#the handmaiden meta

[mswyrr]

thinking about how the sex scenes in The Handmaiden are about a sexual abuse survivor claiming consensual sex and pleasure for herself for the first time in her life and they’re important to her journey and the romance. and there are a lot of people who are like: NO. eeewwwww. grrrooossss. rip it up by the roots! ~bad representation~

[whetstonefires]

On my list of things it would be fun to see expanded on in fic is also: Wen Ning's subordinates.

They followed him to Lotus Pier when he went running of his own volition in hopes of helping Wei Wuxian; helped him get Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian out and smuggle them into Yiling despite this being highly treasonous. (Cql decided to remove this and replace it with Wen Ning poisoning everybody, which was very funny and probably the right choice for the adaptation. But still.)

Were still with him, presumably less some fatalities, after the war, when Jin Zixun pressganged the lot and they wound up at Qiongqi Pass.

We can fairly confidently presume the survivors of that made up a solid fraction of the escapees who followed Wei Wuxian out, when the Jiang's nightmare necromancer took their gongzi's corpse and unconscious sister and the baby, and rode hell for leather.

All Wen Qing says about this group is that they're all yes-men like Wen Ning, and if Wei Wuxian got to know any of them at all during the Burial Mounds period, it doesn't make it into the book.

So we have the information that Wen Ning, who was after all fairly high-ranking by heredity being the child of the sect leader's first cousin, even if his personal rank was relatively low due to lack of accomplishments, had surrounded himself with nice people who were personally loyal to him.

He was not a loner! He had very possibly the most access to the company of people who liked him of anybody in the book! He was anxious and bullied by his higher-ranking cousins and insecure but he wasn't alone.

Idk I'm personally curious about these people and how they interpreted everything that happened, and what kind of relationship Wen Ning had with them, and if in another storyline any of them might have done anything interesting.

Wen Ning, too, is one of the cast members who could absolutely have held up a whole novel on his own. Well. With a lot of backup from Wen Qing, anyway. He'd be a perfectly serviceable protagonist, and I appreciate that.

[wisteria-lodge]

you can take the senator out of Naboo

but you cant take the Naboo out of the senator

just saying

same hat

[wlwanakin]

The big problem with the Padme trilogy is that, instead of looking for interesting things to mine character wise, the author was more interested in 'fixing' Padme and making her more of a girlboss tm

(I'd also say that the author was much more interested in Sabe as a character - as she could build her basically from scratch)

i honestly don’t know if i’d describe the queen trilogy as really “girlbossifying” padmé but it definitely felt more concerned with making her a Good Female Character than like, a character who feels interesting. and maybe ekj was more interested in sabé but even sabé felt more like the foundations of a good character than an actual good character. in my opinion these books are mostly held back by being aggressively, aggressively young adult and therefore extremely surface-level and juvenile.

it frustrates me because you can tell they’re trying to do padmé justice and trying to expand on a beloved concept and set of characters. people love padmé and naboo and the handmaidens so books in padmé and sabé’s pov centering around their relationship where sabé is actually allowed to be queer should rule immensely. but these books try to sell us the most uncomplicated version possible of it’s presenting: naboo really is as idyllic as it looks, padmé suffers in her role as queen but only in the obvious ways, her handmaidens are all her friends and she gets along super well with all of them like they’re one epic girl gang, even the juicy stuff with sabé feels so muted and despite the tension between them they always end on good terms. and i really do think a level of subconscious gender essentialism is a component to why these books largely about teenage girls are unwilling to make their relationships with power and each other complicated despite being almost entirely about a girl who was crowned queen of a planet at fourteen and her decoys who are subservient to her to the point of death.

and it’s extra frustrating because there’s something there with a lot of what it’s presenting, it’s just not really committed to quite as much as i feel like it should be. and i feel like a lot of that is how they’re written—everyone has a very bland narrative voice including padmé herself and that makes any internal exploration feel shallow. but on top of that it’s just like, these books are so largely about all the roles padmé and her handmaidens play, about the extreme lengths they go to lose themselves and each other in padmé’s personas, and all these complicated themes about power and identity and loss of self are like right there and it feels like in this whole trilogy the surface was barely even scratched. even sabé, who i think is the best written character out of all of them, seems to have far less complicated emotions about padmé than i’d expect from someone who has spent a decade devoted to her at great cost to herself, quite literally loses herself in her, and is on top of that in unrequited love with her. like there’s enough there to intrigue me and worm its way into my brain and make me post shit like this but it’s not very substantive. i don’t feel like i know padmé much better because of them, just her circumstances. and i also think a handful of those circumstances are a bit stupid.

[sethnakht]

darth vader (2020-), #26 (pak/ienco)

it’s a podrace! darth vader pilots a podracer through an artificial sandstorm to save sabé, the former double for queen amidala, who has been lost in its center. vader flies alone through a maelstrom manufactured by the empire; as he steers and slices his way past dark obstacles, his mind dwells on the podrace he won as a child slave to help queen amidala, then represented too by sabé while padmé masked herself as a handmaiden. 

before he won that race, vader remembers, he could find his mother even in sandstorms, and promise her he would never leave her. in the subsequent panels, we see the contrasting results of winning: it meant separation from his mother, interrogation by the jedi council over his fear of losing her, his mother’s death, his own subsequent choice to murder the villagers who’d held her hostage, and finally, separation from padmé again because of jedi and sith. specifically, vader remembers how she’d fallen out of their ship into a sand dune, and his jedi master obi-wan ordering him to leave her behind (so they could pursue the sith lord count dooku instead). surrounded by sand with his mother, he was never closer to her; alone in the jedi temple, before his mother’s grave, a smattering of sand kernels was all he had left.

