#can you tell I'm rewatching the clone wars

[micah-of-the-psychos]

I'm begging and screaming for the people that say "attachment doesn't mean love" to rewatch the Prequels. You don't even have to rewatch the fucking Clone Wars. It is literally the most obvious thing that attachment, yes, does in fact mean love. No, Anakin saying "Jedi are encouraged to love" in AotC does not prove you right, it's him saying "well technically I'm allowed to love" in a very tongue-in-cheek manner, blatantly implying that he's actually breaking the rules (on another note, some people on here really like flip-flopping on whether or not Anakin is a reliable narrator, and it seems to solely depend upon whether or not they agree with what he's saying). It's about as subtle as a semi truck. Plus, the entire time that he's married to her he has to keep his relationship secret because his relationship is, y'know, forbidden. He has to hide that she is pregnant because his relationship to her is, in fact, forbidden.

Since y'all love bringing up what George Lucas said about what attachment actually means, riddle me this: why would he write an entire forbidden romance subplot contingent on the Jedi forbidding things like romantic relationships if the Jedi didn't, in fact, forbid romantic relationships? There's two options here: either George Lucas is an even worse writer than we thought, or he's doing the interview version of retconning shit on Twitter. Since people ignored JKR even before she became prolific bigot, I think it's safe to assume most people think Word of God means jack shit if they're actively retconning core aspects of their work. So Lucas's word is utterly worthless in this argument regardless of his intentions.

Another blatantly obvious bit of proof that attachment=love is the fact that Jedi can't have relationships with their birth family. Full stop. There is no ambiguity to whether or not this is true, there is no George Lucas interviews for you to hide behind; this is irrevocably canon. And there is quite literally no legitimate excuse for the Jedi to do this. All excuses for this, canonical and fandom, circle directly back to "attachment is forbidden", and it is so painfully funny to watch the few people willing to defend this. Most don't even try though, and just ignore this issue entirely, because it is a glaringly obvious contradiction to their glorified headcanon on attachments that they so desperately want to uphold.

You know, I remember back when people on TikTok were freaking out about people not having media literacy. And I remember thinking during that entire time "You guys thought people ever had media literacy?" This portion of the Star Wars fandom in particular is walking proof that media literacy never died, it was already dead the second humanity invented storytelling.

Some disclaimers because some people in this fandom are particularly fond of using straw men and ad hominem, as well as just trolling:

-I don't think the Sith are good guys. You should watch me play KOTOR 1 and count the amount of times I call the Sith assholes, dumbasses, or scum. I very much hate them.

-I don't think that Order 66 was justified. This really shouldn't have to be said, but some people on this platform have rendered this necessary.

-People can headcanon that attachment and love are different things. My problem is when people start treating it as canon and try to force other people too as well.

-Criticizing the Jedi does not mean I am criticizing Buddhism. Even if it did, I will criticize any religion I damn well please because the "It's My Religion" card immediately loses validity the second you physically or psychologically harm other people, especially children. However, the Jedi philosophy on attachment and the Buddhist philosophy on attachment are different, so this argument doesn't hold any water to begin with.

-You are free to like the Jedi. I encourage you to do so. I am not, and never will tell you that you can't.

-I really shouldn't have to make these disclaimers to begin with, but since this is the internet and people don't read the words on the page anymore, I unfortunately have to spell shit out with crayon.

Also, I can and will use the block button. If you engage in bullying or harassment, engage in bad faith arguments, or otherwise say fundamentally false or incredibly stupid shit, I will block you. If you can't handle that, then don't engage with this post. I am not making this post in hopes that you will actually listen to me, because the people that this is directed at don't listen, and don't want to. If you truly disagree with what I've said in this post on such a fundamental level that you need to make a long-winded reply about how everything I've ever said is wrong, please just scroll — dealing with that shit is actually exhausting.

[coruscanti-travelguide]

Darth Maul: "In a galaxy at war, Savage, there is only one way to get the attention of the Jedi. Slaughter of the innocent. Mercilessly and without compromise."

I don't know, my guy, I think if you had left a message at the Jedi temple like: " I'm back and I'm coming for your ass, Kenobi! " that might have worked, too.

[skyrislunaflower]

Siciria Analyzes The Most Complex Stick Figures Known To Man (part 1)

SPOILERS FOR AVA / AVM / INFLUENCER ARC SERIES

READ AT UR OWN RISK

Also here's part 2

I was rewatching Influencer Arc Ep 1 because the music slays, and the fight choreography is just awesome.

*cut to Siciria chilling*

But then I noticed this;

So, to those of you that don't know what I'm talking about, I noticed that Blue just kind of waits there for a moment before going in to help Red. I wondered why, because throughout the series, these stick figures are shown to have really quick reaction times in these kinds of moments.

But then it hit me; it's about personality.

So then I decided to do a deep analysis of Blue's character, which is probably going to be the first of five parts (maybe even more) where I deep dive into everyone's traits and flaws and whatnot.

-

Here goes...

So, we've seen Blue as more of the pacifist assistant. He likes plants, netherwart, potions, and cooking. You don't really see him being the first to instigate something, or the star of a fight. Heck, even in the Raid episode, it's more focused on Yellow and the command block staff than him.

But we do see more of an aggressive trait as well, in that sometimes, he acts without thinking.

LIKE THE LAVA. HE DIDN'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT AND JUMPED INTO STICKING LAVA. WOW. WOWOWOW. WOWOWOW.

But, what startles me, is that even though he'll self-sacrificially jump to save someone, and follow someone without thinking, and needs someone to ground him (usually Yellow), there are also times where he just freezes. Like in the Influencer Arc. He freezes when Red is getting beat up by the clones, before shooting at them. His brain takes a second (hehe) to catch up.

And here, too. Yellow is making a plan, where Blue's emotions are overriding any sort of thought.

...BUT AT THE SAME TIME, we also see those two things coalesce together for the better. We see him take action instead of freezing, and actually think about what he's doing as well. And this moment in the battle against the King goes kind of unnoticed, in my opinion, since there were so many hard fighting sequences and emotional stakes.

LIKE WHAT THE STICK. HE LED AN ENTIRE VILLAGE INTO WAR, AND THEY WERE ACTUALLY ABLE TO HOLD THEIR OWN AND CAUSE THE PILLAGERS TO RUN AWAY WITH ABSOLUTELY NO CONTEXT OR PRIOR TRAINING (albeit before they came back with the evoker and illusioner)

But we also don't talk about how much he assists everyone else. Like here. Green would have gone flying twice if Blue didn't have the presence of mind to brace him.

I saw a comment under the video calling Blue the MVP of the fight against Greenscreen. And while I do harbor the opinion that everyone contributed a lot to the win (and don't really agree with the comment, as Green, Yellow, Red, and Second contributed so much too), you can't deny that he assisted everyone frequently during the fight, and was a key part of success.

Blue's character arc is something we don't really talk about much as a fandom, but there are truly some moments which are, like, really cool.

And the most important one of all, of course.

Bluecifer "Elsa" Blonde. (my fanmade name, tell me if u like it!)

#slayqueen

EDIT AS OF 9/24/24:

There's also something else I noticed. Blue is shown to be able to keep track of a lot of things at the same time as well, like the positioning of his friends in a battle, and enhance them properly. He knows exactly what they need and can deliver it to them.

In the Witch, when he arms himself with potions and starts fighting, he has the presence of mind to turn his friends into animals that can stop the witch. For example, when Red is about to strike, he turns him into a golem for it to pack more punch. It's truly amazing, because he was able to pinpoint that that was about to happen before it did.

And even with himself, when the witch started shapeshifting, he did too. He knew exactly which mob would combat which, and he might have won if he hadn't run out.

[miss-musings]

"Can't You See They're Using You?": The Parallels Between Cid and The Empire as Exploitative Employers in "The Bad Batch"

In rewatching "Star Wars: The Bad Batch" after the series finale, I've realized just how many similarities there are between Cid and the Empire as employers for the Bad Batch and Crosshair, respectively.

