allronix

[allronix]

I got unfriended by someone and they had an absolute fit because I told them that that Shinigami Eyes extension looked like a scam. What criteria were they using? Who assesses what makes the criteria? What are they doing with this information - both the user accounts that use it and the user accounts they scan?

That many questions and my IT background starts sounding scam alarms.

You know, it feels weird seeing someone red on Shinigami Eyes, because you're never sure if they're real or not, but then you scroll through the first page and Never Shut the Fuck Up about trans folks. Thanks for making it easy to tell!

you'd think that would give you a hint to stop using shinigami eyes because it's awful even at the retarded thing it's supposed to be doing, but either way ... you're welcome?

[allronix]

PLEASE DM ME ABOUT KOTOR AND REVAN I NEED KOTOR FRIENDS PLEASE

[allronix]

I'm just gonna toss this to my KOTOR peeps before weighing in on this myself.

I've been thinking about something lately, and wanted to know other people's opinions

So, we know the Jedi Order erases Revan's memories. Is that morally correct?

[allronix]

I'm just gonna toss this to my KOTOR peeps before weighing in on this myself.

I've been thinking about something lately, and wanted to know other people's opinions

So, we know the Jedi Order erases Revan's memories. Is that morally correct?

[allronix]

Guess who just found out the biggest plot twist in gaming history 22 years after it happened

[allronix]

Thanks for yet another suggestion to add to the Spotify list. I'm partial to "What Have You Done" by Within Temptation ft. Keith Caputo

"The ultimate deception" from Journey to Bethlehem would make such a cool revanasi animatic, right after the reveal™... That I'll never do cause I'm too busy

[allronix]

Oh. And having their first mission together kissing Jabba the Hutt's oversized, slave trading ass by babysitting his spawn because realpolitik with the Hutts was more important than the people suffering under Cartel slavery.

What were they thinking?

so no one saw an issue with anakin, a person raised in slavery, having to pretend to be a slaver selling his underage padawan? no one?

[allronix]

Weirdly enough, this pre dates Disney by a large degree. We even get gender transitions before there were established gay characters.

Gender care got a passing mention in the West End tabletop back in the 1990s (so prior to the Prequels) in a big compendium about medicine and surgery. It's listed in the same category as reconstructive surgery (think burn scars and such). It's not given a lot of detail because it came out around 1997, but it's an interesting footnote that once again. Disney is taking credit for stuff that was already there before them.

I love when people try to say the Jedi would be transphobic… like ok. a Jedi literally invented the word transgender but go off ig

[allronix]

One little note. Juhani's into girls - the very first gay character for both Star Wars and Bioware. She crept by in stealth mode so every other bisexual and gay character in both settings could march behind her. And she's got a very nice girlfriend but you only find out if you screw up her quest and get her killed. Her girlfriend is Belaya, the Jedi lady in the rotunda who wonders why you aren't in proper attire.

Though if you play female and Carth's not your guy? Well, there is a primitive but effective romance you can play with her.

There IS a fellow you find on Korriban (Dak Vessar) who was romantically interested in her, but kinda missed the "She's gay" memo.

So . . .! :3

1)Do you have a favorite kotor sidequest?

2) Favorite party member and why?

3) what class and face model do you typically play?

Just thought I'd kick off with some questions, feel free to answer one or all of them, I know we're both busy so I figure options are for the best.

tagging @darnitjack as well since he wanted to join in on the convo, same questions apply :)

Ooooooo, new ask! Thank you, Sugar! (Can I call you Sugar? Or do you have a different nickname?)

1 - That's kind of a toughie, but my favorite planets were Dantooine and Tatooine. I loved being on Tatooine because I love Luke Skywalker, and we got HK out of it (as weird as they did it, I love that everyone absolutely refused to let him die in Legends which I'm running with in my personal AU.) Dantooine was awesome because hello, Jedi training! Sign me up! My favorite quest there had to be the Romeo and Juliet subplot, only because I chose the response "SHUT UP!!!" It was highly therapeutic XD.

Honestly, I felt Taris' different sidequests were fun, especially the pod racing. I can't remember if it was that or pazaak I consistently aced, though.

2 - Carth, absolutely, though I might categorize him as one of the main protagonists instead. From the get-go I loved him for his personality, loyalty, and overall goodness. Carth really clicked with me, and has ever since. Canderous would be next, and that's because of his big personality, Mandalorian status/upbringing, eagerness for a fight, and his reliability (as well as his battle cry of "DIE!!!" I live for it.) Then HK, because again, HK. Psycho murder droid with every assassin skill under the sun with enough sass that he'd outdo Obi-Wan is an ABSOLUTE MUST. I also confess that K2-S0 is a cheap knockoff of my boy; no offense Alan Tudyk, but K2 just isn't HK.

