#I’m not even someone who knows rebels and the clone wars

[writingwife-83]

Ok episode 5 was honestly really cool

[gffa]

Hi Lumi. This year I’ve watched The Clone Wars, Rebels, Mandalorian, Book of Boba Fett, and Tales of the Jedi and I’m watching Ahsoka as episodes are released. But I feel like I’m missing some context as to why people are wary of Filoni. What things should I know so I’m caught up, so to speak, in the fandom discussions?

Hi! That's a lot of Star Wars to watch in a year, I hope you're having fun with it all! And I will gently remind everyone that Filoni is not the be-all-end-all of Star Wars creators--Henry Gilroy was there for TCW and Rebels, too. George Lucas was holding writers' meetings years after the show started (at least into 2010!). The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett are far more Jon Favreau's shows. The Bad Batch is Brad Rau and Jennifer Corbett. Resistance was developed by him, but was run by other producers. It's just that Filoni tends to get the most camera time and has become the face of Star Wars creators. That said, the issue with Filoni is kind of two-pronged, though, they overlap. 1. He's done a lot of interviews where he's said a lot of anti-Jedi things that have drifted from reasonable critiques in the beginning to eventually "Qui-Gon Jinn was the only true Jedi. [blatantly wrong citations]" This has put a lot of people off him as a creator, because we love the Jedi Order that Lucas talks about and established, which Filoni has actively contradicted over the years, despite being promoted as someone who follows Lucas' themes. And it's hard not to be aware of his interviews when watching his shows and it's hard to enjoy shows that do your faves dirty, you know? 2. His writing has become weaker over the years for a lot of us--Rebels is a show most of us love and found to be incredible. Many of us really love The Clone Wars, which he was heavily involved in/was probably the central voice after Lucas started phasing out. But his biggest story told over the course of those series--basically, the story of Mandalore's history and fall to the Empire--has been extremely thin for a lot of us. And a lot of us get frustrated at his inability to be objective when it comes to Ahsoka's character, that we love her as a character very much, but it hasn't felt like Filoni really knows what to do with her character arc and yet almost everything he writes is centered around her. His final season of The Clone Wars? Gave her the walkabout arc and the Siege of Mandalore arc, both of which often did not hold up well under scrutiny. His episode of The Book of Boba Fett? I actually really loved it, but it absolutely just stopped the pacing of that show to focus a lot on her. More on Luke, but he couldn't resist putting her in there, either. Tales of the Jedi was half devoted to Ahsoka and so much of it wasn't even about her time as a Jedi! We're frustrated because he doesn't set things up well anymore--Morgan Elsbeth is a Nightsister?? Why wasn't that established in The Mandalorian instead of pulling out randomly in Ahsoka? Why does Sabine Wren suddenly so badly want Jedi training, when they barely even had a conversation in Rebels?? There's a lot of good that Filoni has given to Star Wars, I think he genuinely cares about the Force and what it means--he's very consistent on how it's not easy and how it takes discipline and control, that he has been consistent on how anger and fear are paths to the dark side, even his episode of TBOBF had Ahsoka saying, yeah, attachment is a path to the dark side, because the Jedi mean "attachment" in a more Buddhist-aligned way. A lot of his writing for the character of Ahsoka is actually pretty good, like I've been enjoying her being a prickly, traumatized hot mess in the show! It's just that I kind of hate all the interviews he gives and I think he's a lot less objective than a lot of fans and media coverage that would hold him up as a perfect writer/interviewee about all things Star Wars, and it all comes together to make him kind of a hot-button topic.

So, a lot of people LOVE Filoni's work, a lot of people are frustrated by it, a lot of people are casually fine about it, a lot of people HATE Filoni's work and it can be a fun mix of any of the above or even other issues that come up. (And that's all fine! I have my views on Filoni's work, but it's fine if others hate it more than I do or love it more than I do, there's room for us all, all of it is valid.)

But I think if you want to understand some of the roots of this corner of fandom's frustration, two (admittedly long as heck) homework assignment reads would be:

- My own rebuttal to Dave's behind the scenes Mandalorian Gallery talk (this is jokingly referred to as "Davegate" because I refused to take it too seriously) - @david-talks-sw's collection of comparisons between Lucas' commentary on the Jedi and Filoni's commentary on the Jedi

This response itself is more focused on laying out the problems a lot of people have with Filoni's writing, but also honestly I still have my giant collection of Jedi source material citations that quotes his commentary, I still bring up Filoni's quotes in current meta a lot, I still talk positively about the things I enjoy from his shows, so overall there's equal amounts of both praise and criticism here. So, as short as I can make it (which isn't very, shut up, I know! XD), that's basically what people mean when they say they're wary of Filoni.

[jedimasterbailey]

WARNING! AHSOKA SHOW RANT DOWN BELOW! SPOILERS!

Furthermore, I’m going to be completely honest in this review so if you’re someone who truly enjoyed the show, you’re a Rebels stan, etc. then this post isn’t for you. Haters will be blocked immediately so take your negative energy elsewhere. You have been warned!

For everyone else, buckle up because I’ve got a lot to say and I’d love to hear your thoughts on this as well. All comments are welcome so long as they are respectful to everyone.

Okay, so now that the show is done for now. I’m going to be listing some major talking points. We’re there some aspects of the show that I enjoyed/appreciated? Absolutely! But overall, I’m leaving this show very disappointed, confused, and frustrated. The finale left me feeling empty and never have I personally been more silent after a Star Wars show. Now mind you I think this has a lot to do with the fact that I love Ahsoka’s character dearly as well as the Clone Wars and the prequels so there is bias here. Furthermore I am pretty indifferent with Rebels so going in knowing that the Ahsoka show wasn’t going to be…well about Ahsoka but rather a Rebels sequel, that already put a bad taste in my mouth and I was very nervous how this show was going to go and well…it was exactly what I expected from a Filoni/cheap Disney production. Without further ado, here’s a list of all my beef.

1.) Lack of a Coherent and Cohesive Story

So I’ve mentioned this in a previous post, but my main issue with Dave Feloni productions is that the story seems to be going all over the place and there’s a lot of moving parts that don’t necessarily meld well together. I often think to myself that Ahsoka is an example of a poorly written fanfiction brought to the screen. So the plot of the show initally was focused on Ahsoka bringing Ezra home. Okay, that’s simple, there’s many different ways we can make that cool and interesting but that’s not what happened here. We’re just filled with a ton of confusing information and we’re in for a very boring journey heading for a very anticlimactic and unsatisfying ending.

For starters, we the audience are informed that Ahsoka and Sabine had started an apprenticeship (which I have ALOT of issues with but that’s for another talking point) but they got into a tiff (which we never find out about and/or see) and now things are just depressing and weird between them. First of all, anyone who has seen Rebels KNOWS that Ahsoka and Sabine literally had very little to do with each other; I can’t recall a single conversation those two have had in the past, nor was it ever eluded to us that Sabine is Force sensitive.

Second we see that Hera and Sabine don’t have anything to do with each other for some reason? Which is weird considering all that’s happened and their history but okay suddenly Sabine, a grown ass 30+ year old woman is Ahsoka’s responsibility, which again why? We don’t get any background information, we’re just expected to accept and go with it.

Third, Ahsoka and Hyuang are reunited and working together immediately but again do we know how that became to be? No. We see none of that.

Fourth we are told that Morgan Elsbeth, a one off antagonist from the Mandalorian that Ahsoka fought is suddenly a Dathormirian woman even though she looks nothing like one besides her outfits in the show nor was that eluded to previously.

Fifth, we are introduced to these two new…I don’t even know what to call them “dark siders” “non Jedi” Shin and Baylan (who is apparently a former Jedi from the Clone Wars but did we see that or see how he knew Ahsoka and Anakin? No.) but we aren’t given any reason to care about them other than they’re in Ahsoka’s way of completing her mission. They end up being more like time fillers that anything else and end up walking away from the big conclusion. Like…why are they even in this show and why should we care?

Perhaps Dave Feloni has this big grand story in his mind but he’s so far up his own ass that none of us get to see this story. It’s like seeing a little kid play with their action figures and they’re super passionate about it but as a outsider you have no idea what’s going on. Now this isn’t good not only for the sake of good storytelling but it’s bad for business too.

Disney wants to make as much money off of Star Wars as they can. That’s extremely obvious. However here you have a show that isn’t going to pull in a casual Star Wars viewers (they would have to watch so much content to catch up on whose who and what is going on) nor is it really going to pull in fans of Clone Wars and Rebels because while they overlap, the fandoms are different and Feloni hasn’t done a good job melding those worlds together thus the divisive opinions on this show. This leaves for an incredibly small niche of people and honestly I think whatever toy sells they make from this show will do better than the actual ratings. I would be shocked if they greenlit for another season because I’m pretty done with this story as is many of the people who would be willing to watch.

All in all this is embarrassing how Feloni and the gang with all the money and resources can’t pull off a simple and epic show when there are thousands of unpaid fanfic writers that could pull off a much better story and build these beloved up characters, which leads into my next point.

2. The Characterizations of Ahsoka, Sabine, and Hera Are Bad

Now I have mentioned previously how much I love Ahsoka but damn it upon watching this show, she may as well be dead. Ahsoka has been given the Luke Skywalker treatment in that Ahsoka has been stripped of everything that made her lovable in Clone Wars and Rebels and is left as a sorry shell of who she once was. Her dialouge is hollow and lifeless not like the lively Ashley counterpart that made us all love Ahsoka in the first place. And no don’t give this “well she’s older now” bullshti excuse because Obi Wan Kenobi never lost his cheekiness and charisma as an old man, neither did Yoda, or Leia, etc. Just because you age doesn’t mean you have to be lifeless. Maturity does not equate to emotionless. Secondly for a woman whose well into her fifties and still acts very much like a Jedi Ahsoka’s views on the Jedi and their philosophy seem very warped and the audience is again left confused as to where she stands on the Jedi. I mentioned in a previous post how I couldn’t stand Ahsoka’s negativity towards the Jedi and how nobody seems to matter but Anakin (even though he’s put her through a ton of trauma and has tried to kill her as Vader) because it’s just so distasteful to the people who raised her and loved her that died by genocide no thanks to Anakin. Ahsoka has zero character development other than she seems to forgive Anakin for his wrongdoings despite the nonexistent apology. For a show that has her name on it, she sure is boring. Makes me miss Ashley and old Ahsoka even more.

