function. If you’re low on focus or time, go with the comic.

I’ve been told the novelization of A New Hope also has the same vibes, and is by the same author. So if you enjoy Splinter thats another place to look.

As far as other novels, we’re mostly looking at crumbs. Off the top of my head I know both Shadows of the Empire and The Truce at Bakura acknowledge their feelings for each other.

Shadows of the Empire:

The Truce at Bakura:

I would only recommend these if you’re interested in the rest of either story.

Shadows is a take on what happened between ESB and ROTJ, published in ‘96. Want to see how the Rebels get the plans for the Second Death Star? Read this. Want to see Darth Vader forced to play politics? Read this. If Han and Leia’s relationship is a no go for you, you might consider skipping it. Content Warning: the antagonist attempts to “seduce” Leia via pheromones. Read: rape. He is a serial rapist.

Truce takes place immediately after ROTJ, and has some great character moments for our heroes, again a lot of focus on Leia and Han. I do, however, choose to view the fact that Luke’s love interest in this book is a young Imperial Senator who we are meant to compare to Leia, through a shippy lense. I cannot escape the idea that Luke is projecting. Otherwise this book is about dinosaur looking aliens using human’s life energy to power their ships.

If you’re interested in checking any of these books out I recommend looking here or here.

Legends Comics

Splinter of the Mind’s Eye (1995)—as mentioned above.

Star Wars Tales (1999-2005) 15, Do or Do Not—Takes place immediately after ROTJ. Luke is processing after the Battle of Endor, and uncertain of his place. His feelings for Leia are acknowledged.

Star Wars (2013) 1-6, In the Shadow of Yavin—Takes pace after ANH. Leia is working with a handpicked X-wing squadron, to expose a spy. Her position in command causes friction between her and Luke. This is one of the few stories really leans into Leia having feelings for Luke.

Star Wars (2013) 15-18, Rebel Girl—Leia accepts a political proposal in exchange for a secure base location. Luke is a jealous brat about it, puts himself in danger, and plans to run away.

Marvel Star Wars (‘77–86)—I haven’t read these yet, but I’ve seen plenty of panels and pages posted on Tumblr that give lukeleia vibes, even some that take place after ROTJ. These have been gathered into several omnibuses. (1) (2) (3) (4) (5)

Disney Comics

Star Wars (2015) 1-6, Skywalker Strikes—After ANH, the gang is infiltrating an Imperial arms factory, Vader shows up, Luke has a crisis. The Luke and Leia interactions are primarily in issues 3 & 4, but it’s a solid story arc.

Star Wars (2015) 33–Actual Publisher’s Summary: The Hero of the Rebellion & the Princess of the Revolution! Luke and Leia finally get some time alone… Unfortunately, it's stranded on a desert island.

The Storms of Crait (2017)—After ANH. Our heroes travel to Crait, in hopes of establishing a base there. Luke is delightfully flustered by a kiss on the cheek from Leia.

Star Wars Adventures (2017) 4 & 5, The Trouble at Tibrin—Leia and Luke are on a diplomatic mission that goes awry. Leia rescues Luke in this one. Acknowledges Luke’s feelings.

Star Wars Adventures Annual 2018, Mind Your Manners—Another diplomatic mission gone wrong. Not all that shippy, but discovered it while making this list, so it felt wrong to leave it off.

Star Wars Adventures (2020) 7 & 8, The Princess and the Bog, A Twin Tale—Leia and Luke are scouting base locations. Luke is terrible at following Leia’s orders, and wants to pet all the animals.

Star Wars Hyperspace Stories (2022) 2–Another search for a base location. There are several cute moments between them in this one.

Deleted Scenes & Behind The Scenes

I know the ask was about books and novels, but I’d also recommend—if you haven’t already—searching for deleted scenes, alternate takes, behind the scenes photos and promo photos, etc. There are goodies from each film, but the most substantial stuff is from/for ESB.

Is That Everything?

I doubt it. There are many other stories that take place in this time frame that I haven’t investigated yet. Here are some that are on my list:

Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor (Legends novel)

Heir to the Jedi (Canon novel)

Heart of the Jedi (unpublished Legends novel)

Star Wars (1977-1986) (Legends comics) (mentioned above)

Star Wars (2020) aka Star Wars V3 (Canon comics)

Razor’s Edge & Honor Among Thieves (Legends novel duology)

I’d bet on there being content down the timeline that reads as shippy, but that’s a whole future post.

[shydaydreamer28]

Another thing Comic Strange got over MCU Strange Lmao

Dude was getting it on the regular & had tons of women & a wife.

MCU Strange had 1 woman who left & didn’t wanna come back. Then he spent his time as an obsessed stalker in his sequel that took 6 years and a whole Spidey trilogy to get, that ever Cumberbatch said he barely had a character arc in.