I know I'm not the first person to point out how badly Cid used and abused the Batch, even from their very first meeting in 1.05 "Rampage." In fact, @xylionet has a great post summarizing just how much Cid took advantage of the Batch's -- mostly Hunter's -- desperation and inexperience dealing with the galaxy's shadier people.

But, beyond that, the show ultimately drew a lot of parallels between Cid and the Empire as employers, from their attitude toward clones to their manipulative personalities. Even the timelines for the Batch's and Crosshair's employment align very well, down to the conditions at which they start working for them and why they ultimately reach their breaking points.

Before we dive in, a few clarifications:

I'll mostly be focusing on Cid in this analysis, as I think the Empire's faults are pretty clear.

And, when I say "the Empire," I mean the Imperial officials Crosshair interacts with and/or takes orders from -- mostly Rampart and Nolan, but to a lesser degree, Hemlock and Tarkin as well.

SHARED TRAITS

Manipulative personalities

From the beginning, Cid did whatever it took to leverage the Batch into working for her.

Once she realizes that they're 1) desperate for information/money and 2) inexperienced/gullible/etc., she very quickly works to get them on her side.

She offers an exchange of information and money if the Batch bring in Muchi, but she neglects to tell them Muchi is a Rancor, probably because she figured they wouldn't have accepted the job if they knew.

As she gives Hunter the information and 30% of the cut, she says that with a bounty hunter after the Batch, they'll need "friends and money -- mostly money." It's objectively not an incorrect assessment, and she offers them more work. Hunter says he'll think about it, and that's when she pulls out the blackmail card. She knows how valuable they are and knows people are after them. If they cross her, she can turn them in.

Cid ultimately uses whatever tactics she has to get the Batch to do what she needs, whether that's sweet-talking or strong-arming or leveraging them (either financially or via blackmail).

Likewise, Rampart especially gets on Crosshair's good side by initially praising him as an experienced clone and elevating him to commander of an elite non-clone squad. He also seems to give Crosshair plenty of clone troopers as well when needed. However, once we get to the Ryloth arc, we see that Rampart is more than willing to threaten Crosshair when he feels like he's underperforming.

Even in Season 2, Rampart continues to play this game with Crosshair by praising him just enough that he still feels valued, while also demoting him and then insinuating that Crosshair needs to continue proving his worth or risk losing his position.

Assigning morally questionable jobs/missions

While this is obvious for the Empire, it's something I don't see talked about much regarding Cid.

Her clients are shady people, and she either doesn't ask her clients a lot of questions or doesn't provide that information to the Batch.

After she strong-arms them into working for her in 1.06 "Decommissioned," she sends them after a tactical droid. The information it has could be useful against the Empire, but it could also lead to the deaths of thousands of clone troopers -- the Batch's reg brothers.

This is something the Martez sisters point out to the Batch, and Hunter says they're "being paid to acquire and deliver," admitting that who the client is or why they want the information isn't a priority. The Martez sisters argue that it should be.

Granted, a lot of the jobs we actually see the Batch doing for Cid are later hand-waved as being a good thing. They deliver arms to freedom fighters on Ryloth, they reunite Ruby with her owner, they free Muchi from slavery, etc. But, there are plenty of jobs we partially see them do or hear about them doing, which could easily have been "bad" things, especially given how shady Cid's clients are.

Arguably, if Cid ever gave them information or the Batch guessed that a given job was a "bad" thing, they could just not do it for her. But, again, she has leverage over them, so I don't know whether they have much of an option.

Dislike of clones

Basically all the Imperials we meet in the show don't like clones.

Rampart pretended well enough in Season 1, but we know from later episodes that he hates them. Nolan is very brazen in telling Crosshair how much he abhors working with clone troopers, saying he "doesn't like used equipment" and that the clones are ultimately expendable. And, obviously we know of Tarkin and Hemlock's hatred for clones.

But, Cid inexplicably hates them as well.

I think she was willing to bring the Batch on because she felt she could use them, but she's very rude Rex in 1.07 "Battle Scars" and apparently didn't like hosting Gregor in 1.15 "Return to Kamino."

She tells Rex and the Batch that she's "done taking in strays," that she's not running a charity, and that her parlor "isn't a clone clubhouse."

She could feasibly have concerns that, if enough clones start hanging out at her parlor, they'd get on the Empire's radar. But, if that was her concern, there were 100 better ways to say that.

We don't get to see her interactions with Gregor, but I don't understand why she was immediately so hostile to Rex. For all she knew, he could've been there to pay her for information or hire the Batch for a job -- something where she would've gotten paid. Shouldn't she have been trying to get on his good side and at least see what he wanted first? But, instead, she immediately and very rudely dismisses him.

Also, Cid has a clone trooper helmet on the wall in her office. (It's on the lefthand side as you look at her desk.) Considering she used to be an informant for the Jedi, I wonder how she got that helmet. Was it a gift? Why would a clone trooper give her a helmet? It seems more likely that it was a trophy of some kind. She seems to have a lot of strange items around her office, but a clone trooper helmet should've been a red flag for the Batch.

Asking a lot & giving little in return

Cid ultimately had the Batch risking their lives for her and her clients, and was apparently only giving them 30% of the payout.

By 1.07 "Battle Scars," they're also in debt to her despite doing at least 10-12 jobs for her. In 1.10, Cid tells them that the Batch needs "a big score for us to be square," and Omega ultimately pays off the debt by hustling people at the strategy game.

So, even if after 1.10, the Batch renegotiated off-screen so that Cid started covering their expenses and that their standard 30% is pure profit, that still seems incredibly low to me. I would think 40-40-20, with the 20% going to cover expenses would be a decent starting point.

But, apparently, they're still doing jobs for her in Season 2 and still only getting 30% -- their standard rate. We're not sure what their success rate is, but they've been able to complete some big jobs for her. They definitely should've renegotiated up to at least 50% or something, especially considering how frequently they were endangering themselves and Omega on these jobs.

With Crosshair and the Empire, he doesn't really have much in the way of benefits, because the Empire ultimately considers all the clones their property.

They were never given a choice on whether they wanted to serve the Empire once it replaced the Republic. They're assigned these dangerous and morally questionable/reprehensible missions. If they question their orders or refuse, they're labeled traitors and arrested; and if they leave, they're branded deserters.

Crosshair at least gets room and board, but he probably isn't getting paid much or at all. Once Senator Chuchi's bill passes in 2.08 "Truth and Consequences," he might be eligible for a retirement/severance package like we see the clones talking about in 2.12 "The Outpost," but he likely wouldn't have a say on when he gets to retire/leave.

Meanwhile, Crosshair and the other clones are risking their lives for the Empire. We see in 2.03 "The Solitary Clone," that the clone troopers are sent in to complete the most dangerous work -- securing Desix and freeing the Imperial governor. But, once it comes to actually occupying the planet, the Empire assigns stormtroopers.

I also always found it interesting that the clone troopers bothered to get Crosshair medical attention in 1.08 "Reunion," but Nolan doesn't in 2.12 "The Outpost." I feel like the clones, at minimum, cared about each other even under Imperial command. But as more non-clones started taking command, they basically said, "Why bother? Clone troopers are a relic of the past, and we have millions of TK troopers who can take their place."

Lack of intel/resources to complete missions

Speaking of 2.12 "The Outpost," we hear about Mayday's predicament: The Empire doesn't provide enough men to defend the oh-so-valuable cargo at the Outpost and doesn't provide the equipment needed to keep their troopers safe. They have to wrap their armor to stay warm; the conditions degrade the sensors; they don't have the tools needed to disarm mines; and so on.

Similarly, the Batch bring up several times in Seasons 1 and 2 that Cid withholds information about their jobs.

Wrecker in 2.11 "Metamorphosis": Limited intel. Huh. There's a surprise.

Maybe sometimes her clients or sources don't give her information as we see in 2.11 "Metamorphosis," but there are plenty of times where she purposely withholds information, like Muchi being a Rancor in 1.05 "Rampage."