[image caption: panels from two different pages showing vader’s memories of losing his mother - first when he was taken to the temple, then when she died. anakin’s hand is shown in close-up, stray grains of sand in his palm.]

vader wins this race as well. as he once helped queen amidala and her handmaidens leave tatooine, so too does he now save the queen’s shadow. when he arrives at the site where sabé disappeared, he finds anakin’s childhood friend kitster (more context below), who learned how to build pods from anakin and put together the pod that vader has just raced. kitster shows him that sabé has been buried alive under a toppled cylinder. vader lifts it with the force; as she rises from the shallow grave, he remembers his power from before he won the tatooine race and was taken to the jedi - the power to tell his mother, “don’t worry, we’re going to be fine,” and, “I’m not leaving you.”

[image caption: vader saves sabé with kitster’s help, and remembers finding his mother in a sandstorm.]

but it’s not that easy. generated by an energy-eating machine (I think? again, don’t ask me about the lore), the storm doesn’t respond to vader’s attempts to quell it with the force. he realizes that sabé will be consumed by it - he thinks back to leaving padmé behind, her body half-buried in sand - if he fails to call on machine power.

using the cylinder-gravestone from which he’d just freed sabé as armor for himself, sabé, and kitster, vader directs his orbiting flagship to fire upon his location with maximum incinerating force. the result: all the sand in the storm fuses and flattens into a smooth ground of glass. 

the sand still caught in his glove slides down his palm; vader looks at it, looks at it for a long time. this time, it seems, it is not all that he has left: he has saved sabé from death. letting the sand fall from his hand, he lifts sabé and carries her over the glass into the light horizon. 

[image caption: vader steps out from an armored shell into a landscape he’s had incinerated; sand has transformed into black glass. some sand that was caught in his glove falls from his hand; he lets it, then takes sabé from kitster and walks towards a sunlit cloud.]

so ... why is kitster here? vader has come to this place because sabé is as haunted by his mother’s death as he is. troubled by the fact that anakin, a child slave, won a podrace to help royalty, and that his mother was nonetheless left behind in slavery, padmé had directed sabé to find shmi on tatooine. never having met shmi before, as queen amidala did not leave her starship on tatooine, sabé failed to locate shmi on that mission. she did manage to free a small number of slaves, however, including anakin’s childhood best friend kitster, and relocate them. the more immediate context is this: these ex-slaves are now under threat from a crimson dawn operative masquerading as an imperial, or something (don’t ask me about the lore-related details of the plot, I can only grasp at relationships between images). and since vader has vowed to end crimson dawn in the name of restoring “order”, sabé was able to convince him to visit this community, and work with people like kitster to destroy the imperial/dawn weapon that caused the sandstorm in the first place. 

in summary. we are here because of shared grief over shmi and padmé, over shared grief about the results of that first podrace. we have a second race with a parallel result - vader has helped the former queen, again; helped padmé, in a way, again - and a contrast: there is no jedi betting on vader’s freedom, now. but in some sense this is another parallel. for as winning the race led vader to coruscant and the jedi temple, the comic now cuts to the former temple, now the imperial palace, on coruscant.

[image caption: it is night on coruscant; the former jedi temple, now the emperor’s palace, is shown in dark profile against a sky lit pink-purple from the city lights.]

the emperor is speaking, speaking to himself, ignoring his red-robed guards, who gaze at each other questioningly. vader, the emperor mutters, couldn’t save his mother, nor padmé. but now he thinks he can -- 

well, the emperor doesn’t finish the sentence. you might say the emperor is betting on failure; he is delighted by what he anticipates, for he closes the issue with his cackles. you can fill in the blanks.

[illidan]

have to make my own fun in dragon soul. as usual.

[klonnieshippersclub]

Bonnie, The Bennett’s, Black Witches and The Magical Negro Trope & Mammy Trope - TVD META

Bonnie and the Bennett’s have very rich lore. It’s not glorified by the fandom unless it’s by Bonnie fans themselves. That’s the way it’s always been, no one paying any mind or deeper thought to Bonnie/and the Bennett’s outside of her fans. This isn't a new thing but I want to highlight this once again because I don’t think fans understand there is more than one negative trope rooted in Bonnie, the Bennett’s and black witches only.

Before we get into anything heavy let’s have some key-terms here: Let’s define a magical negro trope: where a black character appears in a plot solely to help a white character and then vanishes. Now what a mammy is: a black woman engaged to take care of white children or as a servant to a white family.

Everything in the series can be tied back to a Bennett witch. Let’s list a few things the immortality spell, immortals, the other side, the cure, supernatural hunters, creating rings to preserve life, the Gilbert device but only a Bennett witch can enchant it, prison worlds, the traveler's curse, vampires, hybrids etc…You name it without the Bennett’s creation there would be nothing. You would think because of this the Bennett’s would be respected in the narrative and by fans. Wrong. Some of these women aren’t even given actual names. Everyone can have a Bennett witch at their disposal but they won’t be respected either. Bennett blood is essential to certain spells. A loophole.

Let’s talk about Ayana. The Mikaelson’s were only able to become vampires because Esther stole Ayana’s spell. It is forgotten that Esther/Mikael begged Ayana to perform the spell first. The Mikaelson’s as humans trusted Ayana. Rebekah was in shock that a necklace from Ayana burned her. While Ayana remained unnamed this time while the story was told. Rebekah was talking about Ayana. Ayana was known as a healer and given Esther’s praises they were close. The series doesn’t show us why Ayana should value the Mikaelson’s but we do understand why Esther, her husband and children valued her. That infamous necklace that Rebekah loved belonged to Ayana. We don’t know about Ayana’s life outside of being a healer. We don’t know her marital status, how many children she could’ve possibly had and anything tied to her after the plot has used her up. One would think with how close Ayana was to the Mikaelson’s, they’d have some respect or acknowledge Bonnie but that never happens.

