for the amount of time i spend thinking about erika ishii, i do not post about them NEARLY enough

everything i've ever seen them in, they have been fully dialed in. they understand the genre, they understand the character they're playing, and they NEVER. FUCKING. MISS

my current dnd character is actually based on multiple characters of erika's that i enjoy. my character is a witch (like ame of worlds beyond number fame [thank you to the witch class playtest]) but she is also a brewer who grows weed and shrooms, and deals them, and does them (and her personality is very much modeled off of danielle barkstock in dimension 20's the seven)

i feel that many of my favorite moments from erika are often focused on other characters. but many of those character moments would not have been possible without erika's incredible roleplay and sense for storytelling

and when the moment IS focused on erika's character? spellbinding. groundbreaking. from ame talking to orima in the overgrown shrine to danielle getting a nat 20 at the masquerade ball, i always fall into the scene and feel it so deeply due to erika's skill and poise and commitment to the story being told

tldr i think erika ishii is incredibly talented and wonderful

In ep 24 "Knock Knock" I found this interaction between Kalaya and Eursulon so fascinating

Kalaya: You're a true friend of a wizard of the citadel?

Eursulon: Yes.

[...]

Kalaya: Is she kind?

Eursulon: She can be.

It felt like such a big sister thing to be cautious of this wizard and have concern for her little brother. A spirit in a world that can be unkind to wild ones such as themselves.

But more interesting than that was Eursulon's answer. "She can be." It could be interpreted as, sometimes she is kind and other times not. Which we have seen both from Suvi (wielding the power, prestige, and station of a wizard vs loving and cherishing her friends).

But it could also be interpreted in a future connotation. Like she COULD be kind but we have yet to see. Will the citadel justification machine take over or will she retain the lessons learned from grandmother wren and hold on to a respect for the world of spirits

Last Eursulon saw Suvi she was caught between her friends and the citadel. And while wizardry is not innately unkind the systems put in place by the citadel can be concerning. Suvi has the potential to go down an alarming path with the brass of the citadel pushing her along. She has the capacity to be "unkind". But the gut reactions we see from her. The Suvi reactions, not Sky or the citadel, but SUVI are always kind. With her friends in her life Suvi can be kind and would continue to be kind. But her friends keep pulling away and the fall out from the last goodbye may be very influential into who Suvi will be.

Eursulon may not have meant much by his response but it feels very ominous in that we are yet to see the type of legacy this interation of the wizard Sky is going to leave.

screams to relax/read to

(Version with actual screams available here)

lying in bed listening to wbn + feeling every tense social interaction with a level of stress comparable to being hunted for sport (i imagine)

(aabria rly built different bec my ass could never choose to confront my fantasy best friend)

i gotta go... sit with this... for a bit

What do you want me to say? I brought you into my home to nurse you back to health after the coma that you put yourself in after Steel offered to assist with the breaking of the curse. You were down for a month, we had time to talk.

And when you decided it was time to leave, you had no compunction destroying and wreaking havoc in my home in your efforts to leave even though she was on her way.

And you had no reason to believe anything other than that her and my intentions were pure. All we've ever done is help you.

And now I'm here, I've crossed the world and risked my life, again. For you. And you still can't get that smart ass little tone about wizards out of your fuckin mouth.

But yes, continue to preach about not judging the witch on first appearances. Is that what you wanted me to say?

Y’all.

Y’all.

Steel not only chewed out the governor’s Citadel mage so hard she made her cry. But then she gave that poor woman an order that was basically “Haul your wall sized computer monitor TO THE JAIL LOBBY so I CAN YELL AT MY WAWARD ASS DAUGHTER in 5k”

One: I’m not sure if I was any of the three that I would be able to say anything more than “yes ma’am” “no ma’am” or “sorry ma’am”

Two: you can make a lot of arguments about nature vs nurture but I think we might have spotted where Suvi’s tendency to try bulldozing her way through problems comes from.

