#lucy flawless

[swordchakramandstaff]

[xenadaily]

XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS 🗡️ 2.02 'Remember Nothing' — 7th / Oct / 1996

[bronzeys]

how does she look SO good while doing literally anything

[lulu2992]

This post is long overdue, but because I promised exactly seven years ago today that I would talk about this “later”, I want to finally do it!

So, prior to annoying everyone here about the Far Cry series, mostly Far Cry 5, and complaining about its nightmarishly-inconsistent lore, I used to annoy everyone with Final Fantasy XV and its... surprinsingly-not-that-inconsistent story. It’s not perfect, of course, and I’m sure many people could tell you more about it and its flaws better than I can, but considering it was told in the span of at least three years across four versions of the main game (which was updated several times to add more cutscenes and information), four DLC episodes, two films, two books, one animated series, one multiplayer expansion, as well as a few more spin-off games, demos, and trailers (not all of them canon), I still think it’s impressively coherent and that things could have been way worse.

Despite having never played this game myself (I don’t even know if I’ve ever said that), I fell in love with it, and more specifically with a character named Ardyn Izunia, a charismatic antagonist with a tragic past. Yes, I have a type.

Anyway, one thing I loved to complain about at the time was the English localization of the game. Although it’s far from being terrible, it slightly differs from the original Japanese version, and while some changes are appropriate and make sense (a localization isn’t meant to be a literal translation, after all), others are... questionable. The English version also had the luxury of having its own facial animations, which means the team didn’t even have to worry about being 100% faithful to the character’s original lip movements and emotions. And they weren’t.

Some of the choices that were made regarding Ardyn in particular are still upsetting to me. The way he talks about his name is unclear? People get confused. A sentence he finishes in Japanese gets interrupted in English for no apparent reason? That creates a non-existent mystery. A frown is turned upside-down? That erases a rare and therefore important angry reaction. He doesn’t chuckle at a key moment? That changes the tone of the scene and his feelings on the whole situation…

So, on March 19th, 2018, I said I wanted to talk about “when he sounds mocking and unimpressed instead of surprised and offended in the Pocket Edition”, so this is what I’m going to do, at long last. The mobile version of FFXV is interesting because it contains a few lines that were not in the original game and never included in the other editions (unless that’s changed; it’s been a while since I’ve studied this game). Those lines are exchanged between Noctis and Ardyn during their final battle.

From what I’ve seen and tried to translate thanks to online tools (I still don’t speak Japanese), the English conversation is nearly identical to the original Japanese version, but there’s one thing Ardyn says, and especially how he says it, that is very different to me.

When Noctis asserts he will save him from the darkness, in English, Ardyn replies, “Will you?” in a rather derisive and dismissive tone. In Japanese, though, he replies, “何?” (“What?”), and it seems Noctis’ words actually affect him. You can hear both versions below. Focus on Ardyn’s tone:

Original videos: English - Japanese

To me, the way he replies in English suggests he doesn’t take Noctis seriously at all. It’s like he’s saying, “Aw, that’s cute; as if you could do that��. In Japanese, however, I think he sounds shocked, like he can’t believe someone would genuinely want to help him despite everything he’s done and the monster he has become.

His reaction reminds me of the moment Lunafreya softly tells him he will eventually know peace… and he just slaps her. I could never decide exactly why he did it. I don’t know if it’s because he feels insulted and belittled by her words or if, on the contrary, he can’t stand the fact she’s showing compassion, not to mention right after he’s just mortally stabbed her. Does her kindness hurt him because he believes he doesn’t deserve it? Does she remind him of the man he used to be, the selfless, naive healer she somehow managed to still see, deep inside of him, despite the many layers of darkness he’s spent ages burying himself under?

In any case, it seems Ardyn is supposed to react strongly and be thrown off balance when someone believes he can and deserves to be saved, so what I wanted to say in 2018 is that I thought, and still think, that it’s a shame the English version of his line in the Pocket Edition doesn’t reflect that.

[silliam-billiam]

For a while I’ve been trying to articulate why XWP means so much to me, and I think I’ve figured it out. It seems to come from a bizzaro world where everything is just. Equal. It feels like a real feminist show because the women are so respected.