We see this in how Emily was enslaved to Katherine. Julie may have labeled Emily a handmaiden but we knew what that meant. Emily only had one request from Damon that he watch and protect the Bennett line which he never did. The black witches never ask much of anyone in the plot or ever given the chance too. Yet when a request is made no one ever meets said request for them. This form of slavery repeats again through Lucy. She claimed Katherine saved her life therefore she is indebted to her for however long she needs. Sheila has her hand in aiding the Gemini Coven, Beatrice helped with the Sirens.

There are other witches that are black who serve a purpose to aid in many and leave such as: Gloria, The Martin’s, Bree, Aja and her coven just to name a few. Friends of the main characters or enemies but quickly there and dropped. Originally due to all witches appearing Black fans believed they were all Bennett’s. Julie has no answer for why all witches that is until they weren’t. Remember witches were servants of nature. The Mikaelson’s popularity, Gemini Coven and other witches. Fills the space that Black witches were once in. Notice a pattern here?

Qetsiyah’s plot line should’ve centered on how she created immortality, the cure, and the other side. But Qetsiyah’s existence revolves around demanding and enforcing continuous revenge on Silas and Amara. Tying her into another repeated love triangle in the franchise. May I add that she and Bonnie are the only women to have been betrayed by a partner and criticized for their reactions. There’s nothing wrong when a man wants and craves power but Qetsiyah is considered the worst of them all. Here’s an amazing video that details Qetsiyah’s writing too. Please review.

Lastly, The Bonnie of it all:

Bonnie’s a loyal, powerful and brave woman. She doesn’t let anything happen to her friends if she can stop it. She cares for them. That kind of loyalty can be beautiful but equally harmful when Bonnie has no regard to her own feelings. She continues to give for everyone and her friends rarely return the favor. Bonnie’s never thanked or rewarded for being there. The friendships stop being equal very early. Her traumas aren’t valuable in the plot. We don’t know what Bonnie’s home looked like. If Bonnie does grieve it isn’t shown on screen. Her family life is limited, while Liz and Alaric aren’t main characters. They have their own plotlines. It is revealed that Abby’s reasonings for abandoning her is for Elena’s benefit. Abby is killed in a coin toss and transitioned. Caroline gets to have a good friend moment while Bonnie isn’t have any feelings towards her mother for abandoning her after. Rudy isn’t seen in the plot longterm and when he appears in season 5 he’s killed in front of Bonnie. She grieves this in silence while grieving her own death that she didn’t make aware to her friends to avoid inconveniencing them. The plot makes it clear if the white counterparts aren’t happy then Bonnie will never either. Elena, Caroline got happier endings while Bonnie’s job was completed. Bonnie never once got to call out how her friends can disregard her, she feeds into them and they grow while sucking the life out of her. In the end, Bonnie went back to Africa. Never any reference to her life from there.

Another thing Bonnie isn’t shown to be feminine. Her best friends go on dates, go to dances, dress up and receive compliments. Caroline or Elena has ever given Bonnie a compliment that aided in her beauty. We don’t know Bonnie’s ambitions or fears. But you are aware when Bonnie wants to save her best friend. Thoughts on Bonnie’s relationships and ships is for the next meta though.

White witches did follow the servitude of others. They were still given the privilege of agency that black witches were never going to have. Witches like Dahlia existed, and although she had one goal she had more personality than others.

When you have people like the TVD writers that continue to push harmful stereotypes there’s always going to fans who listen and continue to perpetuate those stereotypes. The writers had no value for Black women nor do the fans. They don’t care about how black women or people of color are treated in fiction or the media simply because their favorites get to reap all the benefits. That tweet is just one tip of the iceberg, there’s plenty more from Bonnie’s relationships, and storylines.

[holographings]

Third movie recc list for pride month!!! moving over to korean cinema~

There have been a lot of k-miniseries that have come out in recent years that touch on lgbt+ topics, however I find those lacking in one way or another, especially compared to some others on this list, so I’ve omitted the many shorts i’ve enjoyed casually from here.

+THE KING AND THE CLOWN (Dir. Lee Joonik, 2005. 119 minutes)

This is it. This is THE movie. My all time favourite, of all time. Ever. Despite its themes this movie managed to garner astounding commercial and critical success and I just want to say- DESERVED. It follows two street performers who get sentenced to death for mocking the ruling king in their performances, only to escape execution as the king finds them funny, and more importantly becomes deeply psychosexually obsessed with one of the performers (landing them in possibly even more trouble in the long run).

The self-referential and intertextual elements in this movie make me drool no matter how many times I watch it, and I am so sad that despite all the meta and translations i’ve read on it, there are still elements of poetry and prose that are lost in translation. It’s vibrant and funny and heart-wrenching and I legitimately think everyone should watch it at least once. The colours. The SOUNDTRACK. Lee Joongi gives the performance of a lifetime, and he and Kam Woosung play off each other so naturally it’s virtually impossible to not fall in love with them. I could say so much more but I’ll stop here. Just watch it. The ending Will make you want to eat hot raw concrete. 

ALTERNATE CHOICES

+THE HANDMAIDEN (Dir. Park Chan Wook, 2016. 144 minutes)

Everyone knows this movie. Your grandmother knows this movie. It’s still on the list. “My savior, who came to ruin my life” <3. Among my favourite Park Chan Wook movies, possibly second only to Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance. 