Cid was either accepting jobs without much intel because she was getting overconfident in the Batch's abilities, or -- more likely -- she was getting greedy and sending them on as many jobs as possible regardless of the conditions.

The latter seems more likely, especially with how it aligns with how the Empire treats the clones. They're more than ready to put money into the TK trooper program -- and we know from the Original Trilogy that TK troopers are also essentially treated as expendable -- but the Empire clearly doesn't give a crap about the clones, especially after 2.08 "Truth and Consequences."

Ultimately, both the Batch and Crosshair and the other Imperial clone troopers have to make do with the little they’re given, despite putting so much on the line for their employers.

“All you’ll ever be to them is a number”

Something I haven't talked about much yet is how Hunter is so prescient about Crosshair being used by the Empire, but doesn't see how Cid is using him and his family to a similar degree.

This is something @xylionet pointed out too:

It’s rather ironic that Crosshair and Hunter are both able to see each other’s situations for what they are, but not their own.

One of the things that hit me during my rewatch of 1.15/16 was Hunter telling Crosshair: "All you'll ever be to them is a number" referring to the Empire.

Admittedly, Hunter isn't wrong. As we see, all the Imperial officials Crosshair interacts with only call him by his CT number, never by his name. (The only exceptions are fellow clones like Cody, Mayday and Emerie.)

And, in 2.03 "The Solitary Clone," when Crosshair asks Rampart about Commander Cody, Rampart acts like he's never heard the name Cody before in his life. He ONLY knows Cody -- one of the most famous commanders in the entire Galactic Army of the Republic -- by his number. Hell, even EMPEROR PALPATINE knew Commander Cody's name in "Revenge of the Sith."

But, while the Empire being a bunch of assholes makes sense, what gets me is that Cid is the exact same way:

She ONLY ever called the Bad Batch members by her little nicknames.

Cid absolutely knew their names. She would have to if she was ever planning to turn them in, as she eventually does. Maybe she didn't know their clone numbers, but she definitely knew what they called each other.

Yet, even in those moments where they came through for her like in 1.13 "Infested" and 2.04 "Faster," she never uses their names as a sign of respect or gratitude. Hell, even after Tech dies, she still only called him "Goggles."

Now, I'm not saying that nicknames are inherently bad. I have plenty of nicknames for people, and vice versa. But, I think there has to be an established relationship first, and then the nickname should be a sign of affection rather than a way to demean someone.

Cid calls the Batch mostly by their outward appearances or accessories -- Tiny, Muscles, Goggles, Bandana, Dark & Broody. (Note: she uses "Dark and Broody" for both Echo and Hunter on different occasions.) It just indicates how she sees them -- not as people but as objects. She's only looking on the surface because that's all she cares about.

“Blind allegiance makes you a pawn”

It's obvious to see that Crosshair's misplaced loyalty to the Empire ultimately made him one of its pawns, to be used and abused.

But, as I've outlined, the Batch was in a similar position with Cid.

Hunter definitely sees that their "mutually beneficial arrangement" with Cid isn't great, but he doesn't really have much choice. They're on their own; they're deserters/traitors; and now they're in charge of a kid and being pursued by bounty hunters.

However, as I'll talk about more in a second, the Batch had several opportunities to walk away from her and try to find some other ways of "making a living." Yet, they continue to work for her despite all the red flags that they definitely see but choose to ignore. This is partly why Echo eventually leaves, because he disagrees with Hunter's decision to maintain this lifestyle rather than fighting for their fellow clones.

While Hunter is arguably the most at fault for letting Cid use and abuse them as long as she does, Cid takes advantage of Omega's loyalty the most.

Even as Omega is trying to convince Hunter and the others to -- and I can't believe I'm about to say this -- pit two crime syndicates against each other just to get Cid's parlor back ... all Cid can say is, "You tell 'em, tiny!"

Twice she asks/convinces her family to stick their necks out for Cid despite all the risks involved, and yet they get little to nothing in return -- including respect.

Despite all the risks they take for her and all the money they bring in, Cid doesn't give a crap when the Marauder gets stolen and the Batch are stranded on the mining planet in 2.09 "The Crossing." That's when the Batch -- particularly Omega -- finally reach their breaking point.

By 2.11 "Metamorphosis," Tech suggests that they only do this last job for her to ensure they leave her on good terms, because she knows so much about them. But, it's clear Omega and Hunter are fed up with how badly Cid used them, which happens to coincide nicely with Crosshair coming to the same realization about the Empire.

Which segues into the timeline analysis:

THE SIMILAR TIMELINES BETWEEN THE BAD BATCH/CID, CROSSHAIR/THE EMPIRE

Reluctant employees (early S1)

As mentioned, the Batch and Crosshair start working for their respective employers because they don’t have a lot of other options.

Crosshair is, of course, practically abducted by the Empire and forced to do its bidding under the effects of the inhibitor chip. This starts in 1.01 "Aftermath."

Meanwhile, the Batch do the initial job for Cid in 1.05 "Rampage." They do a one-off job to get intel on the bounty hunter(s) after Omega, as well as earn some much-needed cash. The Batch didn't really have much of a choice in either finding or working for Cid, because Cid was the only Jedi informant Echo knew how to find, and they were desperate for the intel.

Then, as mentioned, she subsequently uses strong-arming and blackmailing as needed to get them to work for her in 1.06 and beyond.

Falling into a routine (mid-S1)

By 1.07 "Battle Scars," we can see the Batch has fallen into a routine of doing jobs for Cid. As she said, they need friends and money with bounty hunters after them, and they don't really have any other ready sources of income (as demonstrated in 1.04 "Cornered').

Yet, despite all the jobs they've done for her, they're also in debt to her. Meaning, they can't easily walk away without giving her even MORE reason to turn them in, so they have to continue doing jobs for her in hopes of paying off the debt.

Meanwhile, Crosshair and his ES troopers have been continuing to operate under Rampart, presumably carrying out missions under his command. Granted, we don't see any of these except the Onderon mission in 1.03 "The Replacements," but based on how effective they seemed to be in 1.08 "Reunion," I imagine they were doing missions together off-screen.

The first possible turnaround point (late S1)

If we accept the fan theory that Crosshair's chip was removed or deactivated/damaged around 1.08 "Reunion," then Crosshair has regained his free will by the next time we see him in 1.11 "Devil's Deal."

Yet, despite the Empire hijacking his mind and body and forcing him to do all sorts of terrible things, he continues to work for them of his own free will. He has an opportunity to walk away, but he doesn't.

Likewise, the Batch have an opportunity in 1.13 "Infested," after Cid's parlor gets taken over by Roland Durand.

But, thanks to Omega's misplaced loyalty, Cid's blackmailing and other factors, Hunter decides to pit two crime syndicates against each other to get Cid's parlor back and continue working for her. (I cannot emphasize how stupid of a decision this was!!)

Even after Cid's schemes get the Batch in trouble with the Pykes to the point that Omega is taken hostage, the Batch continue to work for Cid. They're lucky this was a "family show," or the Pykes would've definitely killed them or injured Omega or something else just as bad.

If ever there was a time for the Batch to walk away from Cid, this would've been it -- either before the job or after. But, like Crosshair, they don't take the opportunity to walk away.

The second possible turnaround point (S1 finale)

Crosshair had another opportunity to leave the Empire and rejoin his brothers at the end of 1.16 "Kamino Lost." But, instead he decides once again to double-down and stay with the Empire for a myriad of reasons that might have to be its own meta some day. (I touched on it a bit in my S1 Crosshair/loyalty meta.)

But what might be overlooked is that the fall of Kamino was another opportunity for the Batch to leave Cid.

Again, the reason they sought her out and one of the reasons they started/kept working for her was because bounty hunters were after Omega. The bounty was active through 1.09 "Bounty Lost.” At that point, the Batch learn that Lama Su put the bounty on Omega because she's crucial to their cloning operation.