As for Sabine I probably could write a whole thesis on how unlikeable she is but I’ll keep it short. One, I find it sick on Feloni’s part that he’s having a grown 30+ year old woman act like a teenager and be snarky with just about everyone. Ezra, who annoyed me immensely in Rebels, was WAY more mature and grounded. And again I’m sick and tired of the Mandalorian excuse of you getting to be an asshole because youre Mandalorian. Shut up. No one is above manners and decency. Sabine’s actions in this show have been far from Jedi like and thanks to her immaturity, she left Ahsoka for dead once and is indirectly responsible for the death of New Republic officers who were trying to stop this very dangerous mission that could possibly bring Thrawn and the Empire back ensuing more death and destruction of innocents. Ahsoka deserves to be angry with her for her words and actions, but of course Sabine gets a free pass and her bad behavior will continue to be enabled.

As for Hera…when did she become such a Karen? Just because you’re an officer doesn’t mean you get to abuse your power for your own personal agenda. That Senator was right about her. Finding Thrawn is a threat to the galaxy and using resources and putting lives at risk for it is a big deal. Hera was depicted as honorable and responsible in the Rebels series and I swear I was watching a different person on screen. Also she is a major Sabine enabler and that needs to stop. Sabine is grown and needs to grow up and fix her attitude.

3.) Anakin’s Role In the Show

Now don’t get me wrong, I love Hayden and I love Anakin, I have the dude tattooed on me for Force sake so don’t come at me for that, but I had some issues on how his character was used here. First, I’m tired of Ahsoka’s relevance to Anakin being the only defining trait about her. Second, I’m continuously annoyed by Anakin’s lack of accountability in these shows; he never once apologizes to Ahsoka for all that’s happened, he never once’s has a meaningful conversation with her; he just basically beats her down until she finally lets go of her past. Did I love the Clone Wars flashbacks! YES! They were my favorite part of the entire show and I want MORE of that; but I so wish Anakin could have been reflecting on his own actions with Ahsoka instead of being like “Is ThAt WhAt ThIs Is AbOuT?” Like come on 🙄

4.) Ahsoka’s “It’s Time To Move On” Line

Are you kidding me Ahsoka? There is still so much more to unpack with her past such as all the other relationships she’s had that completely changed her trajectory like BARRISS and REX and she could also be a mentor figure to Luke and Leia, etc. But nope the only thing that matters is getting over Anakin and all is well despite being stranded in another galaxy and Thrawn being unleashed back home. Like THIS IS NOT OKAY!

5.) The Cheap Ass Production of this Show

I’m not normally one to comment on production but it was so obvious in this show how many corners were cut. For one characters like Thrawn look god awful. Dude looking like a blue Elon Musk instead of an intimidating villain. The use of fog and the volume were very obvious and the places we went to were so boring minus the red leaves forest. The worlds of Star Wars used to be so cool and otherworldly but that’s not the case nowadays and it’s sad. Also why does Force ghost Anakin look better in the 2000’s than it does now? I prefer quality over quantity so I really wish Disney would quit churning out these cheaply made productions and have the audacity to rise their Disney plus subscriptions and not pay their people well.

6.) THE RACISM

I’m so fucking tired of this y’all! 🤬 of course make the Jewish actor in the shipyard be greedy and power hungry. Of course make the Asian Senator the asshole and not any of the white protagonists. The antisemitism and racism against POC is unacceptable to me and it should be unacceptable to you too.

Conclusion

I’m sure I’m missing some talking points but these are my biggest grips and as an Ahsoka fan I’m disappointed. Being a miserable Jedi not Jedi responsible for bringing a new evil into the galaxy but being content being stranded in another galaxy is not the future I believe Ahsoka deserves and I sincerely hope they don’t continue this story. It’s just bad all around. Except for the Loth cats… the Loth cats can stay. And Clone Wars flashbacks.

[heyclickadee]

Because I have a tendency to get stuck in art blocks and s t r u g g l e badly with composition, and because I think The Bad Batch is a beautifully shot show, I’ve started doing rough grayscale studies of bad batch to unpack how line and value can be used to direct a viewer’s eye to where people want the audience to look. (I’m doing it with other movies and shows, but I do really like TBB, so….) That way, if I’m sitting in a period where I can’t draw, then maybe I can at least learn something. It’s not fan art, it’s just trying to break the composition down and make it make sense to me, but I think it’s interesting so I figured I’d throw them all here.

So! Potentially very boring things under the cut:

The thing that started this off was getting sent a gifset of the scene in “The Return” where Wrecker gives Crosshair his armor back. It’s a great scene, and one of the things that allows for the show to pull that moment off is the way that most everything in many of the shots is designed to draw the viewer’s attention to Crosshair’s face so that we’re paying attention to his reaction. For example:

It’s not a very high contrast shot, but if we block out the basics, most of the lines in the scene are directing us towards Crosshair. Both Wrecker and Omega make movements towards him in this shot, and then this movement is sort of carried over to Crosshair via the various lines in the background/Wrecker’s arm/even the crate. Additionally, our eyes tend to be drawn towards points of highest contract, which, in this shot, include the lamps in the far background against the pillars (forming a line from Wrecker to Crosshair) and the light hitting Crosshair’s face against the much darker background. Between all of this most people in the audience are going to end up automatically looking right at Crosshair who is, of course, the main person we’re supposed to paying attention to here.

This isn’t actually a full frame. I sort of grabbed a screenshot over the interwebs for this one, but The Bad Batch actually has a very wide aspect ratio. From what I understand it’s shot and aired in a CinemaScope ratio (2:39:1 or 2:35:1, though TBB is 2:39:1). It’s basically super ultra widescreen, an aspect ratio used when a filmmaker wants to make something feel more epic or cinematic, and as far as I know it’s the same aspect ratio used for the original trilogy before any cropping happened. (For reference, The Clone Wars was also shot in a CinemaScope ratio, 2:35:1, but was cropped to 16:9 for airing on Cartoon Network, and Rebels was shot and aired in 1:78/more or less 16:9.) So an uncropped screenshot of TBB would look more like this:

This is from “The Outpost.” It’s actually a fairly dark shot with Crosshair faced away from the camera and the value of his figure blending right into the rest of the foreground, which actually comes communicate a sense of someone who isn’t trying to draw attention to themselves (to me, anyway), but our eyes are drawn to Crosshair anyway by every major line in the shot as well as the highest point of contrast converging right over Crosshair’s shoulder. That, and the line of his rifle/shoulder and the support pole forming a big, well, cross-hair right in that same spot. Otherwise, he would blend right into the foreground and be easier to miss.

Unlike Hunter in this shot from “Plan 99”

Where basically you’ve got the exact same thing happening, every line in the shot converges on Hunter’s location, but instead of using just high contrast to draw our attention, we’ve got a fairly middle-gray scene with our eyes being drawn to the focal point by having one bright spotlight.

The orange cross mark I’ve drawn here is just to mark the center of the frame, which I wanted to point out since, at least as far as I’ve noticed, TBB has a tendency to save center and slightly off-center shots for really specific moments. I’d have to check on that and what the pattern is, though, since a few of the remaining shots in this post are center shot. (Filmmakers area generally taught shoot in thirds or, alternatively, on a phi grid or other away from center set of focal points, though you do get some center shot movies and shows. I think Raiders of the Lost Arc has a lot of center shots.)

In fact, a pretty good example of shooting in thirds (or on a phi grid—I laid it out and I think it fits the phi grid slightly better) is this shot from “Faster”

Where you’ve got Tech and Tay-0 placed on slightly close thirds on either side of the frame. If we’re just looking at line and value, with this shot we actually get this sort of interesting back and forth between where our eye is being drawn. A lot of the lines in the shot are directing us to look at Tech, but then you’ve got one of the lines going through, and the sweep of Tech’s arm and datapad pointing towards, Tay-0, whose face and body are outlined with a much higher contrast in value. And then we have that one very bold arc connecting the two. The result of this is that our eyes sort of bounce back and forth between these two characters as they get into their conversation.

Most of these shots have had just one or two (at most three) characters, and there are many scenes of TBB with everyone where our gaze is sort of directed to the group collectively, but sometimes you’ll have group scene where our attention is directed more towards one individual than others, like with this shot from “Battle Scars”

Once again, you’ve got most of the lines in the shot converging towards Rex as well as Rex’s person serving as the point of highest contrast while everyone else sort of melds into the background in terms of value. He’s also the first (and maybe only) figure who breaks fully above objects in the background to be shot directly against the sky. Line and value aren’t the only things directing the audience’s gaze towards Rex in this shot—there’s actually a lot of desaturation happening as we move from Rex, to the other characters, to the far background that helps as well, buuuuut this is a grayscale breakdown so that unfortunately doesn’t show up...here. (This is a center shot scene if we’re going horizontally, but Rex’s head, which is really the focal point, is right around the top third of the frame; it’s not exactly a low angle shot, but we are still looking up at him.)

Anyway, the reason any of this is important is because when you’re shooting with an incredibly wide aspect ratio like this, there’s a LOT of information being conveyed with every frame. You can fit a lot of stuff on screen at once. And while people generally going to rewatch and pay attention to background details (if nothing else, TBB is a goldmine for those background details), you do want to draw your audience’s attention to the most important parts of the frame—especially when an individual shot typically lasts only a few seconds. Or less. Like with this:

So this shot from "Faster" is up for less than a second before the camera turns to follow the speeders and then changes to another shot, and I had a devil of a time even getting screengrab of it. (Mostly because I was trying to grab it on my phone, but that's not really the point.) In less than a second the people making this have to communicate where Tech's speeder is, what's happening, what we're even looking at, while the objects in the scene are all moving incredibly fast. .

So, to communicate that, you've got multiple speeders moving in the shot, but only one (Tech's) standing out in terms of value against a fairly dark ceiling, as well as a combination of some real direct one-point linear perspective and the more or less arrow shape of the ramp pointing directly at the point Tech's speeder is going to be when it reaches the peak of its crest over the ramp. That way we're already looking at where Tech is going to be before he gets there and end up following his speeder as he zooms by.