+WISHING STAIRS (Dir. Yun Jaeyeon, 2003. 97 minutes)

Part of the Whispering Corridors series, horror is incomplete without some totally-not-into-each-other girl best friends in it. I remember watching this in middle school and if i’m completely honest i think i’ve managed to forget most of the scenes save for ones involving a clay sculpting room and a ballet flat, but i KNOW it was a good time if you’re into horror. Sufficiently balances the creep factor with the homosexual intrigue factor. 

HONORABLE MENTIONS-

(this section features movies that I love but can't in good conscience put on the main list as they don't explicitly feature any non-straight characters. but if you just Squint. it's all there. take it with a grain of salt.)

+SHOOT ME IN THE HEART (Dir. Mun Cheyoung. 101 minutes)

 What if [Girl, Interrupted] had a wackier korean remake that no one fucking talked about despite having A-List actors in it. Between the Vibes and the lead character hitting on the other male lead in the first 5 minutes of this movie, i feel alright putting it on the list despite nothing explicitly lgbt+ going on in this film. The bond between the lead characters Is the thing that has kept me rewatching this movie a couple of times over, and it is such a heartwarming thing despite the ending. So yeah. No happy ending. Still worth a watch.

[engagemythrusters]

omg please talk more about Naboo when you have time!! I love reading people’s headcanons and I never thought about how so many of them cover their hair it’s so cool!!

OH okay !! Thank you for asking!! But also hold your horses bc this is about to get LONG. And rambly.

So it is my full belief that Naboo queens cover their hair. Like this initially came about because... I believe it was @star-burned who once made a post about hijabi queens. And then I was like yeah that's a whole vibe I like that. But then when I started making my own queen OC (Roona!) I started looking into it and I was like. 100% sold on the hair-covering idea. It's not a hijab, as ears aren't necessarily covered, so I have diverged from the original idea. BUT. Still along the same lines.

Sooo here's all the costumes worn by Queen Amidala (both on Padme and Sabe).

Now, here's the meta analysis:

What has ALWAYS been notable to me (even as someone young) is that like. They're wigs. Clearly they are wigs. She does not have enough hair for some of those. Yes, Padme had some decently long hair! But it was damn well not that thick. Not to mention, if you zoom in on some of the hairstyles (maybe not using these photos, bc they're taken a bit far away), they just... don't look like hair.

If you look at the hair of the retaking-Theed outfit (middle right), you can see that the hair on that is absolutely fake. The sheen of the hair is inconsistent between what wraps the headpiece and what sticks out the back. Not to mention... Where the goddamn hell is that hair even coming from. Literally not attached to her head. And if you look at what's coming out of the back is just... it's so... hard. It's all blocked together. Like maybe it's a shitton of hairproduct. That's possible for the actual actress. But it honest to god just looks like an acryllic wig. The shine and how none of it breaks like normal hair... Yeah no. My bet is Not Real. And if it is, sorry dear Ms Knightley. The hairproduct makes it look fake.

As for the top two left outfits and the center outfit... Well, for the first left and the middle, it has that same issue with those. It has no breakage or frizz. Yes, could be a lot of product! But if you look at any style Padme has in later films, she still has baby hairs and frizz and flyaways... because that's how normal hair acts. That's just how hair is. So yeah I'm not sold on the first one being real hair.

Now the mid-top does have some breakage and frizz near the base AND it is a proven possible hairstyle (that is a Mongolian traditional hairstyle! Like... near exact ripoff of it.) BUT what's in the headpiece is not the only hair. There's also a back part that has... a lot of hair. And that just... doesn't seem consistent with what Natalie Portman has for hair. YES it is likely that it has some sort of hair rat in it. But I'm looking at the pattern of the hair that's up top on the headpiece. I don't think that's real? Maybe I'm wrong but it doesn't make sense the way it comes out. Who knows tho. Maybe that's the real hair and the other is fake.

The bottom two are real hair. At least what's attached to the head is real. I can tell you that much.

But that's the META. ANd also conjecture on the meta.

What's in-canon is:

The Queen's hairstyles, which were said to take several hours to perfect, were headpieces with wigs that matched Padmé's natural hair color. Her real hair was tightly-braided, pinned down, and gelled; the gel held the headpieces in place and prevented them from itching. While the Queen's hairstyles were being created, her handmaiden Rabé would provide counsel. (source)

So. Yeah. They're all wigs.

THIS does line up with Padme's Tatooine hairstyle!

While it's not the style that would be under her wigs, it still holds all the braids.

AND So we know it's not just QUEEN AMIDALA that does this:

Jamillia's in a wig (meta and canon) and Apailana's hair is fully covered.

AND TO TOP IT ALL OFF

THE HANDMAIDENS ARE LIKE 90% OF THE TIME COVERED TOO. That spans across films. There's like one time we see hair--during the takeover of Naboo. That's literally it. The rest of the time, their hair is covered.

And honourable mentions: A lot of Padme's senator hairstyles... Wigs. Literally she popped her fuckin hair off in TCW. That shit was a wig half the time.

TL;DR? The queens are wearing wigs the times "their hair" is shown. Thus. Queens required to hide their hair--either out of social obligation or out of wish to portray themselves with ornate hairstyles to show their social standing. Either way, no "real hair" shown. All hidden.

[spntoxicfemslashevent]

full prompt list

hey everyone! this is the full february prompt list for this event. we're going to have six prompts every day, so it's big! smaller versions containing only some of the prompts are forthcoming. ideally a piece submitted for a certain day should be inspired by at least one of the prompts for that day.

