Roundup

[jaggedwolf]

Maybe I'm actually reading/consuming enough things I have enough thoughts on that it makes sense to start splitting these up but eh, that can be next year jaggedwolf's problem.

Reading

Of Ice And Shadows by Audrey Coulthurst

Fantasy f/f, the sequel to Of Fire and Stars. It was a fun romp, as choppy as the prose got sometimes, but I was able to overlook that in favour of mysteries and magic.

I didn't expect Denna and Mare to be split up like they were in this book, but I actually liked the conflict between them and their competing needs, though again, it was a little overwritten. Their separate stories were cool to follow, and I liked all the new characters we met, especially the queen and Alek. I hope that third book happens, I really want to see what the queen does next.

I continue to be mildly amused at my tastes - Priory of the Orange tree was objectively the better written book, but I got so BEC about one of the characters that I ended up rating it lower than this book.

Other Media

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

TL;DR I liked it! With TLJ following TFA, I had lost any expectation of this trilogy being a coherent story, and so I went in wanting to see Rey do cool stuff, and hopefully more Force stuff than we got in the last two movies.

This film was super not a coherent story/ending, but also, I didn't care? Then again, I come at Star Wars as a kid who watched the PT, then the OT, then devoured a bunch of those official Anakin & Obi-Wan and Obi-Wan & Qui-gon books. I am here for melodramatic space wizards, cool lightsabers and powers, grand universe-spanning wars that boil down to the connections between a small subset of people.

That is basically what Rise of Skywalker gave me, so I left the theatre delighted. And wanting to read fic! I left TLJ going, I suppose that might have been an objectively good movie, but I cared about no one's storylines and didn't want to read fic about any of them.

My attitude towards the film is essentially encapsulated by the fact I went from "wtf creepy Palpatine is here" to "fuck yeah creepy Palpatine is here let's go!!!!" very quickly.

Here is a list of things I enjoyed.

• Every Jedi speaking to Rey, especially Obi-Wan and Qui-gon's voices, which I didn't expect
• Kylo at the beginning running around Korriban-lite, it made me want to replay KOTOR2 tbh
• Actual trio dynamics :D Finn and Poe completely getting each other in battle, Poe and Rey sniping at each other over their metal faves, Finn and Rey discussing Rey's Force shit and bond with Kylo
• As someone who is deeply meh on Kylo, I didn't expect how much I'd love all of his and Rey's across-the-force-bond fight scenes/interactions. It was a great choice, and I lost my shit when she handed over the lightsaber like that.
• Rey losing control and destroying that transport
• Finn getting to meet other defected stormtroopers
• Leia undergoing Jedi training - I wish we could've seen the movie that would've happened if Carrie Fisher were still alive, but I will take this nugget
• Kylo showing up to the final battle in his PJs. The sacrifices one makes for the light side, honestly.
• Can't jam animals hahaha
• Hux being a spy for THE PETTIEST REASON, and then DYING LIKE THAT
• Rey's yellow lightsaber, even as I hoped it'd be a saber staff
• Rey calling herself Skywalker because of Luke and Leia

The shorter list of my quibbles

• It is the third movie of a Star Wars trilogy. I demand that my Jedi protagonist be dressed in an all-black, extra as fuck, ensemble
• I occasionally daydream about a universe where Kylo was a just-as-wonky-looking-woman. I'd probably ship it a little, and thus be extra delighted by this finale

Anyway, I foresee so much boring Reylo discourse (again, enemies-to-lovers does not an abusive relationship make), so I will probably avoid larger Star Wars fandom and patiently wait for Finn/Poe and Finn/Poe/Rey fic or vid recs.

Talking Meme

I said more things.

Day 9: Commander Shepard
Day 11: Favourite Critical Role characters

Random Links

“You’re My Present This Year”: An Oral History of the Folgers Incest Ad

Timothy Simons (cameraman for auditions and callbacks): This was a very long time ago and if you asked me if I would end up being interviewed about this commercial that I worked on, 10 years later, I would not have believed you, because it was altogether pretty unremarkable. It’s not something I have a lot of memories about, outside of the fact that ultimately the commercial kind of seems like the brother and sister are going to have sex. That’s why we’re talking, right?

Our Predictions About the Internet Are Probably Wrong

Elsewise

There's friending meme going at st_aurafina's dreamwidth, check it out!

Comments

[shadaras]

I came out of ep9 kind of wanting to write Rey&Ben fic, because wow Force Ghost Ben just hanging around Rey and being her not!brother sounds really hilarious, which is something I never would've expected -- but they sold me on the force bond with the whole handing off the lightsaber thing, and I'm so happy about that.

[jaggedwolf]

I was damn surprised by how well they sold me on the force bond after how meh I found it in TLJ - apparently all I needed was cool Force shit. I didn't even get mad/annoyed by the kiss because he immediately Force-ghosted the fuck outta there. So yeah, I'd read Rey & Ben fic with Force Ghost shenanigans because it does sound hilarious (and I bet Finn and Poe have so many questions).

[shadaras]

Right! In TLJ I was just annoyed by how it seemed to exist just for ~romance~ reasons or something, but the idea of literally passing objects through the Force? Fantastic. Love it.

Finn and Poe (and everyone!) must have so many questions about like... everything that went down on Exegol.

[jaggedwolf]

Yeah, it was the purposelessness of it in TLJ that bored me.

I wonder how Rey ends up explaining all that. Heck, they don't even know that Kylo made it off the destroyed Death Star, right, since it seems Finn sensed Rey leaving in Kylo's TIE fighter.

[shadaras]

Yeah, I have no idea how he got to Exegol. Like, I assume there were other TIEs in the area, but... it's still very plot-convenience.

admittedly this now makes me wish the way he'd gotten there was through ridiculous force bond shenanigans and just popping out of thin air in front Palpatine and then they could both just kill him while he was going ???

[jaggedwolf]

That would've been so funny to see. I also want to know at what point Ben decided going Light Side meant he could only fight in his pajamas, because that also made me laugh

[shadaras]

I know everyone's saying they're his pajamas, but I honestly didn't really notice more than 'oh he took off his ridiculous cape and armor'? Like, I get it, he's wearing soft comfy things, but it just read to me as normal clothes.

[jaggedwolf]

That's probably what he literally did, but I think after three movies of seeing him in nothing else, the soft long-sleeved shirt vibes just made everyone jump to that. Kylo never looks comfortable in any sense before that, ha.

[st_aurafina]

Thank you for boosting!

That Folgers article is amazing. Everyone involved seems so befuddled!

[jaggedwolf]

Ofc, figured it was worth a boost :)

They are So Befuddled! I don't know what's my favourite part, the actress denying a request for interview, or the fic author who was equally into the incest and making them drink better coffee.