#post: textpost

[sarcasmismydefaultmode]

Currently waiting to for the doors to open to seats at the theatre. Can’t wait to see Denise on stage again…

[sarcasmismydefaultmode]

Heads up for anyone attending Starfury Invasion in Birmingham…

Denise and Kyle are doing a fan meet on the Sunday. Tickets have just gone on sale on Starfury’s website.

[sarcasmismydefaultmode]

Oddly never thought this would happen to me but…

I’ve taken the decision to disallow guest comments on Project Starbird, due to this:

Initially I was extremely pissed off, both by the insinuation and the tone of the comment, then doing a bit of research revealed I’m not the only AO3 writer who has been targeted with accusations of using AI by ‘guest’ accounts that are usually trolls or bots. So I’m removing the ability of guests to comment on this fic.

I hate to do so. Project Starbird isn’t a super popular fic with a huge reader base (although I cherish each every reader/commenter) and many of the lovely feedback I’ve received has been from guests. But I really can’t be arsed with shit like this. I write for free, for fun, for personal gratification, not for clout or popularity.

So let me state this once, definitively and categorically: I do NOT, have NOT, and shall NEVER use AI in my writing. The insinuation that I have both appalls and insults me. The fact that more writers are being accused of this, when it was OUR writing that was scalped to train AI software in the first place, is turning into a rot in fandom and I haven’t got the energy for it. I will be deleting the above comment and giving it, and its poster, no more space in my brain.

And walksinthemoonlight, if you even exist, kindly go fuck yourself 🖕🖕

[sarcasmismydefaultmode]

So...

Seeing as we're going to be waiting a lonnggg time for S2 of Andor, and I. Am. SUFFERING with the lack of updates/Denise/Dedra on my dash and in my life, I thought I'd pose a few questions to our little corner of the fandom while we wait...

How do we think Dedra would react to the Death Star?

To borrow our favourite sinister, grandfatherly, fascist middle manager's favourite saying, my thesis is that answer depends on when she finds out/is informed of it. Ignoring the unlikelihood of a relatively junior officer being informed of what is, at this point in the timeline, a top-secret project; I think pre-Ferrix!Dedra would have similar concerns as she did to the PORD Act being introduced in the wake of Aldhani. She would acknowledge its power but also feel uneasy that it might potentially blow up (he he) in the Empire's face long-term.

S2, post-Ferrix!Dedra? Considering both Tony and Denise have signalled Dedra's turn into full-blown fascism, might her more pragmatic side be subsumed and all she can see is a weapon that could silence rebellion forever?

Anyway...thesis, please?

[sarcasmismydefaultmode]

My MCM London Experience

So my Comic-Con experience certainly had its ups and downs...somehow, I always seem to end up catching a bug like COVID a few weeks before an event I've been looking forward to for months, and then I'm left with a chronic cough and feeling like death even once I stop testing positive. I had so many plans to meet up with friends and catch up over drinks, and I ended up going to bed in my hotel room by 6pm...

But........

There were certainly some highs. Meeting and chatting with @wifeofsyril & @karnpuffs in the queue for the photo ops with Denise on Saturday, talking all things Star Wars, Andor, and Dedra (which frankly I don't get to do enough of, it's criminal)...

Meeting up and getting to play with my old saber training group, Silver Sabres, and spend half the day surrounded by fellow saber nerds...

The utter chaos that was the Witcher 3 panel. It felt a little...strange, like it was vaguely linked to it being ten years since the Witcher 3 came out, but it all felt quite loosely connected to the fact. It was more fun watching Denise slowly lose her mind over having to draw anything 😄 (I felt that, Denise. As a fellow artistically-challenged-person, I felt that. Pictionary is my idea of hell) and the conversations the cast were having about their characters. An interesting snippet from Denise was about her decision to pitch Yennefer a little lower than her natural speaking voice, to project authority and power, and I felt you can hear that in Dedra's voice too.

The lighting wasn't great so this was pretty the only picture I took during the panel which didn't turn weird...