[conceptual prompts only] [pairing prompts only] [format/style prompts only] [prompts by date] [submission guidelines] [intro post]

conceptual prompts:

feb 1: manipulation || rot || political play

feb 2: tied up || burning flesh || jealousy

feb 3: suburbia || betrayal/judas kiss || doll

feb 4: blackmail || cannibalism || age gap

feb 5: blasphemy || executioner || genderless

feb 6: “...and it felt like a kiss” || on the rack || handmaiden-feudal lord

feb 7: sainthood || blood || isolation

feb 8: poison/drugging || barefoot and pregnant || murder suicide

feb 9: scars || heaven and/or hell || voyeurism

feb 10: shallow grave/midnight gardening || exes || serial killer(s)

feb 11: crossdressing || corpse || brat

feb 12: war/opposite sides || soulmates || guts/gore

feb 13: demonization || immortality || "forgive me father"

feb 14: unrequited || butch || imprisonment

feb 15: high school sweethearts || justifications || resurrection

feb 16: stabbing || masturbation || somnophilia

feb 17: turn the straight girl || kidnapping || ritual sacrifice

feb 18: stalking || substance use/abuse || comp het

feb 19: amnesia/mindwipe/lobotomy || flogging || forcefem

feb 20: vessel || make each other worse || gothic

feb 21: mistress || forced marriage || petplay

feb 22: demon deal || power imbalance || state of mind/dreams/confusion

feb 23: experiment || bastard child || what happened to her first husband/wife?

feb 24: curses || possession || infidelity

feb 25: controlling || temptation || "i ran into a door"

feb 26: victim || right hand || true crime

feb 27: humiliation || dubious consent || brainwashing

feb 28: family || true form || obsession

feb 29: closeted || sins of the father || not passing the bechdel test

pairing prompts:

feb 1: rowena mcleod/billie

feb 2: linda tran/ofc

feb 3: hannah/naomi

feb 4: rowena mcleod/alicia banes

feb 5: raphael/billie

feb 6: amelia novak/naomi

feb 7: abaddon/colette mullen

feb 8: ruby/astaroth

feb 9: cassie robinson/fem!dean winchester

feb 10: linda tran/mary winchester

feb 11: cassie robinson/meg masters

feb 12: linda tran/abaddon

feb 13: risa (endverse)/meg masters

feb 14: kelly kline/dagon

feb 15: linda tran/tasha banes

feb 16: billie/amara/the empty (meg)

feb 17: meg masters/jo harvelle

feb 18: patience turner/claire novak

feb 19: mary winchester/antonia bevell

feb 20: lily sunder/claire novak

feb 21: bela talbot/ruby

feb 22: patience turner/magda peterson

feb 23: fem!castiel/fem!crowley

feb 24: missouri moseley/ellen harvelle

feb 25: jody mills/donna hanscum

feb 26: lily baker/lilith

feb 27: hannah/caroline johnson

feb 28: raphael/naomi

feb 29: eileen leahy/mary winchester

format/style prompts:

day 1: canon divergent || drabble (exactly 100 words)

day 2: canon character/oc || traditional art

day 3: scifi au || non-traditional art medium

day 4: post-canon || gifset

day 5: canon compliant || metered poetry

day 6: reverse!verse/roleswap || sketch

day 7: epistolary || flash fiction

day 8: episode rewrite || fanmix

day 9: gender changes - het to femslash || script format

day 10: canon a little to the left || headcanon

day 11: outsider pov || fancam

day 12: 5 + 1 || exquisite corpse/round robin

day 13: for want of a nail || sequel

day 14: dark fluff || webweave

day 15: vignettes/fragments || fansong

day 16: polyamory || abstract

day 17: unreliable narrator || screencap edit

day 18: meta plot/metafandom/carver edlund novels || non-song based fanvid

day 19: crossover/fusion || multimedia

day 20: trans headcanon || podfic

day 21: humor || amv

day 22: au || fiber arts

day 23: gender changes - slash to femslash || comic

day 24: pre-canon || digital art

day 25: omegaverse || sentence fics

day 26: mundane au || photography

day 27: selfcest || freeverse poetry

feb 28: character study || fanwork-of-a-fanwork

feb 29: rashomon style || fic rec list

[battlekilt]

What are your thoughts on Padme? I'm so curious about your take

I love Padme!

By herself.

Queen/Senator Amidala was a formative character in my early life, and definitely was a hyperfocus that ignited a life-long interest in fashion. She was an introduction of high-end couture and costume design.

(I have a lot of life-long interests, but such is the way of having ADHD).

That isn't to say that she is without points of criticism on my part, though they aren't criticism of her as a person or as a character, merely critical analysis of her choices and her actions. A lot of them revolve around her conflict of interest with her position as a politician, and her personal life. There are certainly plenty of parallels between her and Anakin, which is probably one reason why they worked for the canon narrative.

But, I can criticize my favorite characters until the sea cows come home because that's part of analyzing the characters. It is similar to how I show my life: I'll pick on them.

Though, it is for that reason why I have been much more critical of AnidaIa as a relationship, though my dislike of the relationship is nothing new. I have never liked Anakin and Padmé together, and their relationship is the core criticism I'd have to levy towards her. This is a case of, 'Not a good long-term fit for each other, and that is okay.' Which is why I put her in the same column as the Jedi Order when it comes to Anakin's life. Mostly, it would have been better for everyone involved if he just departed on amicable terms.

I'm Pro-Jedi and Pro-Padmé, along with my pro-Anakin stance. There is good, there is bad, there are things to be critical about, and there are things to be defensive about.