Today's wbn just like:

"I write my name on Ame's hand"

"I think about Ame the entire walk to Silver's"

Aabria answer for your crimes

*these are paraphrasing pls don't @ me

I cannot control my friends

I cannot stop a great spirit

I cannot fight what is to come

I cannot do nothing in a crisis

I can help in my own way

I can protect someone else <- Suvi is here

I can make the hard choice for the greatest good

where the wave has grazed the reach of green

and the wood by gentle sea

we count the coming of the tide

by a love as old as time

just finished www #23: on your way, and i have many thoughts. all of them make me want to cry.

ame knowing as soon as she got back to the cottage that her actions had burned a bridge, not just with the citadel but with one of her best friends, and yet still needing to complete her tasks as the witch of the world's heart. the spirits she awakens so as not to leave the cottage untended or unprotected, and the way she asks and does not take. the note she leaves, should her friends make it there.

eursulon in the fire, followed by the man in black, who is a brother in the way all spirits are brethren, but not the sibling eursulon seeks. leaving through the burrow, fighting monstrosities, and seeing the citadel raze cities to ruin beside a jungle of rot. finding the tree. his tree. the tree that is emblazoned on his shield, his coat of arms, what he fights to protect. and inside... his sister. a family she made for herself.

and suvi. hurt but still afraid that ame will die if she stays. determined to not let that happen. conversations with steel where she says that another wizard said that the wizard sly lied, or did not tell the full truth. commiseration, but suvi holds back the full truth, and suspects steel of doing the same. an airship to fly north. to protect ame, yes. but the mage armor mean that no creature or spirit or witch will ever be able to touch her again. broken trust, if not broken love.

and through it all, the thread that the citadel represents a threat to the world's heart itself, and to all spirits beyond. the council of elders wishes to neutralize that threat. grandmother wren did not.

questions moving forward: what is the true purpose of the war on gaothmai being waged by the empire? why does kalaya's family look like suvi? is suvi going to have a villain arc? i have my theories, but i'll get into those in other posts.

thank you to the worlds beyond number cast and crew for giving us this incredible story. i'm so excited to see where you take us next.

every moment of Steel's conversation with Suvi was carefully calculated, for example

appearing informally from Steel's personal space so the request was coming from Suvi's mother not her boss

Playing up the us v them of witches and wizards

Not using Ame's name, but referring to her as the Witch of Toma (until after the Geas was laid)

Stroking Suvi's ego and enforcing her identity as a wizard

Referring to it as a 'questing spell' before referring to it as a geas

Calling right before arrival, applying artificial time pressure so Suvi doesn't have time to think and take reasonable steps like asking for the wording of the Geas first (that at any cost was deeply intentional)

i in no way disagree with what suvi decided to do because she's not wrong (i also don't necessarily think ame and eursulon are wrong either) but at the same time

aabria what the fuck???

(absolutely fucking baller move. what the fuck)

"Oh dear! Lost little cub, hold on!"

the description 'perfectly round bear baby' compelled me to paint this scene immediately

"AT ANY COST" ????????

My distrust of Steel has been super vindicated ohhoHO man.

Like, on the surface it SEEMS that everything is on the up and up. Steel is telling Suvi exactly how the plan will work. She's recording their conversation. She's praising Suvi by calling her "brilliant" over and over.

But that's what makes the Geas even more sinister, imo. Not only does Suvi not have the option of saying "no" -- but it's arguably one of the worst things that could be done to her specifically. Yes, Steel is laying out the plan step-by-step. But she's not telling Suvi exactly what hiding this music box is supposed to do. She left that very crucial detail out.

Aabria has said before that Suvi can handle just about anything as long as she has all the information. In this very episode, as Suvi struggles to remember the compulsion being cast on her, she says: "I know, and that makes it okay" before surrendering.

But she doesn't know, does she? Not really -- not the knowing that truly matters. It was stolen from her. Aabria literally describes the whole process as "an obliteration of agency and understanding." And worst of all, Steel tells Suvi she must follow the orders she'll have no memory of receiving "at any cost".

Not only does Suvi risk running afoul of the witches, she also may be harmed by the very spell her beloved guardian put on her. There is a chance, however slight, that Suvi could die.

And she would die without truly understanding why.

I have no doubt that Steel loves Suvi deeply. But she is, first and foremost, the Sword of the Citadel. Before Steel and Suvi are mother and daughter, they are soldier and commander.

"You will do this. And it will work."

Steel: How are you not dead?

Suvi: 'Cuz I'm a badass!

Steel: That's not true,

Suvi: I know, I have no idea