If they never consummated the relationship, then MCU Strange may still be a virgin. Writers don’t seem to wanna make him look good.

Or maybe he lost the v-card to Christine, and that’s why he got so sprung. LMAO

But on a legit serious note, MCU Strange & Ben deserve better. They’re doing him pretty dirty. Everyone mentions the nerfing. But the bigger sin imo is his character.

The MoM Christine plot was pathetic. Christine is almost the only thing they give him for a “sad” story. And it ain't that sad. The relationship is under-developed & boring, imo. Honestly did not need any mention of it after the first film when they both parted ways as mature adults, friends, and started moving on with their separate roads in life. MoM regressed that on Strange's end. He was giving Spike (Buffy) vibes in MoM.

Strange is a very tragic character with a lot to unpack. And instead he’s mostly a plot device for everyone else’s story while being depicted as “bitchless in every universe” in his next film because he's too busy obsessing over a dead romance when not being the destroyer of the Universe.

Good GOD!!!!! MCU, do better!!!!

A film dealing withi his past & family trauma would be good for showcasing why he is the way he is. His sister, Donna alone is tragic as Hell and Benedict's thoughts on it are beautiful.

But going further, if they add his brother to the MCU, whew boy! That story is more tragic than Donna, if you can believe that.

We need a Strange film that explores his character rather than damn near everyone around him while he gets mostly shallow story lines at best while depicted as a simp.

I pray, hope, and wish that Doctor Strange 3 will do better by his character. I recall hearing that Cumberbatch has said he's gonna be more proactive in having input regarding the character & development.

Good Lord, I hope so. Because I agree with him regarding MoM - that he was the only person who cared about the character & that he barely had an arc by the final cut.

I will die on the hill that his relationship with America, & Defender Strange sexiness, and Clea were the only good things to come out of that film in relation to the character. Lmao

Also, the third eye looks BAD!!! I hope he keeps it closed in DS3. lmao

[gffa]

Hi!  I'm not sure how much help I'm going to be because my view of the sequel trilogy lives in kind of a nebulous space, where I really like the characters and I actually like a lot of the potential of the storyline, but I dislike TFA, greatly dislike TLJ, and was actually pretty okay with TROS all things considered. I don't want to dig too deep into the negativity of my feelings but they're basically - TFA was too much of a repainting of ANH for me, the initial shine of it was through its potential, but when that didn't pay off in the other movies, the shine came off TFA, too. - TLJ was set too close to TFA, Finn's character should have been tied into the Canto Bight plot (which was exhausting as it was), as a stolen child soldier he has the most reason to hate the rich, but absolutely nothing was done with him, Luke being on that island for that long was out of character for him, Rey's entire story became wrapped up in Kylo Ren, neither of those characters had nearly enough connections with others despite having very good reasons to, like why do we not spend more time on Luke & Kylo?? and it played at being subversive but it absolutely was not, it's all been done before (and I really hated the way Force abilities worked in the movie) and killing off your main villain in the second act was a baffling decision - TROS' biggest problem is that it should have been two movies instead of one, it was a series of trailers rather than a story with breathing room, and it suffered the most from the lack of planning + the main villain being killed off in the second movie But here's why I still like The Rise of Skywalker the best:  The bones of what's there are a pretty good Star Wars story!  Yes, Rey Palpatine came out of nowhere and was very silly, but if you can't handle silly, I don't know how you can make it as a Star Wars fan, it's such a silly franchise! I'm not afraid to love a scene I laugh out loud at--and, yeah, I laughed RIGHT OUT LOUD the first time Kylo dramatically said, "You're a Palpatine."  I laughed so hard I had tears in my eyes and let me tell you, I fucking LOVE that scene now. Or how the last words of any Skywalker, the last word Ben Solo/Kylo Ren ever says in the movies' franchise is, "Ow."  I am laughing RIGHT NOW, please, p l e a s e, that is so on-brand, I can't handle it, it's too funny. But I also like the basic storyline because Rey's story in TROS is her struggling with her own inner darkness, that she feels there's something dark in her soul because she's Palpatine's granddaughter.  The movie isn't saying that's true, but that Rey struggles with thinking it's true, and she has to wrestle with her dark side, just like every Jedi before her has as they're coming into their power. Anakin wrestled with his dark side and lost in Attack of the Clones and even worse in Revenge of the Sith. Luke wrestled with his dark side in the vision he sees of himself in Vader's helmet in the cave in ESB and in the climactic scene of ROTJ, where he nearly hacks his father's arm off in rage after his sister and friends are threatened.  He has to claw his way back out of that. Ezra Bridger struggles with the dark side in Rebels as he comes into his power and he has to claw his way out of it as well. Rey has to struggle with her own lure towards the dark side as she comes into her power--she rips a ship apart in the sky because she was so determined that Chewie was hers, she was so angry at Kylo that Force lightning burst out of her.  She's seeing Sith visions of herself on the wreckage of the Death Star.  This is a theme that has been there since the very beginning, that Jedi have to struggle through a temptation to the dark, and her relation to Palpatine preys on that. That's kind of why I wound up loving Ben's scene with Han as well, because that was an entirely imagined scene, but it represents that the way the Force works, you have to dig yourself out of the hole you're in, that Ben using the memory of his father, the last moments of connection he had with his mother, to pull himself out of the dark, really worked for me.  And I'm okay with his death, because this is Star Wars, people die before they should all the time. I even liked the political message of the final movie, yes, Rey vs Palpatine was the big Jedi vs Sith showdown, but the main galactic battle?  Had people showing up.  Just... people.  One of the themes I've talked a lot about, especially because The Clone Wars kind of has it as a running theme is that the average galactic citizen doesn't do jack shit about the state of the galaxy they live in.  The Rebellion had people starting to stand up, but it was an organized effort, it recruited people. TROS had just people showing up, that Leia and the Resistance had been trying to rally the cause, but ultimately it was the galactic public finally, finally saying, "We have to stand up and fight for ourselves, not depend on other people to do it."  Was it ham-fisted and not nearly as polished as it should have been?  Oh, no doubt.  But the message.  Just people showing up to fight against the First Order that was trying to bring back the Empire.  That meant a lot to me. And I loved Luke's character here, that he admitted when he was wrong, and gave us that banger line that's spot on:  "Confronting fear is the destiny of a Jedi."  Yes.  Yes.  FUCKING YES.  LUKE SKYWALKER AND JEDI PHILOSOPHY.  MY HEART.  Nailed it. Does this movie hang together as well as it should?  Absolutely not.  It needed a stronger writer, it needed more time than it got, and it needed better build-up.  But the bones of what was there were actually pretty good and, man, any movie that has Daisy Ridley in that white outfit with the hood where she looked practically ethereal cannot be all bad, in my opinion.