From the ROTS novel, which is now considered Legends, however I believe that it is entirely relevant as it was line-edited by Lucas:

Fundamentally, she was compelled from within to be a politician, though she had spent her early life dreaming of being a mother. Naboo tradition excludes these two ways of life. I believe that Anakin's life in the Order made him a safe bet for her to live out a secret fantasy life started in the sweep of excitement when the war started. However, as time went on and consequences began to be more tangible, I do believe that Padmé was forced at times to realize that her fantasy wouldn't be allowed to carry on forever. Sadly, it was inevitable that the bubble would burst, and there would be consequences for the actions both parties made.

Read more on my opinion and analysis of their relationship here.

There is no doubt that she is a bold and strong character, with enough conflicts within her to be interesting. However, she was handed a short string when it comes to the quality of her narrative. As a character, she is probably at her strongest the furthest away she is pulled away from Anakin.

From within the comics, all the positive and interesting traits of her seem to have been transferred over to her former handmaiden, Sabé. Which, good for her, I guess? But, would have preferred for Padmé to have tried to kill Anakin in ROTS, survived, and become the rebel leader she should have been—as originally conceived for her.

Padmé Amidala is a character that suffered more from time constraints cutting short a character's potential and letting it fall away onto the cutting room floor. I do think that if at the time of ROTS there was a stronger guarantee that more exploration would be had between EP3 and EP4, I do think that Padmé's story wouldn't have ended so anticlimactically as it had.

My apologies that I don't write as much for this kind of meta analysis as others might. But, I hope that these succinct thoughts are sufficient?

I invite more detailed and pointed questions for where more elaboration is desired, but insufficiently addressed here.

[asksythe]

Hello! In this amazing meta (https://www.tumblr.com/iamwestiec/721509969822908416/is-there-any-cultural-significance-or-reasoning?source=share) you referred to Wen Zhuliu's given name as Zhao Zhuli. I'm writing a series of fics centering him. I know he comes from the Zhao family , but could you please tell me about the Zhuli part (& how it does or doesn't relate to Zhuliu)? Many thanks!

Umm…. it’s a goof. It’s my goof 😅 🙏. I meant to type Wen Zhuliu but made a typo and typed Wen Zhuli instead. Sorry if I gave you the wrong idea! 

How about I write out what I know about Wen/Zhao Zhuliu instead? 

Let’s start with the name! 

1. The ancient, obscure meaning of a fairly common surname: 

Wen Zhuliu’s birthname is Zhao Zhuliu 赵逐流. Zhao 赵 is a common Chinese surname. This is what most people would know it as. However, according to the Kangxi Dictionary (1716), Zhao 赵 also means ‘to repay.’ The Kangxi Dictionary attributes this ancient meaning to a specific legend in the Yunbu, an even older Song dynasty text published in the 12th century. This specific legend in the Yunbu is about Qi Huayi repaying Zhao (the kingdom) by giving Zhao the territories of Ganluo and Tongya. The legend is from a pre-Qin era (so in the BCE).   

In other words, the Zhao surname is a discrete nod to Wen Zhuliu character being defined by his ‘debt’ to Wen Ruohan and his life as Wen Zhuliu being all about repaying Wen Ruohan’s ‘wen’ to him to the point of death. 

Just like Qin Huayi repaying his debt by slicing off long-held territories and giving it to Zhao. Zhao Zhuliu gave up his own life and fate to the Wen, Wen Ruohan specifically, to repay his debt. 

2. The name that signifies how out of place the person is: 

Zhuliu 逐流 means ‘racing current’ or ‘chasing current.’

But liu 流 is also used to denote a ‘class of people,’ or ‘grades of people.’ Words like Shangliu 上流 literally mean the upper echelon / upper class. And ‘Zhu’ can also denote ‘separate’ or ‘separated,’ or ‘exiled.’

So Zhuliu 逐流 can also be understood as a ‘Class of itself,’ or ‘separated from the rest.’

Zhuliu 逐流 reflects Wen Zhuliu’s situation among the Wen, separated from the rest and a class of himself. Wen Ruohan bestowed the surname Wen on him. This should be an incredibly high honor, especially in this particular time period. It is an act that symbolically adopts and accepts Zhao Zhuli as kin, as blood, as inseparable relation. And yet Wen Zhuliu is effectively treated as a servant by the Wens around him. 

He has no official authority of himself. He is neither retainer 客卿 (Keqing, a retainer can carry out missions, act in a House’s interest, and get a monthly payment and all sorts of benefits of being a member of a House, but has no power to decide a House policy. Su She, after being banished from House Lan, spent some time as a low-ranking retainer of House Jin. Mian Mian also worked to become a low-ranking retainer of House Jin before rejecting the actions of House Jin, taking off her House robes and abandoning her status as a retainer of Jin), nor elder 长老 (Zhanglao, an instated member of a House whose seniority or accomplishment allows him to become Zhanglao, and thus gains a say in a House policy and all sorts of diplomatic relations). 

This confusion of Wen Zhuliu’s official position among the Wen is most glaring in his interaction with Wang Lingjiao. Wang Lingjiao may be Wen Chao’s favorite mistress. However, her official position is still either a female servant (as she was first introduced in the novel as Wen Chao’s wife’s handmaiden/close servant), or at most a mistress (not even a concubine as the concubine position requires specific rites not dissimilar to a kind of wedding to be carried out). If Wen Zhuliu had any actual official position beyond ‘honorary Wen,’ then Wang Lingjiao wouldn’t be able to just boss him around like that. Because the official position in a House is not something even the second young master of the House can disrespect without serious repercussion.