But, as the Batch see for themselves, Tipoca City is decommissioned and destroyed. The Kaminoan cloning facilities are gone. The Kaminoans aren't in a place where they need Omega anymore, because the Empire has effectively ended cloning (at least for military purposes).

So, they could've left Cid after the events of Season 1. Maybe they could've even left her on good terms after saving her ass in 1.13 "Infested." But, they don't.

Starting to second-guess (early S2)

Admittedly, Hunter was never super-comfortable about their arrangement with Cid, but he persisted because he didn't see a lot of alternatives.

But, Omega (and Tech and Wrecker) clearly start to have doubts about working for Cid during 2.04 "Faster." They once again stick their necks out for Cid by offering to clear her debt with Millegi. And, while Cid is grateful at the time, we see later that her gratitude is short-lived.

Based on what Millegi tells them, especially at the end of the episode, it's clear Omega (and the others) are beginning to doubt whether Cid is someone worthy of their loyalty.

Likewise, Crosshair's experiences in 2.03 "The Solitary Clone" start to plant doubts in his mind. He was stranded on Kamino for a month and comes back only to get demoted and sent on a dangerous and morally questionable mission. And while Crosshair and his squad complete the mission, and Rampart even praises Crosshair for it, we also see that Rampart really doubts Crosshair and the other clones' loyalty.

Ultimately, after his experiences with Cody and their mission on Desix, it's clear that Crosshair is beginning to doubt whether the Empire is worthy of his loyalty.

The breaking point (mid/late S2)

As I've pointed out in another post:

Both the Batch and Crosshair fell into a routine that provided them security and stability in an otherwise chaotic time in the galaxy; and both only reached their breaking points when their employers left them for dead.

For the Batch, this is a combination of 2.09-2.11. The Marauder gets stolen while they're on a job for Cid. They ask for her help, and she doesn't readily or easily commit any kind of assistance. They get the Marauder back on their own, and Cid is more than happy to give them another job, framing it as: "Do you wanna make money?"

It's become clear to them that she views them as tools -- only useful to her, not the other way around.

Meanwhile, at the start of 2.12 "The Outpost," Crosshair sees that the Empire has started to retire clones, but at least he's still getting missions.

But, Barton IV ultimately becomes his breaking point when he sees just how expendable he and all clones are. Based on what he said in 1.15 "Return to Kamino," he thought he was "superior" to the other clones, but as Nolan proves, the Empire didn't care either way.

As Mayday points out, the clones sacrificed everything for the Empire while getting nothing in return. Crosshair and Mayday are essentially left for dead, and when they come back looking like absolute hell, Nolan first yells at them for not retrieving the cargo and then tells them to get to work.

As Nolan blatantly tells Crosshair, he and all the other clones are expendable -- only worth keeping around as long as they're useful.

Not out quite yet (late S2)

By 2.13 "Pabu," we can see the Batch has completely cut ties with Cid and are working with Phee instead. Cid leaves them a message, saying that their absence has cost her a lot of money and she once again threatens to turn them in.

Despite emotionally cutting ties with her, they're still physically at her mercy to a degree. Plus, even once they made it clear they didn't want to work for her anymore, she still wants something from them and she's willing to hurt them if they don't cooperate.

Thankfully, Phee comes through for the Batch and introduces them to Pabu -- their future forever home.

Crosshair, meanwhile, is imprisoned at Tantiss. Despite emotionally cutting ties with the Empire, he's still physically at its mercy.

Hemlock offers him a deal: his freedom in exchange for helping him find Clone Force 99. Crosshair refuses to give up his family, even under torture.

Just like the Batch, despite Crosshair's attempt to "walk away" from the Empire, they still want something from him and they're willing to hurt him if he doesn't cooperate.

The fallout (S2 finale and beyond)

Of course, everything falls together in 2.16 "Plan 99," as Cid sells out the Batch to the Empire. The Batch's and Crosshair's former employers temporarily join forces to screw everyone over in the worst ways possible.

Although it was clear to us from the get-go that Crosshair was wrong to trust the Empire, 2.16 confirms to us the audience just how wrong the Batch was to trust Cid. They came to her in a moment of need, and she betrayed them.

Granted, I think this was mostly Hunter's failing, as they never should've gone back to Ord Mantell. I understand they were hurt and desperate to have AZI heal Omega, but Cid told them multiple times she was willing to turn them in. Plus, they just showed on her doorstep after striking a high-level Imperial compound. They knew -- or at least suspected -- that they were already being targeted based on Crosshair's message, but after hitting Eriadu, they would've been on the Empire's "most wanted list."

Jumping to Season 3, Cid's nature is made even clearer as she gives up the Batch a second time.

It's unclear whether CX-2 bribed or tortured Cid -- probably the latter -- but Cid also sold out Phee. And Cid told the Batch she considered Phee a friend. (Although based on Phee's comments in 2.13 "Pabu," that feeling wasn't mutual.)

For all Cid knew, CX-2 could've tortured or killed Phee to find the Batch, and she still gave up the information.

Once again, the Batch's and Crosshair's former employers work together to screw them over.

One last thing I'll add is how the show gave us glimpses of Crosshair and Cid's true colors around the same time. Crosshair is first bribed and then tortured for information about his family, but he doesn't give them up; meanwhile, Cid sells them out after everything they did for her. And, if CX-2 really tortured Cid in Season 3, it just proves how little she cared about the Batch (or even Phee) compared to how much Crosshair cared about them despite everything that happened in S1.

IN CONCLUSION

I want to state for the record that, as frustrating as it is to see our favorite characters allow themselves to be used and abused by their employers, I don't hate any of them.

These characters are human. They're not perfect, and hindsight is 20/20.

I know several people who were hoping that Cid would come through for the Batch, that she would be a true ally even if she was grumpy and rude (and that's putting it mildly).

If anything, I think this all shows just how similar Hunter, Crosshair and Omega are. They share a lot of the same strengths and weaknesses. Hunter and Crosshair see just how terrible the other's situation is, but not their own; and Crosshair and Omega are loyal to a fault.

They all just wanted some security and stability in what was a very chaotic time for the galaxy and their family. I can understand, to an extent, why they made the decisions they did even if I find them frustrating.

If you want to take any of this meta and apply it to your own lives, by all means. Despite what some folks might think, Star Wars has always been political, and I don't want any of you to end up like our favorite Bad Batch characters.

At the end of the day, "The Bad Batch" is a family show with a lot of morals and lessons about the importance of love, hope and family -- whether blood relatives, adopted or 'found.'

But, it's also a show about the evils of political systems and corporate greed, and how the forces around us will profit off our blood, sweat and tears while giving us little to nothing in return.

[tossawary]

I'm going to rewatch "Revenge of the Sith" later and I don't remember the original trilogy all that well either, but... both "The Phantom Menace" and "Attack of the Clones" seem to suffer tremendously during their final battles because the films keep cutting away from the potentially dramatically and emotionally rich sequences to... the childish physical comedy adventures of sidekick characters.

I'm not going to pretend that "Star Wars" isn't incredibly silly at times. "Return of the Jedi" has the Empire being murdered by teddy bears with sticks at one point, and I am personally incredibly fond of this sequence and the Ewoks generally for no good reason I can name. But, from what I remember, that movie was better editing-wise about letting more dramatic sequences like Luke versus Vader breathe emotionally. We had some time to settle into these fights, to feel Luke's fear and anger, to see Luke's resolve, you know?

And in "A New Hope", the climatic dogfights involve people dying and it's treated quite seriously. A lot of lives are on the line with the Death Star's destruction. The characters go into the battle knowing that some of them won't make it back. And in "The Empire Strikes Back"... as far as I vaguely remember, there's not very much silliness at all at the end of that movie, the protagonists "lose" and all of the characters are in a lot of pain. The camera stays with them to show us their agony and grief and strength.