[eskawrites]

is it foolish of me to believe that in the celebrity fake dating au several years in the future once the very first fanfic site is up there is a large uptick in erathia sales and tenar/lark becomes a popular ship

not only is it extremely un-foolish of you, anon, it's also completely on point. like, you have no idea. this is something that has been in my notes since basically the beginning of this fic.

like, i think robin in particular has always been a role model for girls since the erathia films, and it's absolutely my headcanon (actual canon?) that there's a small part of her fan base that's just lesbians exchanging knowing looks with each other and quietly wishing her the best.

i also fully believe there was a tenar/lark fandom basically as soon as the second movie came out. after all, nancy and robin put a lot of thought and effort into making their characters' dynamic something more than the usual 'two women fighting over the male protagonist.' (fun fact this is partially inspired by the making of wicked the musical and how glinda and elphaba could've been typical catty opponents and instead became incredible foils who present the show's great love story). combine that with their natural chemistry, and gay/bi women would easily read their relationship as a potentially romantic one. catch a bunch of women in the late 80s/early 90s passing around fanzines a la early Star Trek fandom or something

anyway i could talk about this forever but i probably shouldn't. instead, here's the actual semi-polished lil write up i made a few weeks back:

Tenar and Lark—Nancy and Robin’s movie characters—actually have a bit of a fandom going on and have since the 80s. The fandom only grows when Robin comes out, and then when she and Nancy go public with their relationship (in fact, there’s a bit of a conspiracy for a while in early 1998—Nancy and Robin aren’t hiding anything, but they’re not confirming anything through interviews, either. So when paparazzi photos start coming out of them holding hands and going out together, most of the public is like ‘oh gals being pals’ but a not insignificant number of Erathia fans know what’s up). Anyway, as Robin and Nancy become more serious, more and more people rewatch the Erathia movies and see their characters in a new light. Suddenly all the work Nancy and Robin put into building their characters and creating a three-dimensional friendship between Tenar and Lark translates into the potential for something deeper. Tenar and Lark become one of the most iconic wlw couples, kind of on par with something like Xena on Gabrielle. In the early 2000s, someone asks Scott Clarke what he thinks of Tenar and Lark, and he just chuckles and says it makes sense and he wishes he saw it way back when.

(there are probably some spin-off books, eventual prequel/sequel series, etc and so on that come out--the erathia films were originally based off of the star wars trilogy, after all. and you bet your ass that in all of those, tenar and lark are completely in love)

[x-authorship-x]

10 Fandoms, 10 Characters, 10 Tags

Thanks for the tag @tsarinatorment 🥰

Im not going to try to really put them in any order but...