[momojedi]

— OMEGA

topic. hunter x gn! jedi! reader

**

type. loss, pt 5 note. it’s back baby. hi, hello, I’ve been super busy lately. I started my graduation year in september and I’ve been so busy since, it’s crazy :’) I’m trying to save some time out of school for writing and art so I can bring back this blog for you all! warnings. tantiss, creepy hemlock? laboratory, panicking tag list: @ooostarwarsfandom501st @shadow-rebel-223

star wars masterlist/loss masterlist || pinned post

The air is tense as we march down the endless, sterile corridors of Tantiss, the commander's blaster barrel digging into my back threateningly while troopers and scientists scurry past us in a rush. Confused, I raise a brow. It's only when my focus drifts away from my steps and my gaze is following another hurrying doctor that I bump into someone, shoulder hitting another shoulder and a hiss erupts from the very person in front of me. "Sorry!" I immediately turn to look at them when I'm met with a deadly pair of brown eyes.

Clone eyes are nothing I'm unfamiliar with. Over the course of the Clone Wars I worked with more republic troopers than I could probably count. Time and time again have I interacted with those very brown eyes, laughed with them, cried with them and sometimes even watched the light drift from them as they slipped into a final slumber. Still, the eyes I'm pierced by now are different. They're far sharper yet exhausted, too, as if they'd seen things, very bad things. I scan the stranger's face. He looks nothing like a clone; taller, slimmer and with edgier features, yet the eyes give it away. A fine crosshair covers the side of his face.

"Watch your step." He snarls at me in a rough tone before being shoved forward by the prisoner behind him. I barely have time to register what just happened when the commander drives the blaster into my back, pushing me to move further myself.

I remain silent for a bit, stumbling forward while lingering on the strange clone internally. He seemed so ... familiar. But my mind is quickly cleared when, suddenly, the static of a comm makes my ears perk up. The commander grips my arm, making me still.

"The guests will arrive shortly, sir," a voice chirps from the other side of the line. Then I'm shoved again. "Hurry," the commando barks behind me, "we can't be late." Digging my nails into my palms and trying my best to swallow my already battered pride, I stumble ahead.

Eventually, we halt in front of a doorway. The commando types a code into the terminal and the path ahead opens, leading into a large laboratory. The air smells sterile and sharp, likely influenced by various chemical reactions and a distant beep erupts from a monitoring system behind us, far enough to seem insignificant, yet loud enough to be irritating. But that’s nothing compared to the sight in front of me that leaves me wrinkling my nose in disgust.

Dr. Karr and Hemlock stand together, deep in conversation as we approach. Hemlock looks up with a smile, and there’s a glint in his cold eyes that unsettles me, as if they see right through me. “Ah, Commander,” he addresses the trooper, assessing me while clasping his hands behind his back. “Thank you for your attendance.” I scoff. “Didn’t exactly have the choice.” At that, Hemlock chuckles dryly. “Well, Dr. Karr, they’re all yours now.” His voice is low as he speaks to her, but his gaze never leaves me. My stomach tightens, but I refuse to look away. Whether it’s an act of defiance or fear, I don’t know, but I don’t really have time to think about it anyway when I hear Dr Karr’s voice pipe up.

“Omega,” she calls flatly, and the familiar face of the little girl who had once brought me comfort appears beside her. Suddenly, as soon as the name reaches my ears, the sight of her makes my blood run cold. Memories crash into me—Hunter and his brothers, Tech’s quiet stories of their lost sister, and the night that tore me from them forever. My eyes widen, locking onto Omega. It takes every ounce of control not to start hyperventilating. My pulse races, my breath shallow, and in my head; one word repeats. Omega.

Lost in shock, I barely register the shackles loosening around my wrists. Hemlock’s smug voice drifts through the haze, but I can hardly focus. “You’ll have to excuse me,” he hums, his tone dripping with false courtesy. “I have important business to attend to. Though I trust you’re in good hands?” His question is more a statement, leaving no room for defiance. Dr. Karr nods. “Yes, sir.” He smiles, that infuriating, condescending smile. “Wonderful.” And just like that, he’s gone, the commando trailing after him.

I watch them leave, feeling utterly paralyzed, drowning in the chaos of my thoughts. What now? What am I supposed to do with all this… this truth that stands right in front of me? The weight of it presses down on me, so heavy I can barely breathe. Hunter’s desperation and sleepless nights looking for clues, Tech and Echo’s constant connections, Wrecker’s ongoing nightmares. Everything we’ve been searching for—every answer we’ve bled for—is here. But now that it’s staring me in the face, I don’t know how to handle it.

“Uhm, are you coming?”

The sound of her voice snaps me out of my daze. I spin around to find Omega watching me, hesitant, unsure. She seems smaller now, more fragile than the image I’d built up in my mind. I run my tongue over my cracked lips, trying to form words, but the world feels too overwhelming to speak. All I can do is stare, frozen in place, lost in the enormity of it all.

So I just nodded and followed quietly.

[tangents-within-tangents]

Aspec ✨Icons✨ part 1: Captain Rex (Clone Wars)

(overthought disclaimers: X O)

Listen

Captain Rex is an Aroace KING! (pun intended, he deserves it)

I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who's gotten this vibe, but I wanna talk about why because I think it's actually really cool

For me this comes mainly from Clone Wars S2E10 'The Deserter' in which Cut is all “I know you’re jealous of my family” and Rex is like “Well maybe the 501st IS my family! And screw your amatonormative standards, maybe my life as a soldier IS meaningful to me!”

Cut: I’ve seen how you look at my family, our home. Come on Rex, admit it! You’ve thought about what your life could look like if you were to also leave the army. Choose the life you want. Rex: What if I am choosing the life I want? What if I’m staying in the army because it’s meaningful to me? Cut: And how is it meaningful? Rex: Because I’m part of the most pivotal moment in the history of the Republic. If we fail then our children, and their children could be forced to live under an evil I can’t well imagine. Cut: If you were to have children. Of course, but that would be against the rules wouldn't it? Isn’t that what someone programmed you to believe, Captain? Rex: No Cut, it’s simply what I believe. Doesn’t matter if it’s my children or other people’s children.

(I think this bit is especially cool because it specifically shows that Rex's morals and heroism are not dependent on having kids of his own, he is still altruistic and recognizes the importance of protecting the future (he's def got Hunter beat there, not like it's hard tho lol))

Rex: I’ve been in countless battles, and lost many brothers. They were my family. My home.

(okay just break my heart why don't ya)

Cut: You’re welcome to stay, Rex. Rex: This is your home, Cut. My family is elsewhere.

And then he also seems to be the only clone who skipped the Mandalorian dad instincts gene. Like just look at his reaction to kids (it's hilarious) :

(bc the clone dad instincts totally apply to droids too and he was not having it!)

And of course, there's how painfully awkward he is when he’s in the remote proximity of romantic shenanigans:

Poor guy lol. It's always hard being the only "sober one at the party"

Read: "You can call your secret wife later, sir, my brother is in danger"

(Also he literally matches the flag! Case closed)

A common misconception we aspecs face is that we are inherently selfish or unfeeling, especially those aroaces who choose not to have traditional families and whatnot. But the ability to feel romantic/sexual attraction, or the desire to act on it has nothing to do with any of that. We still have connections, I might even argue that we value our familial and platonic connections more than others (edit: for those who aren't also aplatonic or afamilial that is, of course). And I just think that's reflected so wonderfully in Rex. He's such a good person, he fights for what he believes in. The love and care is so evident, he is the number one best big brother, and there is so much focus on his friendship with Ahsoka.

Ahsoka: The Republic couldn’t have asked for better soldiers, nor I a better friend.

Just the fact that they have such a close bond and it is given so much attention (esp in the finale), without any sort of romance involved is really sweet and honestly amazing

And we see in Rebels that that is a lifelong connection

Ahsoka: Thank you, for trusting my friend

Wow wow wow look at all the love, emotional depth, and compelling storytelling (other heartbreaking scenes not pictured bc ahhh) we can achieve with non-romantic relationships hmm...

(sticker should be up soon :)

[coffeeandbatboys]

Congrats love! That's amazing.

Okay how about 7, Mayday, and 🥰

Merci buckets.

Love oo

Prompt: Writing little notes on post-its and leaving them in random places to read.

This one turned angsty but I promised that all of these would have a happy ending so obvs had to fix it.

Warnings: presumed death. Angst. ending.

Fate (Mayday x Reader)

The morning before Mayday shipped out was spent on bitter tears and desperate kisses. He promised that when the war was over he'd make up for all of the time you lost.

It had been hard, adjusting to the lack of company.

You'd periodically find a love note scribbled on colorful flimsi somewhere in your speeder or around the apartment. They brought you more joy than he'd ever know.

He had left you with no doubt about his love, and anticipating the next time you'd see him.

But weeks turned into months.

Months turned into a year.

The republic fell, replaced by an even more corrupt empire. A lieutenant had told you that most of the troopers on Barton IV were killed in action.

So you rebelled. For four months you did everything that the Empire stood against, and they made sure you were punished for every last insignificant crime.

They were banishing you to one of the infamous ‘hellhole planets’

You were dropped miles from the base with half a ration bar and a torn up coat. Trekking through the snow and the ice, you thought that maybe just dying was a good idea. You had fallen too many times to count, and it was becoming hard to get back up when you felt like your muscles were being stabbed by a million icicles. But a voice called to you. Someone across the frozen ground was running in your direction.

Standing on shaky legs you raised a hand to your eyes to get a better look at who it was.

You recognized clone armor and began to trudge through the snow once more.

When the trooper reached you, you had fallen again. He dropped to his knees and removed his bucket. You looked into his eyes and hope swelled in your chest.

He kissed you with the same passion as the last ones you’d shared all that time ago.

“M..mm..may..ay..d..d..ay?” You gasped through chattering teeth, blinking through the snow on your lashes. His forehead rested against yours.

“It’s me, Mesh’la,” his voice broke. “Come on, let’s get you out of here.”

He held you in his arms and helped you all the way back to the base.