But in "The Phantom Menace", the film keeps cutting away from Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan versus Maul in favor of Jar-Jar Binks tripping over droids. Jar-Jar Binks fighting to defend his homeworld against an invading army, as his people die around him, is treated as an utter joke. Pure comedic relief with no substance at an utterly inappropriate time. They are undercutting the "war" in "Star Wars" that was a big part of its tone. The film doesn't bother to treat anyone like they or their lives matter in that sequence. And Anakin is in a ship he's struggling to pilot against an entire army, but we never get any real sense of him being afraid of dying in space or being at risk, as he almost accidentally saves the day. Padmé is just... fighting down hallways and it's kind of boring, both action-wise and emotionally. I spent most of the time wishing that the camera would just cut back to Maul again because that fight had actual, like, substance.

And in "Attack of the Clones", the film keeps wasting time cutting back to Threepio with his head accidentally stuck on a battle droid's body, when it's not even clear why he and Artoo are even there beyond just jamming them in as iconic figures from the original trilogy. They shouldn't be there!!! This is blatant shoehorning!!! This is valuable screentime that the Battle of Geonosis could use to focus on the Jedi who are being killed, on the separatists who are being invaded, or on the clones who have just entered the war. Mace Windu or Obi-Wan Kenobi reacting emotionally to the nameless Jedi being cut down around them would have been nice. The confrontations with Dooku could have dug deeper into the emotional and physical pain of his betrayal.

Mace Windu's fight with Jango could have been longer, instead, seeing as the hardest emotional beat we actually get in this film confronting the death of this battle is probably Boba picking up Jango's helmet. A kid has lost his dad!!! We could have seen any of the clones reacting to this, maybe? We could have seen Mace Windu telling Obi-Wan about Jango's death and then Obi-Wan belatedly realizing that they don't know what happened to Jango's child in the chaos. "The Clone Wars" television show ended up doing so much heavy lifting emotionally for this trilogy, because these movies are way too busy with unnecessary Jar-Jar Binks and Threepio physical comedy in all the wrong places.

"Revenge of the Sith" as far as I remember is at least too busy finally focusing on everything going to hell and the tragedy to fit in a jarring sidekick comedy sequence during any final battle. Can you even imagine? Anakin is murdering younglings and the movie keeps cutting back to Threepio and Jar-Jar tripping over droids and shrieking trying to escape Coruscant? I don't remember the movie that well. If there actually is a sidekick physical comedy sequence through the end of the fights in "Revenge of the Sith" that I have blocked from my memory, then I am going to scream into a pillow.

[writerbuddha]

Your blog is interesting and informative. Learning the behind the scenes stuff is interesting but I have found that I cannot accept some of the things Lucas says. Especially the discourse around attachment. Having watched the movies and read their novelizations I just do not find Lucas’s idea behind what he was trying to convey to be in his story.

This really hit home for me when rewatching The Clone Wars. In the episode Voyage of Temptation (season 2 episode 13) Obi-Wan and Anakin have this discussion:

Obi-Wan My duty as a Jedi demanded I be elsewhere.

Anakin Demanded? But it’s obvious you had feelings for her. Surely that would affect your decision.

Obi-Wan Oh, it did. I live by the Jedi Code.

Anakin Of course. As Master Yoda says, “A Jedi must not form attachments.”

Obi-Wan Yes. But he usually leaves out the undercurrent of remorse.

I cannot square the idea that a Jedi would feel an undercurrent of remorse about not having a supposedly negative thing in their life. The only thing I can conclude is that it does not mean a negative and just means having a partner. Having love.

I'm really glad you like my blog, Anon! :)

What I take from your message is that you're a bit confused about attachment and non-attachment and how not forming attachments is guiding the life of a Jedi Knight.

You seem to equate "attachment" with "love" and "having a partner." However, this isn't quite right: attachment is the feeling that you like or love something or someone, paired with the feeling that you would be unhappy without them. Attachment is not the same as liking or loving, because attachment is characterized by the feeling that you have to have the things or people you like or love in your life to keep yourself happy. Once you feel this, you start to want things to not to change, to stay as they are, you want to permanently have things. But everything changes, things come and things go, you can't stop that. Attachment is an unrealistic and unreasonable desire that will lead to the fear of loss, and out of that comes anger, and from that comes hate. And being filled by fear, anger and hate is suffering.

The things we're attached to are most likely very positive, very good and very enjoyable, since we love and like them. Having a romantic partner and a romantic, loving relationship with that partner is not a problem at all, because that's not an attachment. Rather, attachment is the harmful and destructive way of relating to having a romantic partner and a romantic, loving relationship with that partner.

Let's go through this dialogue in Voyage of Temptation!

ANAKIN: You didn't stay to help her? OBI-WAN: That would have been problematic. My duty as a Jedi demanded I be elsewhere. ANAKIN: Demanded? But it's obvious you had feelings for her. Surely that would affect your decision. OBI-WAN: Oh, it did. I live by the Jedi code. ANAKIN: Of course. As master Yoda says, "a Jedi must not form attachments." OBI-WAN: Yes. But he usually leaves out the undercurrent of remorse.

It would be important to be able to distinguish between not forming attachments and the life of the Jedi Knight made possible by not forming attachments, since the two are related, but very different.

ANAKIN: You didn't stay to help her? OBI-WAN: That would have been problematic. My duty as a Jedi demanded I be elsewhere.

Jedi Knights aren't where they would like to be, but where they are needed, and for a good Jedi Knight, who lives on compassion, the two are the same. They dedicate themselves to serve the entire known universe, to guard peace and justice, to settle disputes and make sure that everyone is protected. Obi-Wan couldn't stay with Satine, because as he tells Anakin, his Jedi duty demanded him to be elsewhere. He isn't saying, his duty as a Jedi was to "be nowhere near her," because a Jedi is not allowed to have partners and love.

The reason why Jedi Knights aren't entering marriages and romantic relationships is not that these would be attachments. They won't do it because it's simply impractical. The duty of the parent and spouse, who has to protect and support their family and the duty of the Jedi, who has to guard peace and justice in the entire universe cannot be fulfilled at the same time.

ANAKIN: Demanded? But it's obvious you had feelings for her. Surely that would affect your decision. OBI-WAN: Oh, it did. I live by the Jedi code. ANAKIN: Of course. As master Yoda says, "a Jedi must not form attachments."

Attachment is a very conditional way of relating to others. It says, "You make me very happy, I enjoy you so much, so I love you and I cherish you." It says, "You make me very unhappy, I despise you so much, I I hate you and I want to harm you." And it says, "You do not make me feel happy nor unhappy, I have no concern for you." And these are walking hand in hand: when Padmé made Anakin feel very happy, he wanted her to be safe, he was willing to pledge loyalty to Darth Sidious to keep her alive and in his life, but on Mustafar, when she made him feel unhappy, he wanted her to be miserable and he choked her. A Jedi Knight shall not form attachments, rather, they must have unconditional love, which is compassion. True love says, "I want you to be happy and free from suffering."

It's an aspiration coming from the simple realization that we're the same human beings in wanting to be happy and free from suffering. This can extend to all living things: the people who make us feel happy, the people who make us feel unhappy and the rest. Obi-Wan had to adhere to the Jedi code, "a Jedi must not form attachments." Compassion is central to a Jedi Knight's life. So, Obi-Wan had to make a decision that is based on compassion, the concern for the well-being of everyone, not just the concern for the woman he has romantic feelings for, who he likes and cherishes. Satine had a hard task ahead of her, but the war was over and she was safe. Others, however, were in need of the protection and guidance of the Jedi.

OBI-WAN: Yes. But he usually leaves out the undercurrent of remorse.

What Obi-Wan feels an undercurrent of remorse about not having is a very positive thing: it's the relationship that he had with Satine, what he sacrificed for the life of a Jedi Knight. It was a hard choice, he loved Satine greatly. He doesn't feel bad about serving others as a Jedi Knight, but he does feel bad about leaving Satine.