Uchiha Shisui (Naruto)

We all been knew 🥴 to me, Shisui is just the perfect kind of character to play protagonist with, with enough badassery and charm to come out on top but with the sweetness and the last scraps of his idealism to soften his edges. Kishi, however, threw him down the toilet at the nearest opportunity (which was just so 🤌bullshit🤌 I'm almost - almost- impressed) because he realised he Gone Fucked Up making this amazingly powerful character with no hint of him in prior work so 🤡 canon is dead, Shisui lives forever

Finn (Star Wars movies)

Anyone who's had the misfortune to follow me or has browsed my AO3 bookmarks knows I'm a wreck for Commander Cody and for Obi-Wan but I'm not choosing either of them? How??? Because Finn... FINN, he was literally raised to be canon fodder but he had this deep rooted fear that what they were doing was wrong and he didn't shoot and he took that fear and he knew he had to run. So often we wanna be brave in those moments but in actual fact we just panic, which is what Finn did... And yet he was so brave too? He saved Poe, he fought viciously for Ray, he joined the Rebellion, he met these people for minutes at a time but had already impressed them on his soul, on who he was going to be (and he'd only had a name as of that day???). Finn should've been the protagonist of that trilogy, the sequels were just...well, and I'll die on this hill that Finn's force sensitivity reaalllly should've meant something 😩 I love so many SWs characters but Finn is really the one that got me to actually attempt my own Fics too!

Obi (Akagami no Shirayukihime/Snow White with the Red Hair)

Do I Have a type? .... Next question.

Obi is just ✨🤌 ✨ badass with a mysterious background? ✅ Loyal but sassy? ✅ Pining for the 'lady' he is sworn to protect?✅ Is also her partner in life and crime? ✅ Low self worth but flirtatious? ✅ Gorgeous but dangerous? ✅ .... ✨💕

Yor (Spy x Family)

She is literally the best mother oh my God just kiss your husband though (and maybe get some space from your brother-)

Fíli (The Hobbit)

I JUST-

🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺 little golden lion prince, heir to his uncle, to a kingdom only told in stories of grandeur he's never seen and with all the hope and grief of his displaced and hurting people.... Mischievous but sensitive, funny (the hidden knives hehe), determined to do his family and people proud (cut down far too quickly, deserved better... Oh god I have a type-)

Boromir (The Lord of the Rings)

Why do I keep listing dead guys 😭 do I need to spell it out? Honor, desperation, valour, love of his people, he is high-key aroace rep, his resentment-to-love bromance with Aragorn that was ROBBED from us, I cannot tell if Merry and Pippin wanted to queerplatonic marry him or if they wanted him as their "getaway horse" for the rest of their lives but dammit 😭✨🤌

Evelyn Carnahan (The Mummy)

Do I need to even give reasons????? She's miles ahead of all those other scholar bitches, she's out there winning desert camel races, she's a reincarnated princess with daggers, she has the most gorgeous hair and eyeliner I swear to God, she is THE moment… For all time. She's a LIBRARIAN

Din Djarin (The Mandalorian)

*flips desk through solid concrete wall* HE'S THE PERFECT MAND'ALOR

PERFECT FATHER

COOLEST INTROVERT IN THE GALAXY

He is SOFT and SOFT-SPOKEN

He is STERN (except in face of baby's wet eyes) and LOYAL and he has an HONOR CODE DAMMIT STOP TAKING ADVANTAGE HIM

This doesn't count as a star wars pick, which I gave to Finn, because we are, as usual, swerving completely off canon (and this is a TV series, not the movies ha!) because you cannot convince me that Din, the wandering bamf who just wants to get credits for all the kids in his covert and provide for his home but cannot participate in the maiming of an 'alien' child so gets landed in so much shit, wouldn't be exactly what the Mandalorians need for a fucking Renaissance dammit 😤😤😤😤

Hawks (Boku no Hero Academia/ My Hero Academia)

*covers my face in shame* ffs it's so transparent lol

FINAL PICK - WILDCARD: Éowyn(The Lord of the Rings)

Ohhhhhhh and it's the Shieldmaiden of Rohan with the steel chair! The Witch King goes down, and he's not getting back up-! 3! 2! 1! And the crowd goes BALLISTIC!!!

I want to write a fic about her 😐 I want her to have a whole alter ego as one of the Rohirrim's best warriors 😳 I want her, seventeen and coltish, to down her first orc, standing in defense of another, and to know with absolute certainty that she wanted to protect everyone she could… 👁️👁️ yes I know I already did lotr but you're what??? Gonna stop HER???

Tagging @katlou303 @theraynealchemist @looks-like-starlight @zebrabaker @iamnotakitty @kazumirina @eruditeempress @ellorypurebloodculture @welpjesuisla @hidingfromthefeels and whoever else wants to have a go! 💕

[mhevarujta]

A Curse For True Love thoughts

I have THOUGHTS.