You cried and held onto him for hours, praying to whoever that it wasn’t a dream. He was so different from the last time you’d seen him, but he was still your Mayday.

“I read your notes,” you hiccuped, tears freezing on your cheeks. “The imperials told me that you were dead…”

He tightened his grip on you and his beard tickled your neck. “No, no, cyare. I’m right here. I’m okay. Maker, I’m so glad you’re alive.”

You swallowed thickly. “Me too.”

You gave him the best kiss you could with how cold it was. As soon as his lips met yours, it was like something inside you exploded and it was no longer cold anymore. He nudged your nose with his.

“I missed you, Mesh’la.”

You scoffed. “You have no idea, Mayday.”

His expression turned playful. “Perhaps you should show me, then.”

[tarisilmarwen]

Rebels Rewatch: “Siege of Lothal”

In which Vader is an absolute beast and we shift off-base from Lothal for (semi-permanent) good.

A brief note on the nature of serial escalation.

Oftentimes in a series, especially one based around extrapersonal conflict with multiple arcs, what will happen is that your initial antagonist will be something or someone relatively small or simple to handle, and as your characters grow and get stronger the threats will get bigger and bigger.

Now, there is a point at which the villain can grow to be TOO big, and there’s no way for the heroes to defeat them or nowhere bigger for them to go from there.

You also don’t want to throw your strongest antagonist at the heroes at the very beginning, or risk everything else looking anticlimactic by comparison.  This could have been a risk in Season Two, as Vader is quite a significant step up from Imperial officers, Agent Kallus, and the Grand Inquisitor.  Fortunately Rebels makes the wise decision to keep Vader in reserve most of the season, only really bringing him out for the two most significant narrative points in the story (the opener and the finale), and relegating mundane antagonist duties to our new Inquisitor duo.  In this way, the narrative keeps our heroes busy but not overwhelmed, leaving more breathing room in the story for individual characters to get plenty of focus and development.

And on that note, let’s dive in.

We open In Media Res with an action prologue that quickly informs us of the new Status Quo and allows us a moment to settle into it.  The Ghost is no longer flying alone, but alongside a half-dozen other Rebel ships, who work in perfect coordination and tandem with our team.

The dialogue is comfortably casual.  The music is generically exhilarating.  Kanan and Hera tease each other.  Zeb topples off a railing.  Ezra gets heart eyes about Sabine being amazing.

The Spectres are now a part of the wider Rebellion and things are looking up.  They’re looking good.

Which of course means it’s time to ruin things for them. XD

In the Imperial Dome, Kallus and Tua snipe at each other about the problems they’re facing and even in the frustrated dialogue she gives, it’s obvious Tua isn’t entirely enthusiastic about punishing her own people for the actions of the Spectres, only listing out things like patrols and checkpoints and curfews.  While definitely authoritarian given the Empire, these are relatively light restrictions.

Which Vader points out as he enters.

It’s obvious in hindsight that Vader’s immediately sussed her out as more sympathetic to the Rebels than she lets on.  (Consider how she claimed there was nothing more she could do yet the minute her life was in danger immediately knew to beeline for Jho because he had contact with the Spectres and has a ready list of Rebel sympathizers to barter with who she hasn’t had arrested.)

It’s insidiously clever, how Vader uses her to set a trap.  But poor Tua.

:(

She was just a frightened normie in the end.

Hi Sato!  You are criminally underrated as a character and I love you.

I love how you can already tell Kanan isn’t comfortable with this from his sulking posture back there.

Catch me sobbing about how Ezra’s so intimately empathic and connected to Lothal that he can sense Tua’s genuine intentions from a holotransmission.

Tua dropping hints that she knows about the “true reason” the Empire came to Lothal and once again I’m marveling and wondering at just how far back the whole World Between Worlds reveal might have been planned.

This whole scene between Kanan and Hera is fraught with tension.  (And not just the romantic kind.)

Seriously, show me a more intimate setup and blocking.

Kanan’s dialogue and agitated tone and body language betrays his apprehensions.  He’s afraid to join another military organization, to be around reminders of the Clone Wars, to be drawn back into that environment.  It’s one of the first hints we get about his PTSD regarding the Clone Wars, and I love that Ezra overhears.

I think it’s hilarious how the Spectres take a Star Commuter 2000 shuttle like it’s just a day trip to Lothal from Garel like last time, lol.

Aaaaah Ezra showing off his character development and how selfless he’s grown!  I’m so proud of him.

Also he can sense Vader from atmosphere.

I haven’t commented about the music much but I like the way the strings drag across the notes here to create some quality tension.

Kallus is such a smug snake here, it’s amazing that I like him.

I think I hear a very brief snippet of the “Shenanigans” leitmotif in very serious trumpet.

Man.  What a way to go.  RIP Tua.  :(

Vader overwatching lets us know this exactly according to plan.  He is scarily competent in these episodes.

Subtle animation appreciation moment: The way the blaster bolts spark as they pop off the side of the shuttle.

A snippet of Ezra’s theme here, as we find our heroes hiding in his old house.

Ezra holding his old cadet helmet. :(((((

There’s a somber kind of finality when the troopers set fire to the house.  This whole season premiere has an overall sense of, “You can’t go home anymore.” and nothing emphasizes it more than the Empire torching places we know and have been (Ezra’s home, Tarkintown, etc.).

His face. :((((

Rebels bucks the Status Quo so hard it’s painful.

“I wish that worked for me.”  “I wish it worked on you.”  Lol.

"Have you smelled me?” Love this subtle joking callback to Ezra complaining about how Zeb smells. <3

All these typical light-hearted bits and moments only contrast harder against Vader’s later deadly serious entrance.  It’s quite effective, actually.

This sequence is one of my personal No Context Signature Scenes, I love it so much.

This slow small pan away from Kanan et. all as they exit frame, hinting that something’s behind.  How Kanan stops in his tracks, eyes widening with fear and alarm.

How Ezra stops too and you can practically see the goosebumps raising on his arms, feel the deadly cold they’re feeling.

CUE THE MOST ICONIC BREATHING IN CINEMA HISTORY.

Yeah, I’d be terrified too.

The Imperial March cuts out right before the TO BE CONTINUED titlecard and if you weren’t screaming before, you certainly were now, lol.

Ezra looks so terrified, look at the way he’s shrinking into his shoulders here.

Vader barely expends any effort in this fight, blocking one-handed, effortlessly flinging Kanan and Ezra across the landing pad, which reinforces how seriously outclassed they and the Spectres are.

You do not win a fight against Vader.  You do not even survive a fight against Vader.  If you survive an encounter with Vader it’s because he let you.

This moment where Vader almost forces Ezra to cut off his own head with his own lightsaber is particularly dark and terrifying ggkjghdsk.

Twice in this fight the importance of armor is proven.  Kanan catches a glance of Vader’s saber on his shoulder pauldron and Sabine gets a blaster bolt reflected into her freaking breastplate AND helmet.

WELL THAT ISN’T THE MOST HELLISH THING I’VE EVER SEEN.

The Imperial March is a constant in this scene, not surprising, given that it’s technically Vader’s leitmotif.  It fades out as we check up on our heroes and this is such an effective scene.

Everyone is visibly rattled by the encounter, and the voice acting perfectly conveys how shaken and frightened they are.  Something I do have to give the Disney era of Lucasfilm props for is remembering that Vader is a freaking terrifying villain, practically a walking Eldritch Abomination in the eyes of normal denizens of the galaxy.  So this scene helps convey that.

Lol Kanan and Ezra immediately objecting to calling Lando for help.

“The compassion of the Rebels is a weakness.  One we will exploit.”

*sobs in Rebellion Era Jedi feels*

“Jedi cannot help what they are.  Their compassion leaves a trail.”

No I’m never going to be over that line, sue me.

Proof that even “filler” episodes on this show come back and have relevance, the crew make a deal with Lando for help to get them offworld. :)

We even visit his farm again. :)

Also I love this southern-accented droid, he’s so polite.

There’s a unique flute cue here that I really like.  Also, the “Shenanigans” theme has been slowed down, tempo-altered, minor keyed and just put through the gamut of musical variation this episode, wrung out until it’s almost unrecognizable.

This smoke effect is gorgeous, almost painted in texture.

This conversation between Kanan and Ezra about the cost of their actions is fascinating in what it reveals, especially towards the end.  Kanan sees reflections of his battle-eager younger self in Ezra, still fired up and passionate about the fight, not yet truly damaged by his experiences.

That wouldn’t truly cement in Ezra until the finale, but we’ll get to that later.

RIGHT, ANYONE STILL COMPLAINING ABOUT REBELS’ ANIMATION OWES ME MONEY FOR HOW PRETTY THE CLOUDS ALWAYS LOOKS.

There are in fact a lot more Star Destroyers guarding Lothal this time, we see three up in orbit and I know we saw at least three others in airspace above Capitol City.

I... think they reused Sato’s voice actor for one of these Imperial technicians here.

I love this quiet scene right here.  Kanan’s still got massive misgivings about being involved with the wider Rebellion, but he’s overruled by the others, by Ezra’s sense of obligation to get stronger for the sake of his people.  (This would later play into his Dark Side temptations in Season Three, Ezra has always viewed power as a means to protect, to preserve, to cling to.)

The shuttle seems to have been tracked with a more mundane method this time, a transmitter that activates upon reentry from hyperspace.

Another brilliant ploy from Vader.  Told you, he’s scarily competent in this.

A modified Endor space battle cue plays in the background here.  The notes are ever-so-slightly soured, off-tune.

Would like to point out, just to emphasize, Vader nearly takes out the entire Phoenix cell on his own here.

Ahsoka’s presence has been mostly downplayed until now but the narrative subtly brings her into prominence by having her board the Ghost for the fight.

“All right kids, do Mom and Dad proud.” <33333

The Found Family vibes always get to me.

Underrated awesome Kanan moment: Boosting and assisting Ahsoka’s Force Scan of Vader.

God, that sliiiight turn of Vader’s head as he senses Ahsoka back just gets to me.  This whole sequence, Ezra talking about the cold, about the fear, anger, and hate he senses, Ahsoka’s eyes snapping open in horror, “The apprentice lives.” I HAVEN’T EVEN WATCHED ALL OF CLONE WARS OR PARTICULARLY CARE THAT MUCH ABOUT THIS RELATIONSHIP AND I STILL CATCH THE FEELS.

