"character flaws are sparse this season" holy shit this has been on my mind since 11x04 aired? Especially with the Doctor; it's almost been five episodes and yet? There's been no dark!doctor moments? They haven't let her be *wrong* and horribly so yet, which is disappointing. And the gang is *likeable* but they're just there? There's no character depth without flaws? I'm trying to stay optimistic about this series but there's a lot not sitting well with me.
I would like to cite the Doctor goading Krasko into trying to choke her to death and lording the fact that he couldn’t over him. So it hasn’t been all sunshine and rainbows. There’s also the fact that some of her approach to pacificism has been so odd (”guns = bad, EMPs = good” or “watching a spider slowly suffocate to death is morally superior to killing her”) that this may or may not end up leading somewhere interesting. Plus, there are some small glimpses where her usually very empathetic nature shows small cracks. Her arguing with Epzo on his spaceship and “Oh, sorry, Yaz, I forgot you were there” were a favourite moment of mine.
Ryan is comparatively emotionally closed off and occasionally very rash in his actions. Graham is basically beating his natural hesitancy towards adventure on a daily basis and can also be pushy and awkward in a way that others (i.e. Ryan) perceive as annoying. Yaz is guarded around her family. So it’s not like there’s nothing to mention here. But still, it’s a change of pace on that front. It’s quite obviously deliberate and it fits with the rest of the tone of the series, but it’s not giving me a whole lot to work with.
I like getting under a fictional characters’ skin to figure out what makes them tick and what their dark edges are. What makes them angry or afraid or dangerous or sad or hurtful towards others. The negative side to their strengths. The things they hide. The things that make them different or their character development really worthwhile. It doesn’t have to be huge and terribly twisted thing. But things are more interesting when there’s something more substantial there.
I get that that’s just my personal taste. They’re obviously going for a less dark approach than some previous series and I can appreciate that. Like you, I absolutely find Ryan, Yaz and Graham to be likeable. The characters are absolutely one of the first things I’d mention if I were to convince someone to watch series 11. They’re all Good People. They’re also only on episode 4. They’ve only just started their time as “proper” companions at the end of Arachnids. But at least for now, I’m not getting the sense that the show is really interested in exploring their flaws.
Nalyova’s lights were bright and welcoming, despite the constant cloak of smog that pressed down from levels five-thousand through twenty-five fifty-nine. In terms of Coruscant’s grand, glittering scale, the neighborhood – nalyova, the Twi’lek residents affectionally nicknamed it, for the railway station that rumbled above their heads – was a closet, a shoebox. But it was a warm one, a welcoming one. Ryl lanterns in bright sunset colors – sunsets which the residents never saw, down in the mid-lower levels – looped around the central atrium, three levels high, connecting the tiny mom-and-pop shops, the cramped apartments, the tiny restaurants amidst the clutter of too-many beings crammed into a too-small place. The trees were fake: bright, unnatural neons; the fountain was cracked and dry; the dirty paint on the buildings had long ago flaked away to reveal the dull, smog-stained durasteel underneath – but the lights that flooded from the homes were golden, welcoming. People called to each other in the streets, skirting around children playing bolo-ball, the old ones playing dejarik and sabbac in between puffs of their long Twi’lekki pipes. It was a place where everyone knew each other, where everyone helped each other.
Even if they were visitors from top side.
Amaranth Elsheva glanced up at the sound of the bell to her parents’ place, A'sis Jirsalo – the Rose Lantern, in Basic – and a wide grin immediately split her face nearly in two when she saw the newcomer. “Volya! Bea, come in, come in – is that really you, all the way down here?” She skirted out from behind the counter, lekku swinging happily behind her as she rushed to her friend and enveloped her in a tight hug.
The younger Twi’lek grinned back, something like relief washing over her face as she hugged Ama back. She was wearing the typical ‘Jedi-undercover-garb’ of a dark poncho, but Ama wasn’t about to point it out. She knew what it must have taken for Volya to gather the courage to slip away from the Temple – especially without her lightsabers.
Ama broke the hug first and tugged Volya’s hands, gesturing to a free table tucked into the corner of the restaurant, away from the other diners. The A’sis Jirsalo was decorated in what both Amaranth and Volya would have to assume was accurate Ryl décor – neither nativeborn Coruscanti having seen Ryloth themselves – and that meant an emphasis on community, on clan. The Elshevas of the Nalyova block made sure everyone who walked through their door felt at home. “Wait here – I’ll get us something to drink,” Ama said, quickly lighting the cheap candledroids before hurrying back to the kitchens. “Maman, Da, sei muchi ohk circa - Do ohk tlaran a eoh ronkan!”
As she prepared two cups of bitter Ryl-root tea, her Da looked up from the chopping block. He knew that if she had to announce the presence of a friend, it wasn’t a Nalyova native. “Jedi? V'ora? Anmian?”