So this book was fun but at the same time it left me wanting.

-EvaJacks were perfect. We got Evangeline's heart recognizing his even as she did not remember him. We got Jacks who supposedly doen't believe in happy endings 'staying away and 'just protecting her' and still being so hurt that she did not remember him. Their day at the Hollow was Jacks' Best Day Ever. Jacks snapped when Castor gets close to Evangeline and even when he doesn't, it's pretty clear that he is traumatized. The way Evangeline remembers is not what I expected, but it was absolutely perfect and has more emotional depth. The bad-timing of it all was predictable but still good and Jacks needing to destroy his heart to be free... this is the kind of -literally- heart-wrenching drama I want to devour. Her confession too is EVERYTHING.

-Evangeline: I loved that Evangeline's feelings for Apollo were no more than very superficial attraction but she 1)kept feeling that something was wrong and 2)kept being turned down by the way he was acting. The female character being this girly girl who cannot defend herself and gets some 'training' but only to slip out of situations enough to be saved rather than suddenly being this amazing warrior-queen was fulfilling because I find that trope tired. This girl was always determined, headstrong, reckless, but I think that many of us would like to have more of her hope.

-Jacks. For starters, Jacks was not in approximately 1/3 of this book, which was SOCKING to me. I mean, I LOVED what we got, but come on. Teasing us with the answer about the apples and not actually giving it fully? Almost no interactions with Lala and Castor? What we got with Evangeline and the details about his curse and his pain were A+. But I needed more. Evangeline DOES notice the broken-heart scat and Apollo does too. Why doesn't it play more of a role? She owed him one last kiss and we all expected that he'd 'claim it' but that's not how it worked. The tracking of Jacks through Evangeline's blood was also set up but then it was forgotten.

-I really liked how Apollo was handled. The moment it was mentioned that the tree would have to take the one he loves the most, I was certain it'd be himself. He had Gaston vibes and it was done well. That said, I also like how it's acknowledged that, while not everyone who gets cursed becomes a monster, at the end of thte day Jacks IS partly responsible of how Apollo turned out.

-The Valors were underdeveloped. The glimpses we got were interesting enough. But I really needed more of them and Lala. Frankly, I wanted this book to be longer, but Apollo's persepctive and the bonus-epilogue, Luc's absense, the Castor x Lala tease and the last sentense about more stories in the Magnificent North were spelling out the existence of another sequel trilogy.

-The magic was utterly whimsical and vivid.

-Garber's big flaw? There is no plot. There never was. Both in Caraval and in this one, her stories are junk. They are addictive, serotonin-inducing, but hardly well-crafted or with real substance. Still addictive though.

[save-the-villainous-cat]

*deep breath, dee* I’m not here to fight…as an avid Tolkien reader, what are your reasons for hating the Hobbit movies? How, pray tell, are they so “terrible”? I’m just curious. That’s all.

Is it the cinematography? The actors? Missing scenes? Give me something here. So many people hate on the movies but never give reasons. It starts to feel like it’s because it’s simply not LOTR- and the fact that there’s an age gap. The Hobbit is baby. LOTR is everyone’s great grandmother who makes you warm cookies every time you visit.

Oh boy, here we go.

Lucky for you, I am an unhinged movie nerd and I have lots of food for you on here…

When we talk about the Hobbit, we also have to talk about Lord of the Rings. The Hobbit got published in 1937 and is a fantasy novel for children. Tolkien wrote this book for his kids, so it was a silly story with a simple moral. An episodic narrative with a message about greed and trust, adding lots of adventure and fun. It’s one of the best-selling books ever written. It’s a classic.

Fellowship of the Ring got published in 1954 and is not intended for children. Simply, Allen & Unwin (Tolkien’s publisher) wanted a sequel to the Hobbit and Tolkien provided with a story that is more mature. Because his kids grew up. And those kids who had read the Hobbit had also grown up. Which made Fellowship a perfect story for those grown-ups/teenagers.

And that’s the thing. Fellowship works as a sequel. The Hobbit does not work as a prequel.

We have two completely different stories here on our hands: a story about a ring a bunch of people would like to have and a story about dwarves fighting over their home and…a bunch of treasure. The central conflicts have nothing to do with each other. The Hobbit doesn’t set up the worldbuilding of middle earth, doesn’t tell the story about Sauron nor the rings. And that is because it is not a prequel. It is its own story with its own central conflict.

This made this book a bit difficult to adapt. We either have the chance to turn this childlike story into a movie or turn it into a trilogy that works as prequels to Lord of the Rings (which they desperately tried to do here). I’m not saying there wasn’t any other way — I think they should’ve let Guillermo del Toro do his two movies (as originally intended) that included the overall spirit of the books and could be their own movies without having to reference Lord of the Rings all of the time but we ended up with three movies that can’t be their own thing because trilogies and because money.