Vader being single-mindedly focused on the Ghost now that he knows Ahsoka’s aboard... not to Kenobi-show blubber again but, “All he’ll see is me.” Anakin is so obsessed with erasing himself and everyone who knew him it will drive him to obsession uuhhhhggggghh this stupid messy asshole.

Hera outflying motherfreaking Vader because he’s too distracted. <333333

I do like that Rebels kept Ahsoka’s appearances to a minimum too, knowing her mere presence would overshadow the others.  (Same reason the Teen Titans writers never brought in the adult heroes; they had to let their cast stand on their own merits.)

Egads look at the lighting effects in this scene.  Look at those slow-moving patches of light and shadow.

Ahsoka deep in denial about Vader’s identity.

Ezra’s theme ringing out briefly until it dissolves into tense strings.

And the Emperor’s theme comes in along with the first technical appearance of the man in this show, even though we never see him, only hear his voice.

I... kiiiiiiinda prefer Sam Whitwer’s dub of the scene, honestly.  Glad Disney+ still has his version on their site.  (Apparently the Ian McDiarmid redub is only on the Amazon Prime digital downloads, which is kind of asinine, but hey I appreciate not having the retconned version foisted on me.)

Aaaaaand episode end.

This was a rollercoaster of a season premiere, emphasizing that things have definitely changed for our heroes, that what was familiar can no longer be accessed, that we’re now hitched along for the ride with the wider Rebellion and what happens to it.

It’s simple and effective and it lets Vader be absolutely terrifying.  No complaints, really.

Next time, we get even more TCW characters reappearing.

[turboacek-blog]

Fans don’t know what they want: Star Wars edition

Don’t know if I’ll make this a recurring type of post but just something I always think of when watching series that’s been on for a long time from Marvel to Pokémon to Dragon Ball etc

So I finished the live-action Ahsoka show and overall I thought it was pretty solid, the thing was I have the benefit of watching most of Rebels and the Clone Wars so my connection to these characters is different from someone who’s never watched them or not a lot as this series was very much a follow-up of Rebels with the Ahsoka clone wars connection as the connecting aspect

Not going to talk too much about the show as it’s still new as I’m posting this

But one thing I kept seeing online and even since the sequel movies was that the lightsaber fights have been slow and boring etc…

And while I agree in a certain sense that they don’t look as fast as animation or the prequels

The problem is that one of the big complaints of the prequel movies was how they were using lightsabers back then

Like people hated how flashy and speedy they were swinging their lightsabers

And I think that has shaped how they have done Star Wars since episode 7/the sequels aired

The basis of the action standard has been the original trilogy and the closest real-world equivalent in sword fights

Where sword fights aren’t about the flash and the blades are mostly heavy let alone how sharp and deadly they are so when there’s a sword fight it’s not about the clashing etc It’s about if you get one hit it’s over

So ever since I’ve noticed that they treated the lightsabers more like heavier swords vs these lighter laser blades

But now whether it’s from the prequel kids and enjoyers are now more of the vocal majority or the choreography hasn’t been the best but now people are calling out that the modern lightsaber fights have been slow and boring

So fans went from don’t make the fights like the prequels to make the fights more like the prequels hence fans don't know what they want

Even if it's more than preferences and audience changes over time

For myself, I’m mixed

Like I think there’s definitely a balance, as you can say that some moments in the prequels they were spinning that deadly blade super casually, and those extra moves showed some openings making people act like oh there was the kill shot, but also light sabers aren’t swords, like lightsabers have the inherent benefit of having the clashing and being able to swing more casually given their size, cut metal and other things, and let alone using the force as an excuse for the movements

I understand the want or need for realism in products such as Star Wars it helps keep things grounded and believable but there’s also the fantasy aspect that I do think needs to be embraced more as yes the choreography of the lightsabers needs to be seen as swords so we have a concept for what’s going on but you also have to be creative with it in a way that shows a lightsaber isn’t just a glow stick sword

I think in some cases it’s a choreography thing as without spoiling too much Ahsoka herself isn’t as fast in her series compared to her in animation, part of the reason is that she’s older and they even comment on that as she’s like 50 in the show and was like 16 in the clone wars a pretty big difference but it’s also they aren’t choosing to make Ahsoka acrobatic or fast since they want Rosario Dawson to actually be the character they even have a moment showing that Ahsoka was faster when younger, and they have moments that give that sense of speed and such but mostly lightsaber fights are just sword fights now

I think there’s definitely some work around like the light trail effect of the light sabers is practically gone now and I think that added will give a better sense of speed and effect

And if you’re going to choreograph essentially a sword fight then get stunt doubles or whoever to help make it feel faster and more fluid, and have fun with camera direction to get more excitement from the critics that think it's boring

Overall it’s funny to me that people used to hate (some still do) the prequels but in terms of things like action people now would prefer that to what we have now

And I do think the rise in things like anime has raised standards for how to perceive action as there has now been some anime influence in even things like Creed 3

Not my most formatted post but oh well

[blueberrytwoberry]

star wars au idea

Okay so one of the ideas I played around with based on AUgust was a Star Wars AU for 9-1-1, but I don’t know exactly where I’m going with it as far as plot so i don't think I'll end up writing it and just want to free it from my brain

I’m just fascinated by the idea of them still working as, basically, emergency responders during the rebellion era, because SOMEONE has to be there to jump in and try to save people after/during a space battle, and that’s what THEY’RE doing. Sometimes they get involved in the fighting, of course, but their primary goal is keeping as many other rebels alive as possible 

Chim is the longest standing member of the 118 rescue squad. He joined up after some Imperials came into a bar where he’d been working and started shit, eventually starting a fire because they suspected some of the clientele were rebels.

Chim managed to get out the fire and keep everyone alive after the Imperials left and realized he’d found his calling, but it’s been a hard, brutal road and he’s already lost so many people he cared about through the rebellion. 

Hen left behind a soulless (but profitable) job in the Empire after she watched her mentor get dragged away for suspected sympathies with the Rebellion (turns how Hen had some of those sympathies, too). Along the way, she met Karen, who’s one of the Rebellion’s preeminent ship designers, responsible for the creations or engine modifications that help keep their rag tag groups ahead of complete destruction by the Empire. 

They don’t see each other as often as either of them likes, because Karen’s work requires her to stay in one place, as much as possible, and Hen’s pulls her from one battlefield to another. 

The group is led by Captain Nash, of course, who was an officer in the rescue corps back in the old Republic army and is carrying around just a ton of trauma from the Clone Wars (and from the loss of his family due to an accident he caused) 

Athena is The Law on an outer rim planet that often serves as their home base, when they have a chance to take some downtime. She’s basically in charge and gets to do her full old-west gunfire strut as much as she damn well pleases. 

Absolutely no one realizes she and Bobby are Together for an embarrassingly long amount of time. 

Buck is a guy who joined the rebellion, initially, for a girl. He has no real… connection to the cause, not at first. He lived a life mostly untouched by conflict, on an Imperial world, and only got a look at the hell that so much of the rest of the galaxy was going through after he left home. 

And then he got involved with the rebellion, things with the girl fell apart, and he stuck around because he’d found a family and something to do with his life that felt worthwhile and bigger than he was, by that point.

But he’s still got this creeping sense of… not really belonging enough, sometimes, because he joined “late” and not because he wanted to stand up for what was right, even if he’s now fully bought into the cause. So, yeah, imposter syndrome rebel Buck. 

(And, because this is Star Wars, he probably at some point discovers that he’s a clone of his dead older brother, that his parents failed to deal with their grief and thought they could just replace their son, but then never quite managed to love Buck in the same way, anyway, because, yeah, grief doesn’t work that way. So he’s got even MORE imposter syndrome after Maddie tells him about that, he’s not even his own person! He’s just the clone of a dead kid!)

Anyway, so Buck is with his Rebellion Group, grappling with his complex feelings about whether he belongs with them REALLY or not, when Eddie gets recruited into their group, and Eddie, ooof

Well. Eddie. Was in fact an Imperial soldier. Recruited at eighteen. Served for years, until he sustained injuries in combat. And then he came back to his family, and discovered a few things, like that his wife was working with the Rebellion and that their son’s injuries had come from an Imperial doctor, who’d suspected Christopher of being Force sensitive, and, while he was processing all of that, Shannon went to Alderaan, using a visit to her sick mother as an excuse to deliver some important documents to the Organas. 

And then the planet blew up.

In the aftermath of that, Eddie fully defected over to the Rebellion and is now focused on keeping his kid safe (surprise, turns out Chris still has SOME access to the Force) and clearing out the red from his ledger. 

I know I’d want the plot to involve Buck basically figuring out Eddie’s Whole Ass Messy Deal, and drama when everyone realizes that Eddie used to be a storm trooper, with that probably coming out when they get in an actual fight, and think they’re all going to die because they aren’t trained as soldiers–

Except Eddie is, and ends up saving them, demonstrating a great familiarity with imperial weaponry and tactics, and most of the crew just puts two and two together and leaves him alone (Bobby knows about his history, the rest…not so much), but not Buck, who tracks him down while Eddie is tending to his own wounds, to ask a lot of questions like “Where’d you learn to shoot like that?” and “Wow, you just killed kind of a lot of people, what’s up with that?” while, of course, taking over the job of tenderly patching Eddie up.

Leading to Eddie having a breakdown and spilling his guts about what he’s done and his guilt and how HE should have been the one who died, not Shannon, and Buck going, “Well, I’m GLAD you didn’t die!” and Eddie going, “Well, I don’t see why” 

And that leading to a kiss and make-outs where Buck is trying to be careful of Eddie’s injuries, with things progressing from there.

And, basically, the plot would roll all the way through until RotJ, where their crew is there for the Battle of Endor, because everyone is expecting heavy casualties, and they get to see the destruction of the second Death Star and the fall of the Empire and enjoy the brightness of the future. 

[notallthosewho-wanderarelost]

Ahsoka 1x01 1x02 Thoughts/Questions

Spoilers for Ahsoka of course, and spoilers for Star Wars Rebels.