But Satine didn't ask him to leave the Order, and by the end of the arc, they were both able to find peace, knowing that they made the right decision. I've already posted this quote from the great Vietnamese Zen Buddhist monk and teacher, Thich Nhat Hanh, but it's still explains this perfectly: "As a monastic you lead a life of monastic celibacy and community, and if the one you love realizes that, she will not suffer and you will not suffer, because love is much more than having a sexual relationship. Because of great love you can sacrifice that aspect of love, and your love becomes much greater. That nourishes you, that nourishes the other person, and finally your love will have no limit. That is the Buddha’s love."

Obviously, the disappearance of a loved one from our lives will never be easy, will bring sadness, and their absence will always be felt. But the severe pain, sorrow, regret over this, the anguish that we are not with them, the intense yearning to be with them, to get them back is stemming from our desire to hold on to what we find pleasant, good and joyous, from the inability to accept that we can never truly have, own, possess anything. If we cease the unrealistic and unreasonable yearning, we’re able to allow change, to allow death to enter into our lives and seeing it as a natural part of it. And we can be at peace.

[phantom-of-the-501st]

Citadel Arc Strikes Again

Sooooo... I got to the bit of my Clone Wars rewatch that I've been procrastinating for weeks. And obviously, because the Domino Twins are involved, I have thoughts

Of course you all get dragged along as well 😙

Including you @saturn-sends-hugs @inkstainedhandswithrings and @the-bi-space-ace

Straight off the bat, look at our boys!!! I get so proud of them when I see them in their ARC armour. And I wanna know how much of a say Cody and Rex got in who came along on the mission because I like the idea of them just being like "our sons are coming and we will accept no objections"

Also, why does Echo look like he's ready to deck someone? Chill, dude. It's literally still the briefing.

But something I wanna talk about is how nervous Fives seems about this entire thing. While Echo seemed to be on board with the whole reprogrammed battle droid plan, Fives was less than enthused. And he was clearly unsure about the carbon freezing thing as well. It makes me wonder if he's been on edge about the mission from when they first found out about it and whether Echo had been comforting him and telling him that it was all going to be fine.

Because nothing makes this episode more gut-wrenching than the idea of a stressed out Fives feeling like something is going to go wrong and Echo telling him that everything is going to be okay. 😃

I don't know what happened to these guys during ARC training but Fives has become the one that's all "are we sure this is a good idea?" and Echo's in the briefing room like

And then we have "They're not about to let one of their own be tortured in the handing over of information that will help The Separatists win the war"

Oh the irony

OH THE FUCKING IRONY

How does this show get more depressing with every rewatch? You think you're prepared but haha NOPE

Of course I have to mention Fives handling carbon sickness like an absolute champ 🤜

This pic is also an accurate representation of my mental state after watching this arc

And I'm not sure why this following pic makes my heart melt so much but it just does.

I think it's because we never got much of these three in action together and just seeing them all in a shot like this just makes me think about how far the Domino Twins have come. Rex found these two when they were shinies and now they're all working together with Echo and fives as ARC troopers. They grow up so fast (literally). 🥲

Edit: Looking back at that pic for a second... are there two Echos? That's not Fives in the back. That's Echo's helmet design. And I'm not convinced that the pouches on the chest plates are on the opposite sides like they should be. Rex is talking to two Echos???

Next episode! Oh boy...

Every other clone death aside for a moment, this show really just glossed over the whole "a clone getting cut in half by a door" thing.

The idea of these three being stuck between two sealed doors with half of their brother is horrifying. And the show just moves on like this didn't happen. THEY JUST WATCHED ONE OF THEIR OWN BROTHERS BE CUT IN HALF BY A DOOR WTF

What a happy kids show 😀

And unfortunately it doesn't get much happier.

But I do want to talk about design for a moment because I feel like we don't talk about the clone helmets enough, especially when it comes to things like this shot.

Animating emotion well is hard. Animating emotion well when you can't see your character's face is harder. But what I love is that because of the fact that the top of the visor is just a straight line, you can change the emotion being shown by simply having the character tilt their head.

The first shot clearly shows Echo realising what he needs to do and the next is this very strong look of determination. Just a split second apart, with no change but the tilt of the head, and the emotion changes. It's so cool and I feel like it doesn't get praised enough.

A three-part tragedy:

I think what makes this so heartbreaking is not just the fact that Fives has now lost his closest brother, and the last remaining member of his squad besides himself, but also the fact that it's so sudden. It so quickly went from Echo and Fives to just Fives.

And this is going to be gutting for Rex and Cody as well. They found the Domino Twins as shinies, they would have watched them settle into the 501st, they watched them grow up, were the ones to promote them ARC troopers and were just so freaking proud of these two.

And they not only lost one of them, but they watched this pair of clones, who have been stuck together like glue from the beginning, be torn apart. They didn't just see Echo go, they saw Fives lose Echo as well and that's heartbreaking.

None of them have time to process it either. They have to get out of there and leave Echo behind.

This scene where Fives warns them about the hounds approaching hurt as well because he just sounds so... hollow. He sounds like a man whose lost all hope, and I don't blame him. There's an emptiness now.

Rant Incoming

THESE POOR CLONES. THESE POOR FUCKING CLONES WHO HAVE JUST WATCHED THEIR BROTHERS DIE AND COULD DO NOTHING BUT LEAVE THEM BEHIND ARE NOW HAVING TO PARTICIPATE IN A JEDI FUNERAL DESPITE THE FACT THAT THEY HAD NO OPPORTUNITY TO HONOUR THEIR FALLEN BROTHERS!!!

I'm not saying that Piell doesn't deserve to be honoured and have his body burned (side note: it's really convenient that there was lava everywhere for the whole burning the body thing) but this feels like such a kick in the teeth for the clones.

Also I just want Five's internal monologue here because he literally just watched his closest brother die trying to protect a Jedi who is now also dead. The important info still got back to the Jedi council but Echo gave his life to protect a man who didn't even make it off the planet.

ALSO THEY WATCHED ONE OF THEIR BROTHERS BE CUT IN HALF EARLIER WHY ARE WE IGNORING THE FACT THAT THAT WAS A THING???

Ngl I think I would rather just die than crawl across a wire like this

Despite being depressing as all hell, I do really like these episodes. I love something with actual tangible stakes and having points where they feel comfortable killing off important or well-loved characters is something I appreciate and respect (even if it just leads to endless despair about the Domino Twins).

It's a shame that Echo never gets mentioned between here and the final season because I would love to have explored Fives' response to his loss more. I do like how they handle it in these episodes though. It feels like there is at least some recognition of how Fives would be struggling with all this and it doesn't just have him trotting around like nothing happened.

Fives seemed so nervous for this mission and it's devastating to know how tragic it would be for him and Echo. They didn't go into this knowing that it would be the last time they ever saw each other, but it all got ripped away in an instant and there was nothing they could do about it.

And I think I'm just going to end it on this screenshot because I feel like it just sums it all up.

[randombrambles]

Okay...going to wade into the Sabezra discussion. May the flying spaghetti monster in sky have mercy on my soul...

I guess you could call me a "causal viewer" because, despite being a life long Star Wars fan, I'd never watched an episode of Rebels before watching Ahsoka. I just never got around to it and I've only watched a handful of eps of The Clone Wars too. But anyway once I started Ahsoka I was like "this show will clearly make more sense if I watch Rebels" so I started. I'm almost done season 3 of Rebels as of writing this post. And really loving Rebels btw. Part of me of like "why didn't I watch this earlier?" but on the other hand I don't have to wait for the next episode and I know the major spoilers already so I'm not going to get the rug yanked out from under me.

So back to Ahsoka and Sabezra...the big questions. Did I see the romance "coding" (not sure I agree "coding" is the right word but whatever, that's semantics) in Ahsoka? Yes. Sabine's actions definitely come across as her being in love with Ezra to me. That said I can also see the platonic angle, especially after having watched some of Rebels, so I'm not going to tell anyone they are wrong for viewing Sabine and Ezra's relationship as platonic. These things are subjective and open to interpretation until anything definitively romantic or definitively not romantic happens on screen. And at this point nothing definitive has happened either way on screen. Nobody has been proven right and nobody has been proven wrong yet. Sabezra is basically schrodinger's cat right now.