The Hobbit is a relatively short book. Roughly around 95,000 words. Fellowship, just Fellowship is around 187,000 words. And it makes sense to make a movie trilogy out of a book trilogy, especially because those books follow a much more Hollywood structure.

But get this. We take the Hobbit with roughly 95,000 words. And we turn this book into a trilogy which leaves us with nine acts in total. Nine acts which leads to adding a bunch of stuff to fill all the plot points. A bunch of mini climaxes that go nowhere, character movements that come too early or too late, adding characters and subplots that absolutely no one asked for (at least of all the story).

For example, the scene at the end of the first movie where Thorin respects Bilbo is way too early. Their relationship doesn’t evolve at all in the second movie. Sure, they fight or whatever in the third movie but wouldn’t it have made sense to show Thorin’s respect for Bilbo when Bilbo frees the dwarves in the barrel plot point? It was originally set to be there but now that it’s not, the barrel plot point is super weak and doesn’t work for character/relationship development at all. It is there because the plot needs it to be there. Bilbo doesn’t have to prove anything, he just does it because the plot needs him to.

And why is that? Because we needed this little climax at the end of movie one (because storytelling and story structure) where Bilbo, a character who is known for his intelligence, who is — unlike the dwarves — not a fighter, fucking knocks over an orc. Don’t tell me this was character development. If this was character development, then he would’ve started killing orcs in movie two and three. Bilbo is not a fighter. He is characterised by his wits. But because the plot needed him to, he had to do this. Weirdly, he doesn’t really do it again, does he?

Originally, the first movie was supposed to end with the dwarves arriving at Erebor/Laketown with movie two starting with getting into Erebor. Smaug’s death would’ve been the midpoint of movie two. Not the most anticlimactic thing to have ever happened in movie three.

Seriously? You kill the main antagonist before the opening title? What were these guys thinking? The death of the Cumberbatch lizard was supposed to be the thing and they just killed him off in the most anticlimactic way ever, thanks to the structure of turning a little book into three movies.

Which makes us watch a bunch of stupid shit: dwarves are — according to the Desolation of Smaug — fire-resistent, we get scary CGI, we get the White Council because, guys, have you heard of lotr, we get a horrible love triangle, a horrible Tauriel who has no character whatsoever, we get Legolas, because guys, remember this trilogy you liked when you were younger, do you remember lotr, we get a river fight scene that is unnecessary, we get Galadriel x Gandalf for whatever reason, a Beorn chase scene, a random trip to Angmar that leads nowhere, Elijah Wood because, hey guys, do you remember LOTR? We get Radagast with poop on his head because we need to tell the people the forest is dying and something bad is coming because lotr, remember? We need Sauron in here because…wait a minute these movies try to be prequels to Lord of the Rings??

It doesn’t work like this. The Hobbit is episodic and not related to Lord of the Rings plotwise. Yes, Bilbo finds the ring but that is that. Help, the ring is actually evil is the only thing that connects these two stories. Nothing more.

But now, we have these three movies full of stuff that doesn’t make any sense, full of characters that stand for nothing, full of contradictions, full of — sorry — bullshit because we needed three movies and as much lotr in it as possible.

Why is Tauriel there? Why is Legolas here? The Necromancer was a plot device to separate Gandalf from the dwarves (which was important for dwarf/Bilbo bonding time) but now the Necromancer is Sauron? Why? Why?

There is more wrong with this trilogy (and don’t get me started on all the stuff regarding the production/New Zealand) and if you’re interested in that, you should watch Lindsay Ellis’ videos on YouTube. She’s an amazing writer and movie critic — a great inspiration— and sums up my thoughts on it pretty well.

But I hope this is somewhat understandable? As someone who grew up with the Lord of the Rings, I am very passionate about these movies and the nostalgia they give me. It is very sad that we ended up with something like this and not Guillermo’s version. Like…c’mon if I recall correctly, these movies came out in December which makes them perfect Academy material and the Academy loves Guillermo…win win for everybody, but no…

[happyhauntt]

➡ beautiful ghosts masterlist.

here you can find all content for the beautiful ghosts universe, a sequel trilogy star wars fanfiction featuring original characters. this story is told through a series of connected one-shots and is cross-posted on ao3. fic tag.