WHAT IS SABINE’S CAT’S NAME???? This is unironically my number one question. What if she named it Ezra.

Where is Jacen? My broccoli boy 💚

Wtf is up with Morgan Elsbeth being a nightsister? She’s very clearly human and not the same species as Talzin, Ventress, and Merrin, etc. Is Dave bringing back the concept of a group of human Nightsisters from the EU? (In which case, I’d like to see Teneniel Djo please.) Morgan says she’s a “descendant of the witches of Dathomir,” does that mean she could be part Nightsister but mostly human? Worth noting she is clearly able to do at least a bit of Nightsister magick in the scene with the map- she summons green smoke while opening it. Why the inconsistency in species? It seems silly to suddenly have a human Nightsister character when it’s needlessly confusing.

Also, the instant she said she was a Nightsister and a survivor I was like “who does she think she is ripping off Merrin like this?!” I will not tolerate this dollar store knockoff wannabe.

Update: checked the wiki and apparently there were a few small human Nightsister clans (the Singing Mountain clan is apparently still canon!), but mostly it was the big Dathomirian Nightsister clan led by Mother Talzin. Morgan could be from one of the smaller human clans. I think she just feels annoying to me because it’s like someone saw how cool Merrin is, thought she’d be a good villain for this, and then took the character concept wholesale for a piece of Star Wars media that’s more mainstream, but didn’t put in the work so it falls flat. And then her being human just makes it weirder. I wonder who made the decision to use the Nightsisters for this storyline, because doesn’t… fit. Even Morgan’s name is odd. Just feels like no effort was put into the character.

How did Ahsoka find Huyang? I’m so curious when and how this happened. I’m really happy to see him in this though, I loved him in Clone Wars.

Ahsoka can do psychometry now! Can we please get some canon Ahsoka and Cal Kestis interactions? Rebellion era would probably be best but I’m not picky. Obviously Cal’s abilities in that area are a lot stronger, but it’s nice he’s not alone and it’d be great to see them interact. They’re almost the same age, but just far enough apart that their experiences since Order 66 have been radically different.

Mando/Din spending seasons raising a Jedi foundling and Ahsoka taking on a non-Force-sensitive Mandalorian as a padawan is so funny to me. The irony of the inverse.

It’s also the perfect continuation of the disaster lineage attitude imo. Obi-Wan “I’ll train the kid you all say is too old to train” Kenobi, then Anakin and Ahsoka’s… you know, Anakin and Ahsoka-ing, and now Ahsoka’s like “I’ll take a regular non-Force-Sensitive person as a padawan.”

Merrin and Sabine would get along, I think.

Sabine being like 30 and still acting exactly like a rebellious teenager feels like a cry for help to me. :( I’m glad Hera seems to have her back, and it’s good that she has a cat, but I’m worried about her. It makes sense, but gosh poor Sabine. I’m sensing depression. She’s had such a tough life and a tough time with the concept of family, it feels like losing Ezra was the last straw for her emotionally.

Actually, where is Sabine’s biological family? Are Ursa, Tristan, and Alrich okay? Or did they not survive the Mandalorian Purge? (God no I WILL cry. Also @ Dave where is Korkie, why is Bo-Katan calling herself the last Kryze.)

So wait, the rest of the crew has spent 15 years thinking Ezra’s dead?? He said to come find him! I always felt like he was pretty clear he wasn’t dying when he pulled his purrgil stunt. Did they all just turn pessimistic and lose hope? That’s so sad.

I actually really love Sabine kind of being the Republic’s version of Thrawn as an expert art analyst. Continues the Sabine/Thrawn contrast Rebels started where Thrawn analyzes art in a more academic fashion and treats the culture it came from as a curiosity- he’s very into cultural appropriation!!- while Sabine makes her own art and is more capable of stepping into other people’s shoes to appreciate their art.

Ahsoka refusing to train Sabine because she’s too busy being sad and lonely, and Sabine refusing to talk to Ahsoka or train (or give speeches) because she’s too busy being sad and lonely. This is so sad and I want to hug them both.

It works because we have a new actress playing Ahsoka, but I’m so curious what this would have been like animated. Ahsoka feels similar enough to herself but very different, because she’s in such a different place emotionally, and I’m curious how this would’ve felt in animation with Ashley doing the voice.

There were a few scenes where I felt like I was watching a live action Rebels episode and it was the best! The entire sequence with Sabine on the hover bike getting away from her own New Republic squad lol, Hera in the Phantom with Chopper chasing after the ship and planting the tracker. Chopper not being able to find the tracker until Hera told him where it was felt SPOT ON.

The T-6 actually looks pretty roomy and comfortable so far. Like, not the best living situation, but it looks way bigger than the Falcon! Heck, it looks bigger than Ezra’s tower that Sabine’s living in.

That said, Ahsoka having not had a real home since leaving the Jedi Temple is killing me. She really has some abandonment/attachment/commitment issues she needs to work on. Extremely understandable issues given what happened, but it’s like after the end of Rebels she just… quit. Maybe finding out Kanan was gone and then coming back to find Ezra gone was the last straw for her.

I also feel like her giving up on Sabine’s training was because of how her own training ended and Anakin’s fall shortly after. She doesn’t feel capable of dealing with the feelings stirred up by having a student. So she just doesn’t.

Sabine’s collecting little brothers. :) Tristan, Ezra, and Jacen.

I yelled at Senator Jai Kell!!! Good for him!!!

Had a watch party with my friends for this and we all screamed the instant Chopper showed up!! And here I was thinking maybe he was off babysitting Jacen.

What in the world is with the map showing another galaxy?? Yuuzhan Vong vibes. (The way they were almost canon because we were supposed to get a Clone Wars episode with them… :’( )

Why DO the Nightsisters have a map to another galaxy? Didn’t they mostly stay on Dathomir? I can buy them having outposts like the ruins where Ahsoka found the map in an era when they left the planet more, but a map to whole other galaxy seems a bit off. Space exploration on that scale doesn’t seem like something they would do. I wonder if maybe the map is a relic from someone else that they picked up. I like the Rakata theory I saw floated by someone. I could see the Nightsisters picking up a Rakatan map. Those guys left random stuff everywhere iirc.

Does the Eye of Sion have anything to do with Darth Sion? (Of KOTOR 2 fame)

WHERE IS MORAI??? This is a really big question for me!!

Also wondering where Ahsoka’s Gandalf the White outfit is? Guessing she won’t get it until the end of the show. She has to go through her journey first. I wonder if the if it’ll mirror the Topps cards Filoni did after Twilight of the Apprentice at all.

It’s really sad to me that this show is coming out during the strike, because I really need Filoni commentary on things. Actor commentary would be great as well. This is ridiculous, the studios need to pay the people who make things a fair wage.

Shoutout to Natasha Liu Bordizzo’s portrayal of Sabine so far. She feels JUST like Sabine and it’s great. We haven’t really seen enough of Hera yet for me to comment on Mary Elizabeth Winstead’s acting. (It was so weird seeing Hera be taller than Ahsoka though lol.) And Sabine had much more of an arc in these two episodes than Ahsoka did so I can’t really comment on Rosario’s Ahsoka either. Will say she’s been excellent so far, especially in her first appearance in the Mandalorian episode. Looking forward to seeing more!

[engagemythrusters]

okay. ahsoka ep 3.

i already know jacen is in this bc i got SPOILED but let me tell you im gonna still be shocked anyway skldjflkd

k here we go

These introductions are pointless. Like we saw the last ep last week. If we forgot we can just look it up.

OH WOW she’s hot

“Not bad but not good” WOW HUYANG. Oh wow this guys comin for Sabines whole LIFE here damn

Um ig Ahsoka forgot that Mandalorians can hold their own against jedi just damn fine? Sabine once beat KANAN

Ahsoka: okay time to pretend to be Kanan

UH OKAY. UM. “I can’t see how am I supposed to fight” WAS A STUPID LINE TO GIVE TO SABINE WREN, THE WOMAN RAISED BY KANAN JARRUS, A NOTABLE BLIND JEDI

God can you imagine being stupid enough to give that line to her? Did filoni or Favreau write that line? Sounds on par with how idiotic those two dipshits are. Like that is so stupid. Who is that STUPID.

That’s like an anti-Kanan reference. That’s fucking Kanan retconning.

God I’m so MAD.

Honest to god I’m kinda glad this is only 30 mins long this time. I’m fucjing mad.

She fights like Sabine though. I love this actress for her. She’s doing Sabine so well. Thank you <3

Nyooooom

is mON MOT—SHE IS

Hooray chancellor mothma

JACEN!!!!!

I mean in name only so far but still. My lil snow pea boy

“Causing trouble with chopper” I’m so glad that droid is giving the galaxy hell with multiple generations of syndullas. Here’s to chopper outliving us all

HEY SHUT UP ABOUT HRR FINDING HER SON

She should be allowed to find her son the war hero at any costs

GET HIS ASS

“People who were like family to me” okay uh so that’s a workaround for saying Kanan? But Kanan wasn’t even killed by

JACEN

“Aunt” WHAT

She’s his SISTER

He looks a little like Kanan would have looked. AND NOTHING LIKE HERA (enter usual rant about PISS POOR CHARACTER DESIGN)

Also like. He wants to be a jedi 😭

LIKE HIS FATHER BEFORE HIM 😭

God that look. She’s thinking of Kanan 😭😭😭

“Everyone could be a jedi” is the STUPIDEST TAKE

God i hate this fucking show

And I fucking hate filoni and Favreau so. Fuckingn. Much.

Huyang does NOT like Sabine

And he’s right about jedi and force wielders

She’s so cute I love u Sabeeen <3

T-6 shuttle shot

I love u T-6 shuttles

Wow those are fuckin… old ass ships. Clone war era.

I mean T-6 is even older but I love it so. I do not care.

Also hang on rewind a sec to the “few mandalorians have ever been jedi” okay how do you KNOW that. The two of you have been at odds so much for so long that I’m sure millions went by unnoticed by the jedi

Downgraded from Spheres In Space to fucking Circle In Space 🙄

I love Huyang he’s a bitch

Oh T-6 shuttle they’re really in it now

Oop floaty in space

Huyang out for the count again xoxo

Shin Hati is such a little shit and I ADORE her

She space-suited up in 3 seconds or some shit. God I hate sci fi.