Next how did I interpret the "like a sister" line in Ezra's holo. Um...full disclosure the first time I viewed that scene I didn't even register that he'd said she was "like a sister" to him. I'd never even seen Rebels at that point so I didn't know Ezra yet. So as a causal viewer my take away from that scene was Ezra meant a lot to Sabine and Sabine meant a lot to Ezra. And I'd be wiling to bet that that was the takeaway for most causal viewers.

So on rewatch do I think the "like a sister" line means that Ezra truly sees Sabine as a sister? No. On rewatch, paying close attention to the body language, and after having watched some Rebels, I think Ezra is both struggling to find the words to tell Sabine how important she is to him and telling her what he thinks she needs to hear in that moment. The problem is that in English we don't have a word to describe someone isn't technically family but who isn't a lover either but who's also way more than "just" a friend. Sister is the best word Ezra can come up with in that moment but you can tell from his awkward body language and his literal scoff as soon as he says it that its not the right word. And yeah I think Ezra thinks that Sabine sees him as a brother so he tells her what he thinks she wants to hear right before he heads of on what very well could have been a suicide mission.

Do I think Sabezra is going to be made canon on Tuesday's final episode of Ahsoka (of season 1 at least). No, but hold on nobody panic!!! I also don't think that means Sabezra is dead in the water either. And frankly I'm kind of mystified as to why Sabezra shippers seem to think that the next episode is make or break for Sabezra when its clearly not? If there isn't a love declaration or a kiss or both (which is what I'm assuming people would interpret can them being made canon) its not like either Sabine or Ezra are going to marry someone else on Tuesday either. And since much of Ahsoka has been set up, meaning not much is actually going to get resolved in the next ep (Thrawn hasn't even left Perida[?] yet! I fear we are ending on a cliff hanger), we'll be seeing Sabine and Ezra again. There's no rush for them to get together romantically (and I know that's hard to hear for people who've been shipping for years but its true).

And further to the "there's no rush" point I actually have to say I that I think its WAY too soon for anything definitively romantic to happen between Ezra and Sabine yet (and again I get how hard that is for those who've been shipping them for a long time). And I say that as both a "casual viewer" and someone who's also watched a good chunk of Rebels now. For the causal viewer who hasn't watched Rebels, which is probably a big chunk of the audience for Ahsoka, they barely know Sabine, have just met Ezra and have only seen them interacting for ONE episode and don't know any of their history. A kiss or a love declaration would seem out of the blue at this point I think. And as someone who's getting into Rebels I still think its too soon. While I agree that Sabine is very likely in love with Ezra I don't think she's admitted to herself yet (that's why Baylan used the word family when he was getting her to hand over the map thingy imho) no way is she ready to tell HIM. And as for Ezra...dude is clueless that Sabine might might have non platonic feelings for him so no way is he going to risk ruining their friendship by blurting out that he's in love with her. And not only that they've been separated for 10 YEARS ffs. They need to get to know each other again before anything romantic can happen, again imho. I want Sabezra to become canon but I want it done WELL. Sabezra is a friends to lovers ship, they are still firmly in the friends stage right now, it needs to be a sloooooow burn.

And finally do I think Sabezra will become canon? Honestly...I don't know. I'd like it to, it would be really nice to have a non problematic ship, especially after the sequel trilogy robbed us of FinnRey and tried to force freaking r*ylo. But I think Filoni and the other powers that be over at DLF (he is NOT the sole person calling the shots here, keep that in mind everyone) are probably testing the waters right now and waiting to see what the audience reactions are like before they make any decisions. I'd be wiling to bet that by the end of Tuesday's episode the door will be left wide open for pretty much anything to happening shipping wise. So we'll just have to wait and see. Time will tell, it always does.

[sixtysixproblems]

(kicks down door) hey. hey guys. keeli & ponds have the same rusty colored armor, in i think the exact same shade. keeli was a captain and not a commander, so logically it's possible he served under one. so keeli was one of ponds's captains and i will die on this hill. considering how talented he seemed to be in the little screen time he had (and considering he was trusted highly enough to serve directly with a jedi), he could have been Ponds's second-in-command even. ya'll. ya'll what the FUCK am i supposed to do with this at 12 fucking am.

have some semi-organized/semi-incoherent thoughts:

this battalion seems to have really shitty luck with Clone COs getting fucking twc is a tragedy'd because YEOWCH. like can you imagine, your captain and all the clones with him die in a self-sacrifice last stand, and then your commander + command crew of a cruiser dies to bounty hunters. like i bet it's not THAT uncommon, and the 501st had a lot of plot armor in a way, but still?? that relatively early on in the war both times too?????? and can you imagine being Mace (and possibly Neyo) and having to navigate that morale disaster on top of your own probably messy feelings on both situations? like yikes oh my god.

well now i'm drawing parallels between their deaths, gee thanks. and now im wondering that after keeli died in that way, that was a big part of why Ponds chose to go down with the ship? like, from what we gathered of him, it seemed to be in character regardless...but if Keeli and a bunch of other men had died under his command, i bet it didn't even feel like an option to abandon the command crew/admiral-- even if it seemed implied (or at least in my interpretation) that ponds wasn't obligated or even expected to stay on the cruiser.

both deaths are written to make the audience feel shitty despite not really knowing these characters, but for different reasons. keeli's feels very "classic tragedy" aka it sort of echoes some greek/roman myths and tragedies for me. like it's very honorable, brave, and it's a heroic sacrifice, and because twc is twc it's a brutal fight pretty damn clear (to my recollection at least) no one got out of that fight alive. you root for the characters because they're pretty fucking likable instantly because of what they're willing to do to protect the twi'leks, even if you can tell they're doomed from the start or you're on a rewatch. you know why it has to happen, you just cant help but hope it won't. filoni seems to like this trick a lot cough cough fives

Ponds's death by contrast, was intended to feel pointless, and that's where the sense of tragedy/audience's sadness comes from at least in part. keeli's death was sad because even if these characters could have lived, they were too good to take that road and instead picked the greater good, and it was just...fucking sad, man (its 12 dont come here for good analysis). By contrast, despite ponds having a pretty impressive handle on the situation actually (he seems to get under Sing's skin a little, and it's my opinion/headcanon that the CT number he gave was a lie), it's not like he's actually in control of the situation/has any agency at all. It's cruel and it's unfair and feels pointless, especially considering he survived the ship crash and survived the bounty hunter's attack on the survivors-- and especially contrasted with most other named character TWC deaths, which are almost always in battle/a heroic sacrifice/etc.

so yeah, moral of the story, while the deaths have some parallels to me, they're also very different. filoni used different writing tricks to make me you cry over another barely mentioned copy paste man. again.

very unhappy considering the HCs of Rex both being close to Keeli (often as batchmates), and being stolen adopted by Cody & CC batch. i'm also very unhappy about all of this in general.

one thing that's interesting, is that clearly keeli's death can be pulled off without any previous screentime (sobs). but i dont think ponds's death would have worked as well if it wasn't for his (albiet brief) screentime in the ryloth arc. like, in hindsight, oh boy-- there is no reason (I can parse out, at least) to give precious screentime Mace Windu's random clone commander primarily to make him more likable-- via a good report with Windu, and wanting to pass on rations to the civilian/sad about ensuing warcrimes-- if you weren't, oh i dont know, trying to get the audience a little attached or at least remember his name for when you fucking kill him. like yeah, those scenes served dual purpose, but the other plot-y goals (like "here's the horror of fucking war again in our pg7 show") could have been pulled off other ways with characters that get more focus/the audience already knows (Cham, who would have a more emotional reaction, and Mace, who the audience already has a rapport with). maybe im thinking too far into this, but Perhaps Not.

my "first" (probably not, but first watch since i was ten) of That Scene involved "oh fuck that isn't the nice commander from ryloth right" (checks wookipedia) "fuuuuuuuuuck--", so. it still would have been sad, but it's a lot more sad if you remember (even vaguely) who he is and have your (anakin sad boy voice) "that was ponds" moment.

yeah idk how to end this. suffer as i have, i guess?