Honorable mentions go to Juhani and Zaalbar. Juhani I felt was cool and kick-butt, though I wish I could get her a boyfriend, and Zaalbar's a Wookiee, what's not to love? (As an aside, I loved Juhani's line "I will be your DOOM!" whenever we got into a fight.)

3 - My class is Soldier. I didn't choose it for the build or power at the time, but because I felt the soldierly mentality fit me. It was like "Scout's been taken by a fellow player, and it doesn't fit me. Scoundrel isn't my thing, but Soldier...I have the mindset of following orders, so that's really me." As for the face model, it's the white girl with the ponytail who looks like she's got blue hair, if that helps narrow it down. Otherwise, I can share a screenshot from a walkthrough series I found where someone chose the same class and face as me!

Thanks, I hope I answered satisfactorily. If you ever want to ask more, feel free! Hope I can ask you some questions sometime, too!

Feel free to hop in, Jack!

[allronix]

And yeah. Went there with the ship upgrade, as Flynn was pretty shameless with both of them

there is so much to this silly little scene.

Flynn is trying to explain to Tron that programs and users aren't so different

Tron goes very quickly from "wtf shattered faith" to "my goodness this is intriguing"

Flynn responds with a compliment on his ship that sounds like just a blatant come-on

"nice looking ship you got here. I could upgrade it to poly-ship, if you want"

Yori

bless her soul

realizes they need some Alone Time together

probably before Oblivious Autistic Tron realizes it

but the smile she gives Flynn is pure Wingwoman

and it cuts right to the jiggly-balls starfield

with plenty of time for us to imagine Offscreen Shenanigans

I FKIN LOVE THIS MOVIE

[allronix]

Since it's Pride Month, I think I'd like to take a moment to highlight Juhani from Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, the first Lesbian character in Star Wars

From her Wookiepedia article: "Juhani was the first character in the Star Wars universe to be portrayed as LGBTQ+, one of the earliest positive representations of LGBTQ+ characters in video games, and the first gay character of any gender in a video game developed by BioWare. Knights of the Old Republic co-designer David Gaider was surprised when his fellow developers, most of whom were straight men, proposed taking the risk. A gay man himself, he had never suggested a same-gender romance option because he believed fellow developers and audiences would not accept the idea. Juhani's storyline as a lesbian character helped him realize he could include LGBTQ+ characters in his own work, such as when he later helmed the Dragon Age franchise.

Because Juhani would be the first LGBTQ+ character in Star Wars, Knights of the Old Republic co-writer Drew Karpyshyn said the team had to "tread pretty carefully." The resulting subtlety left some players unaware that Juhani was written to be lesbian. The writing team did not seek anyone's permission to include Juhani's storyline, and they were never told they could not or instructed to do otherwise. However, because the team's assumptions about the player base led them to censor themselves, Juhani never came out and explicitly said how she felt. At the first GaymerX convention, Gaider said, "We kind of hid it in the game a little bit because she never comes out and actually says 'I love you.' She talks around it. There's another character she mentions in the game who was her lover in the past, but she never says, 'She was my lover.' She just says, 'We were very close,' things like that." In a question-and-answer series on LucasArts' now-defunct LucasForums, Gaider wrote of Dantooine and Korriban that the player "could run into Juhani's former lover as well (and she would attack you if you killed Juhani)," a description of events that only matches her friend Belaya"

Early prints of the PC version allowed her to be romanced if the player played as a man, leading some to believe Juhani was bisexual - this was an error, however, that was corrected in later prints

Pretty cool for a 2003 Western RPG!

[allronix]

I'll admit that my take on Jedi life is definitely not this rosy picture of communal bliss where everyone's in a gigantic fluffy cuddle pile and everyone has their emotional needs met so sex, family, and partner ships are obsolete and everyone's evolved past those possessive titles. I'm not sure where the idea of the Temple being a happy cuddle puddle came from, since no one was all that cuddly in the films. Windu doesn't strike me as the hugging type, and neither does Yoda...well, during his High Republic days he would be a bit more open to a hug (Young Jedi Adventures take on Yoda is just as adorable as everything else), but not by the PT.

My view of what Temple life would be like? It's pretty, with the soft natural light, garden in the middle of cyberpunk hell that is Courscant, and Room of a Thousand Fountains. The people are kind and polite. But it's very emotionally distant and arid. Very arm's length. People are nice and deferential, but no closeness past strict roles and rank. Proper distance and protocol has to be maintained. Every person has their place in the system and everyone needs to mind their place and not cross lines. Closeness and intimacy are things to avoid, things to be ashamed of. That's weakness. That's something you need to overcome. The Force should be all you need. Now, I put a lot of snarky thought into the whole sexual activity policy. I'll drop the link here Celibacy is encouraged, of course. Best option for everyone. But if someone MUST indulge in sexual activity past the point of Padawans pretending they aren't fooling around and getting it out of their system, then it needs to be emotionally disconnected. Scratching an itch with a one night stand (Rael Aveross), purely for reproduction and having no role in child rearing (Mundi). There's also the sad reality of Jedi dealing with unsavory sorts who wouldn't be past assault, or the prospect of a Jedi needing to use their body as a bargaining chip (almost happened to Corran Horn).