Get yourself ahsoka you’re the dumbass who chose to stand outside

Shin Hati 👁 👁 fr

Oh

My

God

P U R R G I L

Ezra are u there?! 😭😭😭😭

okay after the initial AAAA umm yeah I’m thoroughly disappointed

The purrgil looked so BEAUTIFUL in design and colour and pattern in Rebels… only to be Giant Grey Things in this show?

God I fucking HATE this show.

Anyway half this episode is literally just space fighting. That’s so stupid.

I do like tbis planet. It’s dull and drab like everything else this show has done BUT at least the aesthetic of this one is meant to be dark and drab and dull

Anyway can they go back and follow the fucking purrgil yet

Mr Inquisitor I kind of hope you’re someone cool we already know. That’s a cool trope that I want to see in canon. If not that’s okay I want a cool inquisitor anyway.

So they’re meant to pick up thrawns ship? Like the way Jedi ships used to—

The way DT says purrgil has shocked me to near silence

That’s so funny it’s great and hard in his voice

So yeah that was stupid and awful and it’s good that was only 30 mins of disappointment rather than fucking 50 or whatever

Still love the vibes of this outtro tho. Wish the rest of the show was this cool.

now we just need -rex - ezra - direct kanan mention (like NAMED)

[not-my-final-account]

Okay but an a/u where Luke captures Vader and they are forced to go back to Tatooine and they both grumble about the same things in the same way, after figuring out their both from Tatooine Han jokes that they might be related, they both shout in the same way and Luke quickly asks where Vader lived, Vader says ‘Mos Espa’ and Luke’s like ‘Exactly! I grew up on a moisture farm’ and Vaders like ‘wait, the lars farm’ and Luke’s like ‘yeah’ and they both visibly pale and Luke’s like ‘But there’s no way! How do you even know the place? He he…’ and Vaders like my mother married Cliegg Lars and had a kid called Owen who had a girlfriend called-’ and Luke cuts him off saying ‘Beru’ and they are both like well kriff, and Vaders like ‘I’m sure Criegg had a sibling’ and Luke’s like ‘your mother wasn’t called Shmi was she’ and Vader just pales and says ‘I’m sure Shmi was just a common name, she was alive right?’ and at this point Han starts sweating and Lando’s like ‘oooo’ but then Luke’s like ‘No, she died to-’ and Vader finishes like ‘Tusken Raiders’ and the both pale beyond what should even be possible and it goes like

Luke: long before I was born, actually jus-

Vader: -t before the clone wars

L: my father came looking for her because he was worried about her

V: because I was having visions of her death that stopped me

L: from sleeping and he tracked her to the farm

V: after finding out from my no-longer master that he sold her

L: and her new master had freed her and married her

V: and they were happy until she was coming back from

L: picking mushrooms off the vaporators

V: when she got kidnapped by Tusken Raiders

L: my father went looking for her despite it have being months since it happen

V: the same amount of month since my dreams started

L: he found her and-

V: she died in my arms

L: my father murdered the entire village in anger

Luke and Vader: and he was travelling with a girlfriend/ally called Padmé

Everyone: …

This is the biggest mess Hans ever made

Luke is quick to point out that this is Vader he bouts he’s ever been in a relationship let alone gotten anyone pregnant, uhhh

Both the imperials (captured and here to free Vader) and rebels are confused now

Someone please write a fan fiction on this and link it in a re-blog/comment/tag

[morganas-pendragons]

I Will Always Go To War To Defend ROTS Against Gen X: Here’s Why

Sounds like a stupid title, right? Well. Since Kenobi aired, my father - A Gen Xer - has repeatedly said that it’s the best Star Wars content to release since the OT back in 80’s.

He hates the prequels. Like REALLY hates the prequels.

My 20 year old brother and I have this discussion with him frequently: The prequels are the backbone to making the OT make sense, and remain some of the best piece of Star Wars media beloved by the generation it’s meant for.

And yes, I’m specifically talking about Revenge of the Sith.

My dad has claimed for years that it was ruined by cheesy dialogue (the high ground vs low ground scene is one he mentions every single time we have this convo) as well as having less then adequate saber duels. I repeatedly inform him that Hayden and Ewan have, to date, the most iconic and probably the MOST difficult saber duel in the entire franchise.

He also says there’s a lot of plot holes. I, being the only one in my family who has consumed nearly every piece of major Star Wars media, agree with him. But all of those plot holes are filled by two things in particular. The book, and The Clone Wars.

The Revenge of the Sith novelization has got to be the best novel I’ve read of all of the Star Wars novels in my library. It’s art in word form.

Case in point, a few of my favorite quotes from it:

"The rain will come, and the seeds will sprout, for the dark is the soil in which they grow, and it is the clouds above them, and it waits behind the star that gives them light. The dark's patience is infinite. Eventually, even stars burn out."

“This is Obi-Wan Kenobi: A phenomenal pilot who doesn’t like to fly. A devastating warrior who’d rather not fight. A negotiator without peer who frankly prefers to sit alone in a quiet cave and meditate.” 

And it makes the movie so much more poignant.

His biggest argument, however, is that Hayden Christensen was such a bad actor that it ruined it for him. I thus returned to inform him of how badly Hayden was harassed after the creation of ROTS and how hated the prequels were until the people who they were made for came of age and learned to appreciate them.

My best friend and I just had this conversation the other day: You really cannot enjoy Star Wars as a whole without consuming all of the available media. Yes, I too was skeptical of cartoons as someone in their early twenties, but TCW is not written for a child audience. It just happens to be animated with a mature story that fills in all the questions you inevitably have for the time between Episode 2 and 3.

The one thing that the shows do is add more depth that's not given in the movies. Depth through development of interpersonal character relationships (Anakin and Ahsoka from TCW clear into Twilight of the Apprentice) (Rex and Ahsoka) (Obi-Wan and Anakin) and enough of character development for those we know so little about - KANAN JARRUS - to make their inevitable deaths absolutely devastating.

That's what the shows succeed at. The movies, not so much.

I go on to tell my father that The Clone Wars (and begrudingly, Rebels..) fills in a lot of the questions he ends up having about plot holes and unanswered things during Episode 3. Like why Padme died, how Anakin ''fell so fast', etc.

He gets the same answer every single time.

"Your child's brain is a useless well of Star Wars knowledge obtained through the means of researching for fan fiction and now contains most answers to all Star Wars related questions you may have. No, Revenge of the Sith is not a bad movie, they just don't give you a satisfactory amount of information through the general story for you to be okay with watching it without complaining."

So, yeah. Gen Z, fight for your ROTS rights because that movie is phenomenal and needs to be defended against people who have only watched 9 movies and remain oblivious to the truth: You need to watch all Star Wars media to really grasp the overall story.

No matter how much you dislike it : )

[heyclickadee]

So I forgot that this was in my drafts and has just been sitting in there for a month and a half. Anyway, actual ramblings on “Replacements”:

1. I took notes while watching this one. My first note just says, “Sad whale noises,” underlined four times, with a little frowny face.

2. Hunter’s little lopsided grin as he says, “Well, that doesn’t look comfortable—for either of you,” to Omega and Gonky. He’s stressed and not sure what to do next, but he’s still kind of playful at this point. The depression hasn’t quite set in. And Omega’s little, “We’re fine.” That’s the “We’re fine,” of, “My legs are asleep and I can’t feel my spine but I’d rather die than take up space or admit I’m uncomfortable because I don’t know what I can get away with around you guys,” I swear….

3. Gonky’s little kicky feets!! Also, how did he get down there? Did he fall over while Tech was doing some unnecessary barrel rolls? Did Wrecker put him there? Did he flop over so Omega could use him as a backrest?

4. Again, Hunter’s deadpan shake of the head when Wrecker just *fyoom* inhales that ration bar. Also, can we talk about how much living on ration bars must suck? You probably get your caloric needs for the day, but it’d be like eating one single cliff bar for every meal. You wouldn’t starve or be malnourished, but you’d never feel full, hence why Wrecker, who is lärge and probably has the metabolism of a Bugatti, never has (I want to make him all the treats! He deserves all the cinnamon rolls and pie and plank grilled salmon and burgers and…).

5. I do kind of appreciate that they start introducing the idea that practical needs, like food and ship fuel, are a concern for these guys, and that they’re more or less flat broke. Other Star Wars shows have touched on people having to actually pay for things to survive—that’s part of the point of the Lando episode of Rebels—but’s a constant thread in this show. Clone Force 99 is always a few really bad days from being stranded, because they can’t afford to fuel the ship, and starving, because they’re out of food.

6. I do kind of appreciate that even though Hunter physically pushes Wrecker back to keep him from grabbing Omega’s ration bar (good for Omega for offering it but), he does so pretty gently, and he drops his voice because even though he wants Wrecker to understand that Omega will absolutely inconvenience herself to make other people comfortable, he doesn’t want to call Wrecker out in front of the whole ship. He’s trying to make it as private as he can…in the space RV…with limited space. Besides, it’s not as though Hunter could shove Wrecker out of the way unless Wrecker allowed himself to be pushed. “I’m gonna push you away from someone who doesn’t need to overhear us now, back up with me,” seems to just be the accepted language of private conversation between all of them. And I also appreciate that Wrecker, as fundamentally kind, gentle, and emotionally intelligent as he is, does have a little trouble switching to/considering other perspectives. He never needs reminding once it’s pointed out, but he does sometimes need it pointed out to begin with.

7. Tech says he’s building the brain scanner so that he can double check that their chips don’t work. Bullshit. BULL. SHIT. I mean, okay, not total bullshit—I do think he’s at least partially telling the truth. He’s definitely thinking that Crosshair was acting the way he was because his chip activated, and if Crosshair’s chip activated, then why wouldn’t theirs? It’d be good to check. But I think that’s a secondary reason. Based on how he’s the one who brings up the chip as an explanation for Crosshair’s behavior, the added context of season two, and the way he totally drops the scanner after this episode until Rex shows up in episode seven, I really think he’s building it because he’s under the impression that they’re going back for Crosshair sooner than later, and he thinks they’ll need it to locate his chip so they can figure out a way to deactivate or remove it. Tech just told Echo what he did so he could keep working on it.