Nearly had a heart attack when they started mentioning fanfiction. Admittedly, it was Witcher fanfiction, not Star Wars or Andor, but now I can't get the image of Denise scrolling the Dedra Meero tag on Ao3 out of my head 🤣🤣. Denise and Doug, the guy she's sat next to who voiced Geralt, and some of the other cast, also spoke about the importance of fandom and the escape it offers as they've been told by fans over the years, which I fully concur with. Fantasy has always been my escape when the world gets a little too much.

And finally, what probably had to be the highlight of the weekend:

I debated about covering my face but I'm posting this on the clock app too since I post cosplay shit over there. You should've seen the way Denise's eyes lit up when I offered her the lightsaber. Don't get me wrong, I love that Andor doesn't rely on the Sith-Jedi-lightsaber stuff at all beyond occasional references to ol' Palpy, but I think it should be written into every Star Wars actor's contract that they get to play with a lightsaber at least once. This is also my Inquisitor Dedra cosplay's debut, got some really great comments walking around MCM, and when I took the photo for Denise to autograph, she basically said she wants a black uniform like mine. Now, to work on my photoshoot skills so next time, you can actually see more than just my cloak, one boot, and one gauntleted arm 🤣😅

[sarcasmismydefaultmode]

So, obligatory Denise Gough at SWCE 2023 story time!

I’d done a photo op with Ewan which ended up being super quick so wasn’t expecting much. Knew I wanted the ‘at ease’ pose and decided to be cheeky and ask if she could possibly do the Eyebrow. She gave me the biggest grin and said she’d try but couldn’t guarantee she would be able to get it up (pun unintended). Anyway, as you may or may not be able to tell from the photo, she managed it and then said she hoped she did before I left the booth. She was so lovely and up for anything, I just knew I needed to get the photo signed.

I was a little way behind in the autograph queue behind @hegodamask (thanks for the swag, girl!) same story.

Accidentally got in the wrong queue for autographs, sent to the naughty kids line behind the booth. Spent the hour wait chatting with an amazing Rey, Cassian, and Dedra cosplayer who could’ve been a stunt double for Denise, she was so good. When we finally moved round to take our turn, I was genuinely shaking with a bit of adrenaline and excitement.

Anyway, the lovely thing about Denise is that she was kind of conducting a multi-way convo with everyone at the table; the Rey cosplayer had a program from one of Denise’s broadway runs for her to sign and she made a joke about flashbacks while smirking at our group. Then the Dedra cosplayer got to her and she was just gushing over this woman’s cosplay (apparently the tunic is an icy, grey-tinged white, not a warm white) and said she was the best she’d seen so far. Dedra the cosplayer had told us an awesome story about how she ‘dedra-fied’ herself and it had got her a promotion at work (she was a lawyer). Denise loved the story and said she’d ‘dedra-ed the f**k out of the trial’. Then it was my turn.

Amazing human being that she is, she recognised me and excitedly showed the booth assistants my photo, saying I’d asked for the Eyebrow and she’d managed to do it. I told her how much I loved her work, not just in Andor but in stuff like Under the Banners of Heaven etc., and we chatted about that then I told her a story where channeling Dedra had got me a job opportunity I’d always wanted and she said that was awesome but that she was also flattered to have such brainy fans. She gave me the same message as @hegodamask and such a gorgeous smile. I ended it by saying I loved and related to Dedra (minus the fascism) even though I was resigned to watching her die horribly on screen, and she just winked at me and said: “Maybe, maybe not. I’m the only one who knows.” And then she made a joke about even Tony Gilroy not knowing because she just does whatever she wants as Dedra 🤣😭🥰

Sounds about right. If I was Tony/LF, I’d just let her. Give her all the spin-offs now!!!

[sarcasmismydefaultmode]

I think I can speak for every one of us at Star Wars Celebration this year who queued up to get a photo op/autograph with Denise:

She is an absolute treasure of a human being and we do not deserve her 😭🥰😭🥰

[sarcasmismydefaultmode]

All I’m gonna say?

spoilers under the cut:

Our girl looks good in a crown. She looks even better wielding that Shadow Cut Baby…