In terms of ability and personal integrity, Wen Zhuliu is also in a class of himself, especially when compared to Wen Chao and the bootlickers he surrounded himself with. Wen Zhuliu never once insulted another person for their background or social station. Wen Zhuliu also protested and refused to desecrate Yu Furen’s corpse, very much against Wen Chao’s order. During the Jiang massacre, he very obviously did not want to go through with it, going so far as to apologize to Yu Furen for his having to face her this way at all.

Considering the Jiang massacre probably wasn’t even in the Wen’s original plan in the first place, and only happened because Yu Furen decided her ego was bigger than the lives of everyone else in House Jiang, down to young disciples not even 10 years old. Had the Wen truly wanted to wipe the Jiang out, Jiang Fengmian (who went to House Wen to ask for the swords back right before the massacre) wouldn’t have been able to get back to Lianhuawu in the first place. Wen Zhuliu probably wanted nothing to do with the whole ordeal and only went through with it because Wen Ruohan ordered him to take care of Wen Chao. 

3. About Wen Ruohan 温若寒: 

If you are going to write extensively about Wen Zhuliu, then you probably will want to know about Wen Ruohan as well. As I said before, MXTX character names tend to foreshadow or hint about certain things in their characters, their positions, or their story arc. Wen Ruohan is no exception. 

The word Han 寒 signifies his status as the last leader of House Wen. Why? It’s all to do with heat. 

The surname Wen 温 means ‘Warm,’ or ‘Warmth.’ Yet the name Han 寒 means ‘freezing.’ So Wen Ruohan can be understood as ‘warm like freezing.’ In modern Chinese slang, cold also means ‘dead.’ So saying things like I’m going cold, or it’s cold, are also ways to say ‘I’m dead,’ I’m dying,’ ‘He/she is dead.’ 

The middle part of the name Ruo 若 is also very interesting, because while it can be understood as ‘As,’ or ‘like,’ the ancient meaning of Ruo is ‘god.’ Specifically, Ruo is the name of a sea god in Zhuangzi (5th century BCE), one of the oldest and founding classical texts of Chinese culture and Daoism. In Zhuangzi, it is said that there is a sea god in the North named Ruo. One day, after a particular incident, Ruo said: “You cannot speak to a toad stuck at the bottom of a dry well of the vastness of the ocean.”   

So the word Ruo in Wen Ruohan’s name is another discrete nod to the character’s status in relation to those surrounding him, that as a god who has much better foresight and vision. When you really look into the details of the novel, you will find Wen Ruohan really did tower over the rest of the cultivation world not only in terms of power (he was the strongest cultivator in the cultivation world) but also in vision. His plan to unite the cultivation world and lay down actual laws and rules of conduct is eventually enacted and seen as necessary and natural to the development of the cultivation world. His plan to build Supervisory Offices ended up being plagiarized by Jin Guangyao and given a different name (Far-seeing Towers). In the novel, Jin Guangyao won high praise from regular people, other Houses, and even Wei Wuxian (after resurrection) for the Far-seeing Towers. You can say that if it weren’t for the other Wens (specifically Wen Ruohan’s own sons) being morons in executing his plan, and for the existence of Wei Ying (who was effectively an entire army during the Sunshot War), then Wen Ruohan would have had a very different ending.    

4. Other Miscellaneous things:

Since you want to write a story about Zhao/Wen Zhuliu, you can dig further into history, particularly the Zhao Kingdom, which was one of the seven Kingdoms of the Warring State Period. Zhao and Wei were historical peers, as they both belonged to the same seven kingdoms and were embroiled in the same events of the period. (You can check my post on the historical basis for WWX for that)

Another avenue would be… to look at Wei Ying himself. Because Wen/Zhao Zhuliu is a mirror image of Wei Ying, especially in Wei Ying’s first life. I haven’t really dug deep into the history and genealogy of the Zhao Kingdom, but I’m not gonna be surprised if there’s an actual historical basis for Zhao/Wen Zhuliu in there, the same way there is a historical basis for Wei Ying.        

[tritoch]

argggh i can't stop it. It's happening. having forbidden FFXIV classpect thoughts. Hydaelyn and Zodiark as our cherub equivalents. Meanwhile, events in Elpis result in a Mobius Double Reach-Around pair of interlinked sessions between the Scions and the Unsundered, which are largely asynchronous and separate and link up only around the time of ARR through EW. spoilers through 6.0.

THE BIG TWO:

Hydaelyn: Muse of Time

Zodiark: Lord of Space

---

SOURCE SESSION:

WoL: Knight of Hope (one who wields hope as a weapon. Hope is canonically an extremely powerful aspect and linked to elemental light and the power of belief. Brilliant Conviction, the canonical warrior of light buff, is extremely Hope energy. Also, since light is juxtaposed against despair in the Big Answers Monologue, the Warrior of Light represents not the aspect Light, which is luck and knowledge, but Hope)

Minfilia (& Ryne): Heir of Light (literally everything about Minfilia and Ryne points to this it is almost impossible to ignore. Also again, Homestuck Light represents luck and foresight and this ties to both Minfilia's time as Word of the Mother and Ryne's role as the Oracle)

Alphinaud: Prince of Blood (one who destroys relationships and alliances, see the Crystal Braves, but also one who destroys through or using alliances, see everything after that. Also, all the Princes destroy their aspect in themselves at some point, and ARR Alphinaud is absolutely a bloodless technocrat in all senses)