8. “It’s not affecting life support. We’re fine.” “Are you kidding me?!” I love them. Also: Shout out to poor Gonky rattling around the back of the Marauder like the last tic-tac left in the pack. Get the poor droid a seatbelt.

9. I love that Wrecker tests his tie-down to make sure it’s locked. The Bad Batch isn’t a perfect show, but I adore little background gestures like these, and it’s full of them, even compared to the other animated shows. They help the characters feel a little more alive.

10. I feel like I need to have a, “That’s one hell of a pilot,” counter for every time Tech does some impressive piloting. The ship isn’t functioning correctly and goes from zero visibility and turbulent conditions to, “OH SHIT, THE GROUND,” and a very narrow window in which he can react, and he still manages to land the ship. Not crash, land. With the landing gear down. And, yes, I’m sure that there is some kind of ILS system on the ship for low visibility landings, since this is a universe where autopilot exists, but still—Tech kind of strikes me as the sort of person who would turn autopilot off. (Also, tell me that if the ship would be in one piece if it was Anakin flying it. I love Anakin, and he’s a phenomenal pilot, but I also think that both Tech and Hera could outfly him.)

11. There’s something endearing about the way that they all spring into doing different jobs to figure out how to get out of the mess they’re in once they’ve landed—Echo’s checking the weather, since it’s knocking out their commas and they can’t call for help; Tech’s checking which parts they need to fix the ship and if they have any on board; Hunter’s making sure everyone’s okay and getting Gonky on his feet; Wrecker…might actually just be recovering because he hit his head pretty hard (STOP DOING THAT, WRECKER. STOP IT)—and Omega doesn’t want to be left out or useless so she instantly starts trying to help out, too.

12. “That’s…Crosshair’s weapon kit.” Hello darkness my old friend….

13. Everything about this moment is a gut punch. The way Hunter just stares at the weapons kit for a moment, the way that Wrecker’s the first one to speak up, the anger on Echo’s face when he counters with, “He shot you!”; the way Tech looks between Wrecker, the kit, and Echo a couple times before speaking up and then looks right at Echo as he finishes saying that it could be Crosshair’s chip that’s making him act the way he is, as though he’s trying to convince Echo specifically; Echo’s disbelief and the awfulness of, “That’s what they were designed to do.” Hunter shutting the conversation down before the debate really gets underway, and turning away from everyone (and us), probably so they (and we) can’t see his face. The way that each of them expresses one aspect of what they’re probably all feeling: the loss (Wrecker); the betrayal (Echo); the need for an explanation or a justification (Tech); and the way it’s all too painful to deal with (Hunter).

Speaking of Hunter, the way he reacts by shutting the conversation down and shifting the focus to the task at hand is a pretty well done depiction of the way some people deal with loss. Finding something to do, something to fix, something to keep your mind and hands busy, having a problem to solve; that’s just how some people are. Hunter isn’t taking Crosshair’s absence well, even at this point, and it’s important to remember that he only really found out about the chips and clone programming a few days ago. He’s probably still trying to reconcile that with the emotional betrayal of seeing Crosshair walk out into that hangar wearing black armor and ordering him to stand down.

Also, listen for a little four note motif in the music that plays under this scene. Then go listen to “Mayday.” I could be hearing wrong, but I could also be hearing right, and if I have to suffer, so do you.

14. Speaking of Crosshair, I really want to know why he needed another chip amplification procedure done. I mean, yes, it’s not definite that that’s what’s just happened to him when we cut to Kamino, but all the visual cues are there. My personal suspicion is that the first round took, as we saw at the end of “Aftermath,” but that it didn’t last the way it was supposed to after the batch left. My other personal suspicion is that this repeat procedure was potentially augmented, or more targeted, and that it wasn’t the only other time it happened to him. As much as a segment of the fandom was (and is) worried that Crosshair was or is going to be turned into another Clone X or proto-death trooper, I sort of think it works the other way around. Crosshair was already a test subject, we saw it happen in “Aftermath” and in this episode, and he might have already been patient zero for the early versions of what was later done to the poor guy who ended up as Clone X and the people who are going to end up death troopers, and his chip either being damaged or having to be removed after “Reunion” might be what saved him from being experimented on further, for a while, anyway. I don’t think being brainwashed again is in Crosshair’s future, just because that seems like the one way to screw up his character arc, but we’ll see.

15. God, the way Tarkin, Rampart, and the rest back up the literal chip-powered mind control poor Crosshair’s under with some good old fashioned regular brainwashing by making him a commander (in name only, apparently) of an elite squad of new recruits and talking about how important these new clone lead units are going to be for the transition into imperial power is just cruel. Crosshair’s brain is all kinds of messed up and they’re doing their best to make sure it stays that way. And Crosshair is so inexpressive through the episodes where his chip is at full strength compared to how he is in the rest of the show. He’s still in there, and it’s still him, but he’s being filtered through GoodSoldiersFollowOrders.exe and I just. What if I crawled into my screen and kicked Tarkin in the shins? What if I did that? (I would get shot, that’s what. But still.)

16. The Echo-Tech banter as they’re trying to fix the ship is fun, as is the Empire Strikes Back homage. Also, I love how Tech kind of downplays the situation by just saying that other systems are shutting down, and that Echo IMMEDIATELY jumps in and explains that SOMETHING IS ATTACKING THE SHIP.

17. So, we get Tech explaining that the creature is probably an ordo moon dragon, a creature that feeds on energy (we’ll get to that), and Echo saying that it would have been great if Tech had said that earlier. This isn’t the first of the last time someone will say something like this, and this next bit is kind of a silly thought based on almost nothing, but I sometimes wonder if Tech occasionally thinks he’s said something out loud or explained something when he hasn’t.

18. I don’t know what to do about the fact that the ordo moon dragon feeds on raw energy but lives on an apparently unsettled planet with no power generators or ships or whatevers, but it’s also not the only creature we meet that does this. The zillo beast also slurps down electricity like a breakfast smoothie. That kind of implies that there are natural sources of electricity around and that a number of creatures evolved to take advantage of is. But also it has teeth. Maybe it’s like the Zillo beast and can also eat other things. Maybe it grabs electric space eels, chews on electric charge for a while, and then eats the eel. Or something. I don’t know, it’s Star Wars, there are star whales that fly and jump through hyperspace, it doesn’t really have to make sense.

19. Omega says, “Then we’ll find a way to get him back—somehow,” and then Hunter looks back at her and smiles. And it kills me. And maybe it’s because we can only see half his face, but it’s the most unguarded smile I think we’ve seen from Hunter the entire show. He doesn’t think they can go back yet, but I think he still thinks it’s going to be possible someday, maybe even soon, and that when they do it’ll all work out and be fine and oh my sweet summer child…

20. That transition from Crosshair jumping down to Hunter and Omega walking though the mist is such a cool transition. You can’t even tell you’re in a new location until you see Hunter’s and Omega’s legs.

21. Crosshair opens fire on Saw’s camp, of course, but he misses. A lot. I think there’s one point where he fires four shots but only lands one. It’s not the batch, but he’s still pulling his shots here, as much as he can.

22. Along those lines, I do think it’s interesting that Crosshair doesn’t kill the civilians himself. They’re going to die, he can’t stop that, because those are the orders and he doesn’t have the capacity to say no to it at this point, but he passes the order along to his men. He doesn’t do it himself, and he doesn’t watch. Which is interesting.

23. Speaking of Crosshair’s men, you know what? Cowards. All except that one guy who had the backbone to say that murdering civilians is wrong. He’s a jackass about clones, but at least he’s not down for murder.

24. So the way Crosshair says, “dealt with,” when he reports to Tarkin and Rampart is brutal and it’s going to live rent free in my head.

25. *screams about the whole ending sequence with Wrecker and the room and the lights and Omega but also it’s the gunners chair and Crosshair sitting on his bunk and Echo patting Wrecker on the shoulder because he did a good thing and how the warmth of the one scene and the emptiness of the other enhance each other this show is going to kill me again*

[stellanslashgeode]

Why do people always try to make "Sympathetic stormtrooper/Imperial officer who still believes in and fights for the empire." Happen when the Empire is a fascist xenophobic state founded on rule through fear (Thus making it a literal terrorist state) that's literally run by social darwinist sociopath space Satan? That's a pretty indefensible ideology. It's like a good guy Sith. I'm sure there are some good honourable Sith or Sith who haven't chugged enough of the Kool aid but their entire philosophy is founded on social darwinist might makes right and betraying your way to the top.

I'd kill for Rebel Saving Private Ryan or Inglorious Bastards.

Yeah, it sucks.

There’s a lot of interesting good media about fash soldiers or apparatchiks in WW2 but it’s pretty mined out. I’d rather have a story about Rebel spies in too deep like Lonnie in Andor. And of course more ground level Rebel war stories. I should break down and read Twilight Company, the exerts I read were pretty good. Alphabet Squadron is very good as well though as @frogblast-the-ventcore pointed out they’re not really a squadron with just four or five ships. I know a lot of fans who grew up in the Clone Wars Multimedia Project era liked all those clone-centric books but I never got into them. They eventually segue into what you’re disagreeing with since they end up in the Empire.

I think the Thrawn books are really interesting because yeah, he’s a villain. He looks the other way when they need to recover some Wookie slaves and it’s really a bad look. He had complicated motives and secretly his own agenda but he’s doing fash stuff that sucks constantly. And that sucks because you really see him and his crew as people who are trying their best but I can’t ever forget they’re working for evil space Satan.

We never got a naval epic series about General Dodonna or someone like that. Nah I’m partially wrong. There were all those Rogue Squadron books but Wedge wasn’t on Thrawn’s level, commanding a fleet.

That’s part of why I like the High Republic so much. You can read them and really like Marchion Ro and Lorna Dee, even sympathize with them, but they’re definitely always framed as villains. They’re not extreme xenophobic fascists, they are pitiless criminals, so it’s a little different.

I think we know why some fans like Imperial protagonists but we can’t talk about it because of woke.