“Huhsi Juno'hervoe - Volya. Ji a'an Cme'as, ji eyan uru.”
Her maman appeared out of nowhere, putting two thick sweetcakes and a jar of spiced honey on a serving platter. “Ohk gan talnahan ar bee ki'uk, aan koa?”
Ama made a little face at her mother as she signed thank you for the cakes. “Jid xaeo batey ootay toe a sonarsa uru, Maman.”
Her mother waved her hand in mock-disappointment with a little bahh!
“Do cahsinark ornorkunan dan tohsi tilsa a ormudis, Do tlonahan!”
“Bahh!” again, and Ama’s father laughed. She sighed and took the tray back out to the communal dining area, sliding the tray onto the low table between her and Volya and sitting on the floor cushion – the embroidered pattern faded as long as she can remember – her legs sliding into the space under the table. Volya hesitated, and then copied Ama with a shy grin. Her lekku were tense, drawn up tight around her shoulders, so Ama reached across the smooth faux-wood table and gently clasped Voyla’s hands in her own. “Hey, I’m really glad to see you, Voy. What brings you down here?” She shot her a crooked grin, “Besides me, of course.”
“Ha, of course I’m here for you.” Volya squeezed Ama’s hand and then smiled shyly across the table. “But also, the, uh. The Twi’lek heritage museum.”
Ama blinked in surprise – Volya had mentioned to her about feeling disconnected from her Twi’lek heritage before, on the Mercurial, and Ama had found herself in the strange-yet-familiar position of gentle older sister, helping the Twi’lek Jedi negotiate that part of hereself as best she could – and then she burst with a wide smile. “How’d you like it? They have an excellent textile collection there – and the section on myths and legends is one of my favorites…”
Volya’s eyes brightened. “Yes! I loved that part, it was so well done…” and then she was off.
Ama spooned a generous helping of spiced honey into both cups of steaming tea, and sipped hers slowly with delight as she listened to the younger Twi’lek ramble on and on about the museum, about the exhibits, her favorite displays – her lekku gradually relaxing until they swung freely behind her shoulder blades – and Ama felt an immense pride as she listened to her friend.
When Volya finally managed to catch her breath, Ama set down her mug and grinned. “I think this calls for a special celebration meal, eh? Maman, Da - cahsinark dan anasan ar rarnork sei muchi?”
And as if they had been waiting with their ears pressed to the door, Amaranth’s parents burst through to the main dining area, both carrying heaping plates of traditional Twi’lekki meals – including sweets usually made only for holidays. Happy tears sprang to Volya’s eyes as Ama’s parents set the plates down in front of her, and then sat on either side, warmly greeting the Jedi like she was one of their own.
That’s what it meant to dine with the Elshevas in Nalyova.
Family.
sei muchi ohk circaa- Do ohk tlaran a eoh ronkan «my friend is here - I'm taking a little break»
Juno'hervoe? V'ora? Anmian? «Jedi? Clones? Both?»
Huhsi Juno'hervoe- Volya. Ji a'an Cme'as, ji eyan uru. «Just Jedi - Volya. The other Twi'lek, the young one.»
Ohk gan talnahan ar bee ki'uk, aan koa? «Are we allowed to say hello, or no?»
Jid xaeo batey ootay toe a sonarsa uru, Maman «Let her settle in for a moment first, Maman»
Do cahsinark ornorkunan dan tohsi tilsa a ormudis, Do tlonahan! «I'll introduce you after a bit, I promise!»
cahsinark dan anasan ar rarnork sei muchi? «would you like to meet my friend?»
👀 you're home schooled as well? Same here! I didn't realize quite how many of us were on Tumblr lmao
I mean I “graduated” last year but yup!!! Homeschooled my whole life. I completely bullshitted my way through high school years because my parents got tired of forcing me to do my schoolwork, and I think they only gave me my diploma bc I moved out the day I turned 18 and they didn’t want me to be jobless and homeless lmaoooo
idk if your homeschool parents were religious but lemme just say christian homeschool parents are some of the most meme worthy people on the planet
Recently deceased man returns from vacation, reunites with his former crush, and adopts a bunch of kids. Shenanigans and a slowburn ensues
dude you GOT ME I’ve been trying to figure this out since you sent it I have no cluesend me horrible descriptions of tv shows or characters and i’ll guess what or who it is
softsimmons replied to your post “So, after all this time, I decided to re-install what I had of...”
YAAAAAS IM SO EXCITED
ME TOO!
I’ve missed Photoshop and making gifs so much. I have it saved on my external hard drive, so I won’t make the mistake again of losing it and having no way to get it on a new laptop (if I need to get a new one, God forbid it happen again.)