Alisaie: Rogue of Breath (an outlaw Rogue in contrast to Alphinaud's noble Prince but also because the Rogues are generally affable, unpretentious, and natural adepts of their aspects. Breath stands for freedom, flight, and change. The curing of tempering not only figuratively steals back the breath of Halric and all the tempered (and the porxie animation is even sort of a symbolic transfer of breath), but also restores their freedom and marks perhaps the greatest change to the setting's status quo)

Thancred: Bard of Mind (mind deals with thought, possible futures, the paralysis of choice. The bard allows destruction of their aspect and invites destruction through their aspect. It is difficult to sum up how I think this applies but consider both Thancred, paralyzed by his failure to save Warburton, and also the image of the Fatebreaker. Also he's literally a bard)

Y'shtola: Witch of Void (witch is obvious. Void stands in for forbidden knowledge, obscured things, darkness. Connects to both her personal drive to uncover the hidden things of the world and her time as spiritual leader to the Night's Blessed. Also on a meta level we know the least about her because she is underdeveloped lmao)

Urianger: Seer of Doom (lay-up)

Estinien: Maid of Rage (both the HS Maids are naturals of their aspects, and also go sorta corrupted or weird in relation to it. also the idea of Estinien as Nidhogg's handmaiden (as well as Handmaid) makes a lot of sense to me)

G'raha: Page of Time (again, a lay-up, but note that Pages have the potential to be among the most powerful given time and development. Also as the Exarch has many parallels to Hydaelyn thematically)

---

UNSUNDERED:

Elidibus: Sylph of Heart (Heart deals with identity, the soul, motivation, but also self-knowledge through others. Also Elidibus is a little bit damsel-coded imo)

Emet-Selch: Mage of Space (BEHOLD, A SORCERER OF ELD and also the close narrative link to Zodiark)

Lahabrea: Thief of Life (steals life, as Hephaestus made life. Also life has thematic links to the march of progress and the exertion of will, and through the Condesce and Betty Crocker, power and its abuse (impeach Lahabrea))

[animazi]

the pinned post

general stuff:

ani, she/her

feel free to ask me whatever (as long as it is not personal or weird), I'm more active on here than I should be

writing and whatnot:

general ao3 link, my username is animazi if that isn't working recent stuff/stuff I'm proud of: Providence, In Summer (Padme centric oneshot, character study focusing on her relationship with Palpatine) Girl and Ghost (my go at a Kleya handmaiden au oneshot with some past velkleya)please don't read my older stuff, read the peedy if you like but know I did it For The Bit and so it is entirely unedited and written in one or two sittings

tags:

everything is tagged with the main media it is from e.g. #star wars or #disco elysium (yes this is supposed to be JUST a star wars side blog, no that isn't really working out)

it will also get tagged if it is extended material like tv shows, books etc, e.g. #andor

it is also tagged by character and ship e.g. #padme amidala, #anidala when possible I like to tag with full name, if full name is not known to me I'll use rank e.g. #master sol

anything original from me, be that ramblings about my day or meta will be tagged as #original ani thought

[ladymorghul]

Sorry to hear you’ve been dealing with fandom nonsense. That sucks.

 I saw that post you made about how you’re tired of depressing (but interesting, no hate from me!) Alicent meta so here are some fluffy headcanons. I personally do not subscribe to the belief that her life was all doom and gloom. I’m sure she’s had moments of happiness shared with her babies and even moments of peace with herself despite everything because she deserves it 👏.

(Sorry for any typos and awkward wording btw, I’m typing while walking 🙃)

I imagine Helaena as someone who’s a bit of a wanderer. She likes to explore the castle and gardens. Even when she’s with her family, she’ll wander off when something catches her attention. The guards had a hard time keeping track of her when she was a little baby because she used to squeeze into the smallest of places.

Aemond was a bit more shy and reserved. Even when he wanted to explore, he couldn’t bring himself to go off alone or without permission. Sometimes he managed to pester Aegon into accompanying him, other times he’d follow Helaena around. When the bullying began, he was desperate to find somewhere he could be at peace and made himself at home in the library. Every now and then he would pick out a book for Alicent to read to him later that day. 

Daeron (the daring) was a runner, sprinting towards whatever caught his attention. Sometimes he’d join Helaena in her adventures, other times he would trail behind Aemond and Criston, asking all sorts of questions. At this point I imagine Aegon’s relationship with Helaena and Aemond is starting to fray, so Daeron’s unconditional love and enthusiasm is wholly welcomed. 

Aegon was a pretty happy baby before his siblings came along and the jealousy grew and his father started ignoring him. Whenever he wanted to explore, he wanted to do it with his mother.

A cute headcanon of mine is that Alicent and her brothers used to make paper boats and release them into the water. (I too headcanon that Alicent wore blue because it was her mother’s house colors but also because she saw the sea everyday back in Oldtown and idk, maybe she likes looking at the water and the color blue.) Alicent used to build paper boats with Aegon. It was his favorite activity, even after she started drawing their allies’ house sigils on the sails and quiz him on them. 

This got so long, sorry!

i. love. every. single. one. of. these.

and they're all so true and canon because this is how i see them too!!!

i can totally imagine helaena squeezing into some thight space and some poor kingsguard looking for her desperately until he hears a sneeze or a giggle. he can't be mad at the cutest toddler in the red keep tho!

and so true about daeron being a sprinter. both the handmaidens, the kingsguard and alicent would have trouble getting ahold of him once he sees something that sparks his interest.

also also also aegon was definitely that baby that would just show *anything* to alicent and say "mommy look"

in fact even in canon we see baby aegon try to get viserys' attention

i also definitely agree that alicent's life wasn't always doom and gloom. of course there was always a shadow looming, but i like to imagine she got some good moments of genuine happiness with her babies

truly thank you for sending these, they are everything!!!