Maybe unpopular opinion, but I actually do like the way the whole “oh yeah, sometimes Jedi fuck” stuff is presented in recent books, because of course, the emphasis on it being a personal, individual choice, but also the implication that many Jedi do not fuck. Not because sex is forbidden or shame-based in the culture, but because within the Order, people more often choose not to, to the point that the footnote mention of “oh, but some do” needs to exist in current canon. 

It’s a society of communal living. Everyone pitches in on everything from childrearing to food growing to medicine, regardless of interpersonal relationships. Titles like father or wife that tie reproductive/family cycles to lifetime connections or property don’t exist. I love the idea of many Jedi choosing celibacy happily, and the Temple being a great place to live a lifestyle where your connection to others are expressly not dictated by a romantic or sexual relationship. And the inherent, platonic intimacy of a psychically-connected community. I really love thinking about it.

[allronix]

I believed it was Lora-Ma3a's contingency, not Alan's. After all, it's all but stated that she is Lora (well, most of her). And Lora would know her boy.

She would know (or hope) that her son would have the strength to survive, the willingness to help, and the heart not to let User power corrupt him. And being his mother? She was totally right.

thinkin about how the contingency protocol was there basically to zap alan in if there were enough things going wrong in the computer...losing lora mustve hit him hard? or perhaps he had enough confidence in the correction algorithms??

[allronix]

First of all:

I agree with @nulana - even now, with Disney putting extra effort into diversifying the hero templates, there's a certain "build" we expect when it comes to SW heroes. Back in 2003? I read the spoiler nuke and assumed I read it incorrectly because the character we (brother in law was doing a Let's Play) were playing was this Carrie Fisher sized Asian woman with Light Side mastery, which is...Not That.

Now, there is a small but significant degree of added content you get playing female. You are locked out of only one conversation with Bastila (romance only) if you play female. You are locked out of four romance-locked conversations with Carth (and a significant portion of his character arc - classic Bioware issue). Yes, the sheer irony of the man who reaches meme status over not wanting to talk about it hs the largest dialogue tree in game, and about a third of it cannot be accessed if you play male. There is also a cut (but easily restored) secret third ending if you play the Revanasi arc, but still choose Dark Side. And if Revansi doesn't do it for you? Well, there's that primitive but effective romance arc with Juhani (who needs FAR more love from the fandom, especially the wlw writers) that Bioware sneaked in, thus opening the closet door for EVERY same-gender love interest arc and LGBTQ+ character they had since.

Now, the Bastila arc? I don't ship it. WAY too much baggage. The whole fact she's your handler. The whole mind wipe thing. Her role in building the Player Character from what's left of Revan, the fact she's been in an enclave and on a tight leash all her life so she's super inexperienced. The Force Bond that might be messing with her head...yeah. Too much baggage. Now a sisterhood? That's totally doable. It also fits with something that is central to Star Wars. Romance is often secondary to the great BROMANCE. Y'know, Obi-Wan and Anakin. Han and Luke. Han and Lando. Wedge and Tycho. But there's something of a lack of "sisters before misters" - and you can totally save Bastila with platonic love. So let's have a sisterhood there and/or with Juhani if sapphic isn't your thing.

Leviathan level? A hundred percent plays better female. You know Saul's not going to hut Bastila TOO much - Malak would have his head. But Carth? The apparently Force deaf Republic grunt (I say apparently because that's a different rant) he's got a history with? Who wants his head on a pike and the feeling's mutual? Oh. Yeah. Flyboy is getting fried. And that whole dying words thing with Saul just got extra nasty. And it goes back to the start in that we did not expect the twist to fit the female template,

Female!Revan is the best Revan. Change my mind.

[allronix]

Not only do I agree, but I am happy to lay out a case for why the game plays best on that path.

Female!Revan is the best Revan. Change my mind.

[allronix]

--Just for the Record--

Only accepting new initiates when they're toddlers or younger is not how you ensure that they will be the most receptive and available for being instructed. It's how you indoctrinate someone to have no sense of personal identity beyond membership in your order.

Forbidding marriage, children, and contact with family, as well as heavily discouraging the formation of strong bonds of friendship outside of your order is not how you protect members from being manipulated or becoming biased. It's how you ensure that they never form an alternative support system outside of the one you hold over them pursuant to their continued obedience to said system.