─── summary:      YEARS AFTER THE REBELLION TAKES DOWN THE EVIL EMPIRE, all seems to be at peace in the galaxy. Luke Skywalker sets forth training a new generation of Jedi, his nephew Rion among them; Leia and her wife, Ashka, use their power and influence as former princesses to continue making the galaxy the best place it can be, and Yve moves from one chaotic life to another, as her daughter Pandora is born only months after the Empire is destroyed.      They grow together, four children with the impossible legacy of their parents pressing down on their shoulders, baring the weight of it together. Difficult Dory, entirely too much like her roguish father Han, and her sister, Clarya, entirely too angelic to be related to either of her misfit parents. Troubled Rion, the son of two princesses who struggles with an incredible power flowing like molton lava through his veins, and his sister Mare, who only seeks to keep them all safe, and happy, and together.      They could conquer anything. For a while, everything is almost perfect.      But good things rarely last forever.      After a tragic accident brings the Solo family to its knees, eighteen-year-old Dory takes to the stars, fleeing the memory of a dead sister she failed to protect. Rion falls prey to the darkness lingering at his shoulder, blamed for something he cannot remember, while Mare would happily follow her brother into the abyss if it meant saving him, and little Clarya...      Well, nobody talks about her anymore.      Nearly thirty years after the Empire's fall, something darker has risen in its place. Helmed by a monster who makes puppets out of lost, broken boys, the First Order seeks to crush the galaxy once and for all  ━━  and the resistance, led once again by General Leia Organa and her wife, Colonel Ashka Cybele, will stop it by whatever means necessary.      If that means sacrificing their children, then that is what they must do.

─── warnings: canon-typical violence, basically a sequel-trilogy rewrite, minor character death, angst angst angst. individual chapters will contain specific warnings.

𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠. works will be posted in chronological order of the timeline.

prologue: the burning sky [2.5k] ➡ some tragedies will always happen, like a story you’ve always been unable to rewrite. but you still try.

part one: the red light [pre tfa-tfa] ➡ coming soon.

part two: monsters we've known & loved [tlj] ➡ coming soon.

part three: how to be haunted [tros] ➡ coming soon.

𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐬.

gifsets ➡ poe & dory /

videos ➡ the organa siblings.

misc. ➡ solo sisters moodboard / cast list edit.

[kanerallels]

So... what SW Legends stuff would you recommend? I've already started reading Heir to the Empire, if that helps?

Ooooh!! Okay Heir to the Empire is the PERFECT starting place, that's where I started too! (I think. I also vaguely remembering reading these Darth Bane books when I was younger, but I digress)

(edit: also, I am not an expert on Legends, so if anyone who knows it better would like to offer any other recs (in a respectful manner that doesn't involve talking about how much you hate the sequels) feel free to add to this post!)

Others that I would recommend would definitely depend on what era you're looking for, but most of the stuff I know is post Return of the Jedi. If it's not, I'll make sure you know! (I'm gonna put part of this under a cut, it got kinda long)

The Hand of Thrawn duology. It's set like ten years after Heir to the Empire, and wraps up the events of those books super well! Plus it has more Talon Karrde, who is my favorite background character ever. The first book is Specter of the Past, by Timothy Zahn!

If you're a Mace Windu fan, Shatterpoint by Matthew Stover was really good! It's set near the end of the Clone Wars, and is about a mission he went on to find his missing apprentice. It was fun to read from Mace's point of view, and see how he's actually a lot more caring than a lot of fans depict him. Also, he headbutts a shocking amount of people. Mace is not immune to the chaos gene that comes with being Force sensitive

Technically, these are kids books and I might only like them because nostaglia, but the Last of the Jedi series by Jude Watson is fun! It's set directly after Order 66, and follows a former Jedi who grew up with Anakin, and the escapades and hijinks he gets up to

The Rogue Squadron books by Michael A. Stackpole are pretty good, especially if you like fighter pilot shenanigans. Rogue Squadron is Wedge Antilles's elite squad of pilots, and the main character is Corran Horn, who is a former Corellian Security member (basically a cop) and gets into all KINDS of trouble. I've only technically read a couple of those books, and admittedly, I don't like them as much as their follow up series. But if you do enjoy these books, you should check out I, Jedi, by Michael A. Stackpole, which is about Corran in later life

The follow up series is the Wraith Squadron books by Aaron Allston. It's also about a squadron Wedge put together, but it's made up of washouts and rejects, and they end up as a black ops division. It's simultaneously really sad and some of the funniest Star Wars I've ever read, and there's a running joke about an Ewok lieutenant

I'm gonna recommend the Republic Commando series by Karen Traviss, but with a caveat. Karen Traviss, for some reason, seems to really, really hate the Jedi. And that is reflected in her writing, but it's almost worth it for the Mandalorians adopting clones and the TRAGEDY. This one is set during the end of the Clone War, through Order 66. It also does not end super satisfyingly, but it's weirdly good anyways. So it's really up to you whether or not you think you can handle the rampant loathing of Jedi