I realized this when watching episode 6 (or seven maybe?) there was a scene where Xena was imprisoned, feet chained to the floor and hands to the ceiling. A group of men came in with the express purpose to harm, and in a moment of clarity I realized that I didn’t fear for Xena in the way I did for every other female in fantasy. Fantasy (as a male dominated genre) is full of sexual violence towards women, often used as story beats or just shock. It permeates women’s real lives and bleeds into what they read for escapist fantasy. For a long time I’ve felt as if nowhere is truly safe, because most fantasy media eventually has a scene or two where a woman is violated, or a costume that’s glorified lingerie, and I have to remind myself that this genre was never made with women in mind. But that scene ended with Xena beating the shit out of them, because they tried to beat her. Not assault or grab, just punches and kicks, like men would fight in fantasy. And she fucking won because she’s Xena and she’s awesome.

Again, in many episodes men want her. But they’re never violent towards her. In the show she is treated like a man would be treated in any fantasy setting. With respect. That’s true escapism for me, some world where that kind of violence either doesn’t exist or isnt prevalent. A world so easy to make, and yet so often thrown aside because of “historical accuracy”. In fiction. The specifically not historically accurate genre where you can pull anything out of your ass and people just kinda have to vibe with that.

I’ve also mentioned this before, but it’s so rare in fantasy for women to be…carefree I guess? Most of them are jaded from past violence, or future survivors, or meek healers, or old wise women. None of which are very allowed to be silly like their male counterparts. They’re always serious, always the voice of reason. Always so reigned in from what male characters are allowed to be. Xena has a dark past, but she’s still kind. The story is still light. Women are allowed to be happy without being victimized.

XWP is fantasy first and foremost, and it works wonders. There are POC everywhere, and nobody calls attention to it because, well, that’s just how it is in Xena-land. There’s no sexual violence toward any strong women, because, well, that’s just how it is in Xena-land. People fight on bamboo poles and race chariots in rivers and the steaks only go up to “Ooooo she has to marry the big bad” which never goes anywhere because we all know Xena is gonna stop them.

Xena Warrior Princess is always gonna be my favorite fantasy show, because it’s fantasy that’s finally geared towards women. A fantasy where women are safe, are capable, are treated in the same regard as men with no quippy girl-power one-liners because nobody needs to quip about the status quo. In a genre where women are so often demeaned and violated for minor story beats or shock value, seeing a work that actually feeds into a more female fantasy is what I’m obsessed with. It’s wonderful to see a magical world where women don’t have to live in fear. Or they do, like because cyclops’s n shit but everybody else does that too.

PS: this mostly applies to modern fantasy. Tolkien and Lewis were two authors I grew up on who I largely blame for my fantasy obsession today.

[hollcwboy]

if you were curious as to who i ship in lockwood & co, the answer to that question is yes

[youkindofblowmeaway]

I did it.

My first attempt at a Carcy fic. At an ER fic.

Summary: Lucy Knight and John Carter both survive the Valentine’s Day attack. Their recoveries take them down different roads, but both roads end up in the same place. With each other.

A fix-it of sorts. From the end of season 6 through season 7.

Here.

[fabartists]

Lucy Hale en el evento de Miu miu en Cannes ✨️🩷

[scllysdana]

wishing I was home to listen to forever is a feeling instead of at work bc all I want to do is lay face down on my living room rug and cry

[swordchakramandstaff]

🥲

[alwayscaskett810]

[xenadaily]

XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS 🗡️ 1.01 'Sins of the Past' — 4th / Sep / 1995

[vyrulent]

continued || @flawlessfallen

Lucy had watched them move between the head stones. She'd watched them light their candles and sing their chants. Nothing had ever happened before, but seeing the Devil ( or maybe it was a garden variety demon ) appearing before them caused her to set forward.

If God had abandoned her for this vampiric curse that had been cast upon her without her consent then she'd protect the Devil. She'd heard Van Helsing speak of how she was now a creature of the Devil. She'd protect him simply for that reason alone. She'd rather protect him than the demon that had forced this life upon her.

Fangs were sharp, ready to strike far faster and far more deadlier than any viper. Eyes darkened and grew as cold as shark eyes. Hiss escaped her and the vampiric predator within her tainted her voice as she spoke, as she made her threats to steal every child from their bed if they do not leave this place...

Once they'd made their escape with candles still burning behind them, Lucy slowly returned to her more humanly appearance.

"They've never been successful before," Lucy admitted before turning fully to look on this creature from Hell, from where she will eventually find herself as a resident. "I was starting to think it was all just a bunch of hocus pocus."

[asamis-jodhpurs]

noctis lucis caelum wants what garnet til alexandros has

[fromthedeepends]

I'm re logging this again 11 years later, because, well, have you read those lines?

Batiatus was an absolute asshole with the best lines, I swear.

John Hannah was superb, and I still quote him to this day.

[beautifullovelyfaces]

Lucy Hale