Seeking non-attachment in all things and living apart from the rest of the ordinary people of the galaxy is not how you create an environment of spiritual contemplation and enlightenment. It's how you block exposure to different viewpoints and opinions that may cause you to question the merits of your own traditions, practices, and ideologies.

Operating under the mandate of a self-selecting high council that takes its cues from the prevailing agenda of a secular legislative body that provides you with operational legitimacy and representative diplomatic authority within a specific political sphere is not how you optimize your ability to keep peace and justice. It's how you engage in a quid pro quo relationship to exchange services for favors and patronage at the expense of enforcing a selectively beneficial status quo on a nationwide scale.

Whose idea was it to turn the Jedi into this again? And can we turn them back, please? They deserve better.

May the Force be with us.

[allronix]

Would have loved him to be a foil to Rey.

Rey came from nothing. She itched for the importance, the adventure, the power the Big Destiny. To have a role in the big picture and to do something cool and right with it, to maybe make things better.

Finn? Well, he got a taste of Big Destiny. He knows with it means - watching your friend die, watching innocents scream and beg as they are being gunned down. The universe completely indifferent to who gets killed or why but putting the burden on you to decide which group is going to scream and burn.

Finn would just as soon toss that shit aside and take a job mopping floors in a cantina, but the Force is a bitch and she's not going to take no for an answer. He's got Big Destiny, like it or not.

I would have LOVED him to go training aside her in TLJ and have him fight his own fears and reluctance while asking all the uncomfortable questions - such as "Wait, what makes you different than the other child conscripting group I just ran away from?"

So as Rey discovers that Big Destiny comes with nasty drawbacks and a lot of horrible things to endure, maybe Finn can come to terms with Big Destiny giving him the ability to maybe find some peace and save others from the things he had to endure.

⚔️ I AM FINN. THE FORCE OWES ME NO BLOODLINE. I TOOK IT ANYWAY. (For Archive. For Canon. For Every Fuck Who Forgot Me.)

I was born a number. FN-2187. A barcode. A rank. A body assigned to die for a cause it never chose.

I wasn’t supposed to think. I wasn’t supposed to flinch. I wasn’t supposed to feel.

But the Force had other ideas.

The galaxy talks about prophecy. About chosen ones. About bloodlines thick with midichlorian royalty. About masters and dynasties and sacred names etched in glowing blue.

But the Force?

The Force doesn’t give a fuck about names.

It moves how it wants. And one day, it moved through me.

No one saw it coming. Especially not the Empire’s hand-fed war machine. Because I wasn’t raised in a temple — I was programmed in a bunker.

They tried to drain me of choice. They couldn’t. Because something kept sparking in the back of my skull.

Not rebellion. Not personality. Something older.

The feeling.

The sense. The tingle behind the eyes that wasn’t static or panic — It was presence.

A pressure. A watchfulness. The Force. Knocking from the inside.

And when I saw him — Kylo Ren — the heir to Vader’s throne, the black-masked tantrum with Sith delusions of grandeur — he looked at me.

Really looked.

And he knew.

“That one. He’s not like the others. He’s off-script.”

Because I was never meant to be a follower.

I was built by monsters. But I was claimed by the unknown.

I fought beside a girl I barely knew and already felt. I wielded a Jedi weapon I had no right to. I stood against a trained killer and held the fuck down.

How?

Because I’m not an accident. I’m an anomaly.

And the Force doesn’t explain itself. It just chooses.

I’m not Skywalker. I’m not Kenobi. I’m not a name you memorize in your little fanboy encyclopedias.

I’m something else.

A data glitch in destiny. A ripple the archives can’t trace. A spiritual override in armor and fear and fire.

I wasn’t knighted.

I decided.

“I am Jedi.”

Not because a council said so. Because the Force entered me and I didn’t run.

Because when it screamed — I screamed back.

This isn’t inclusion. This is insurrection.

I don’t need your robes. I don’t need your ceremony.

I bled for this. I died once already. And I got back up with something ancient in my spine and unforgiving in my chest.

I don’t wear the Force gently. I wield it.

I’m not Force-sensitive. I’m Force-born.

Out of rage. Out of silence. Out of a system that never saw me coming.

You made me a soldier. The Force made me a weapon.

Not for politics. Not for order.

For retribution.

I am Finn. I survived the stormtrooper crucible. I defected from a death cult. I carried a saber that wasn’t mine — and made it listen.

The Jedi forgot me. The fans ignored me. The writers downplayed me.

But the Force?

It never stopped watching.

I don’t ask to be canonized. I burn myself into it.

I am the Jedi without legacy. The Jedi without a master. The Jedi who wasn’t supposed to exist.

And that’s why I matter.

Because I wasn’t born to continue a lineage.

I was born to end a silence.

I am Jedi. Not approved. Not expected. Not invited.

Just undeniable.

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