Uhhh let's see, what else. There are so so many Legends books. The Jedi Academy Trilogy by Kevin J Anderson isn't the best written, but it gives you a really good look at what Luke's new Jedi Order looks like as he's building (and also happens, timeline-wise, at the same time as I, Jedi)

I think those are the main ones I know well enough to recommend! In my experience, anything by Timothy Zahn or Aaron Allston is pretty good. Avoid Troy Denning at all cost-- he does not, in my experience, write stuff that is particularly admirable, and it can be kinda gross. If you end up with a particular character you like a lot who you're looking for more content of, there's a good chance there's more out there! Feel free to send me any other questions you have, and don't feel pressure to read all of it. No one can possibly be an expert on all of Star Wars, there's just. Way too much of it (of course that's not really gonna stop me from trying)

[eriexplosion]

5 6 7 10 for Star Wars violence 👀

OKAY TIME FOR THE VIOLENCE (I don't know how actually violent these opinions are but pretend I am Very Vicious)

5. Worst blorboficiation?

sdfsdifj REGRETTABLY... OBI-WAN.... I love the man but fandom characterizations definitely show some Popular Guy Character Syndrome where it's all about how sad and tormented he is and while I respect that as a lover of tormented men, it is certainly an experience when you're like, reading a CodyWan fic and Cody is comforting Obi-Wan through his tragic past like he's never gone through anything difficult in his life. Also some of Obi-Wan's fun edges are sanded off, he's more generically sassy but considerate of others feelings and kind, etc, and like. He's not UNkind. But this is a man that faked his death and did not tell his emotionally unstable best friend like that was going to do anything but drive Anakin absolutely batshit insane. He watched like ten clones in a row die without a reaction and then the instant a Jedi died they all had to stop for a funeral. He tried to get Luke to kill Vader WITHOUT telling him who he was. He's kind of an idiot and can be kind of an asshole. Let him hurt people's feelings! Let him be socially inept! He is a dipshit not a harmless weep blob!

(This ties in with my desire to see CodyWan fic where they straight up get in a fight but is not ENTIRELY connected to that)

6. Opinion on canon and/or fanon use of the secret child trope? Discuss.

It works for Luke and Leia and I think it should have stayed at that. I'm not a big fan of the Palpatine reveal for Rey but I didn't want her to be a Skywalker either, sometimes you want a main that is Just Some Guy, doesn't need to be a secret child of anyone. In fanon I just REALLY do not like it, partially because it's plugging in a blood relation where it doesn't need to be. The other part is that I have mostly seen it for Obi-Wan and Satine with that Korkie kid and with how utterly repressed those two are at each other I refuse to believe they ever successfully fucked.

7. What is the weakest piece of canon writing?

It feels like cheating to say the sequel trilogy mostly because I never finished it so a thing that I definitely finished and loved but makes no sense - AOC is not the strongest movie but ROTS was like, fully just a series of cool scenes stitched together to approximate a movie. And don't get me wrong, I adore the prequels. But the only one that I think succeeds as a Movie is TPM. ANAKIN'S FALL ESPECIALLY IS NONSENSICAL AS SHIT. Like the underlying motivations are there but they were not pieced into anything resembling a coherent narrative. You have a start point, an end point, and everything in between just kind of jumps around with I think the weakest point being the Tusken Massacre - it's treated more like a sign of Anakin's potential darkness than anything when like. That's a whole village. He killed a whole village and it never comes up again! Lucas apparently didn't consider it that big a deal!

It's to a point where I actually think the massacre can't be addressed from a fully in universe perspective, because there's no actual way to twist it around so that it makes sense for that not to be enough to Make Anakin Fall without breaking the already very loose rules of the universe. Most other Star Wars points I can figure out some kind of justification for how it works in world, but to explain how Anakin wouldn't fall here you just have to kind of confront that Lucas is both not a very good writer and also approached the Tuskens with an incredibly racist viewpoint given that he doesn't appear to see their deaths as fully Counting, unlike the Jedi younglings in ROTS. It's a plot choice that, if treated with the full weight it would narratively deserve, completely unravels the entire rest of the series, the only way to make the storyline of everything else WORK is to take it out or change it so much as to be an entirely different scenario, and I can't think of any other things that fuck it up THAT bad.

10. What’s a ship you've unwillingly come around to?

I think 'unwillingly' is overstating it (but then I rarely DISLIKE a ship, so there's usually not much Unwillingly about it) but I thought Tech/Phee was cute at most until everyone started being Like That about them. Now I want them to kiss and get married onscreen. I hope that she hits that every night. Phee deserves whatever she wants.

Also Anakin/Padme probably counts because I did not actually go into the clone wars watch WANTING to love Anakin but Whoops. WHOOPS. So that meant I got An Affection for the two of them in all their messy stupid as shit glory.