[ratbaby15]

🐀🐀CLONE WARS RANT INCOMING🐀🐀

Ok so im rewatching the mortis arc for the 5 millionth time and I'm at the part in alter of mortis where ahsoka is possessed by the son and talking to anakin. It got me thinking about the real meaning behind the things she's saying, and I dont know if this is a common theory (I haven't seen anyone else mention it so tell me if it is) but I don't think the things she's saying here are really her sentiments about him as a master, I think this part has more to do with anakins master and padawan relationship with obiwan more than anything, allow me to explain. What really caught my attention this time around was her saying the line-

-"always with the criticism, master."

Now say what you will about anakin as a master (in my opinion I think anakin was actually a very capable master when ahsoka was concerned) but one thing I wouldn't really call him is overly critical, he's actually generally very supportive of ahsoka, even when she makes mistakes he relates it to his time as a padawan more often than not (a good example being in the season one episode storm over ryloth). But if you recall attack of the clones, we see throughout the whole movie anakin and his frustration with obiwan and his "constant criticism". We know that anakin saw obiwan as an overly critical master because he kinda mentions it. a lot.

I think what's happening in this scene is the son is obviously trying to manipulate anakin, using his insecurities from when he was a padawan and in his relationship with obiwan to put a wedge between him and ahsoka while also reopening that old wound effectively putting that same wedge between him and obiwan so he can separate them and have anakin to himself, cause as we are shown quite a few times the only thing really keeping anakin from the darkside at this point is the presence and trust of his loved ones, whether that fact is healthy or not.

K, rant over, just had to get that out, peace.

[obimaulartfire]

I rewatched Attack of the Clones last night, and I'm like.. Shocked at how dirty the Clone Wars series did Count Dooku.

In the movie he's like, he's a Sith lord of course, but whether it's a facade or not, he still carries a deep respect for the Jedi. He looks like he feels bad when he has to fight Mace. When he's done absolutely Wrecking Anakin and Obi-wan, he looks sad. Like you can tell when he stops actively drawing on the Dark Side after combat.

He has a complicated relationship with Yoda; turning their encounter into a contest of strength before pulling out the lightsaber. He negotiates with Obi-wan like he Actually wants him to join up with him. He's a master manipulator, of course, but he has a lot of emotion in him at all times.

Like, why did the Clone Wars series make him out to be such a one-dimensional character? I know leading the Separatists and fighting in a war can change a person, but come on. AOTC Dooku would Not have abandoned his apprentices imho. Or at the very least he might have been a little more flexible with them before kicking them out.

[piglet26]

Star Wars Rewatch: TROS

Oh, God.

Palpatine come back and ruining Anakin Skywalker's redemption. Why? How? Cloning, okay, so this Palpatine isn't the real Palpatine?!

We get to see Supreme Leader Kylo Ren for about 4 minutes before he's immediately benched by Palpatine as co-pilot. Why? I get they didn't want Kylo Ren as the big bad, but this is just lazy writing.

Green goblin, I remember you don't last long.

R2D2, they never wash him or nothing?

Maybe the First Order should win. They take hits and keep on knocking. They take losses and recovered, quickly and well. They always seem to have intelligence from somewhere. In short, they are competent.

Poe and Finn, have a great dynamic.

Rey is finally training for everyone who had a boner for two movies about her having a rocky fight montage.

They moment where Ren is praying over Darth Vader's mask and his mind bridges with Rey is a great reminder that these two are connected.

This film did something most franchise should never, it responded to criticism in real time.

Poe, you fucked up Han's ship. Stop attacking like she doesn't have a reason to be annoyed. Also, Rey is currently the sole Jedi in the galaxy, she should be training, not running off on every errand you have to do.

Colin Travano (whatever his name is) I wouldn't have wanted his script. Like at all. Poe and Rey do have chemistry though and you can tell they enjoy needling one another. It's just not endgame.

That Finnrey hug was awkward. It's a church hug with their butts sticking out. I'm Reylo to the core, but I have place for FinnRey in my heart. They're soulmates in a different way than Reylo is. Also, Daisy Ridley and John B are adorable and you can tell they enjoy working together.

In a flawed film, Rose Tico being sidelined was a wise decision.

Rey, Poe, Finn, Chewie and 3PO are cute. JJ Adams did seem to love friendships developing and for the third film we needed to see all these characters together on an adventure.

Kylo Ren is forging this dumb ass mask again. Look it worked initially, character wise and so forth, but at this point?! He smashed it and moved past the need for it. The audience liked that he smashed it. We have to see his face for emotional scenes. Why is it back? Oh I know! Because JJ Adams good juvenile friend was sad his mask wasn't in the film anymore. General Hux and Kylo are magically little bottle of goodness. We got so little.

We leave one planet for another planet but I keep forgetting what planet we're on. Title cards too much to ask?

Ren is actually pursuing Rey or The Scavenger because yes he wants her for himself. but he also wants to protect her from Palpatine. Their first force bond......... yeah. I've read the novelization so I understand it's been a minute since they've seen one another, but if I just watched the movie would I have known that? No. There is much they saying yet it's stiff and doesn't make much sense without context.

General Pryde. Why did we need him when we have General Hux?

I think Billie D Williams filmed all his scenes sitting down. He looks happy to be there but tired as hell.

Race through the desert of Pasaana. I like it. This crew does work and it feels like a fun adventure. There are cute, whitty moments between all of them and it works.

She heals a snake - Two halves of the dyad should only have been able to heal one another, but here we are.

The Trio and Co find the evil sith ship or whatever. The Knights of Ren gotta walk while Ren is flying. Ren tries to run down Rey, again this make sense in the novelization and not at all in real life. After Rey injures his planes, he crashes and the majestic prince emerges out of the flames. Seriously?! Why the hell are you covering this guy up?!

In a rip off of The Last Jedi we get a tug-o-war scene between the ship Chewie is on. It's not as great, but it's a good scene and we see how Rey's powers have grown. We know it's a waste of time though. They're evenly matched. It's a nice surprise when the lighting shoots out. Okay, I don't mind her being a Palpatine. I mind the retconning. I mind Palpatine magically coming back.

Rey confesses to Finn about her dream of her and Kylo Ren on the Sith Throne. Where? We would have liked to have seen this.

This is a nice FinnRey scene. Despite her display of "dark power", her killing Chewie presumably, Finn doesn't look at her any different. She's still Rey to him. He's patient and present and she describes her challenges. We still don't acknowledge Finn is force sensitive. Why isn't he training with Rey?

We are blazing through this movie. That's part of the problem we're just pushing plot points at this point. The movie needs to be more selective about slowing down and concentrating on character development. Something painfully lacking in this film. Even the Reylo scenes are about pushing the plot forward rather than pushing the characters forward.

3PO actually has a storyline this movie. Good for him. Look secondary characters in a trilogy, you get your moments and it ain't gonna be every film.

Zorri and Babu are nice additions. I like Zorri and the fact that Ren kicking her ass actually made her like her. Women supporting women. Were Zorri and Poe a thing. What's a spice runner? A space drug dealer?

Rey's social skills lack a bit. but she's great with Droids.

Wait, Chewie and Ren were both on Ren's Destroyer and they didn't even have a scene together?! Chewie's like an uncle to Ren.

Ren, show up in your boss ass destroyer to get your girl.

Standout lines -

Poe: 3PO! Move your metal ass.

3PO: How dare you we just met.

Finn, Poe and Chewie cowboying through the destroyer. Nice scene, doomed for failure I'm afraid.

Second Reylo forceskype is exposition. First real Reylo scene is exposition. Hey, movies gotta get it done haha but Ren literally is like here's the plot of the movie and everything you've been confused on up until this point. I will say watching the progression of the force bond that their spaces are now physically bleeding into one another. Nice touch. It's also nice to see what they each see when looking at one another through the force bond.

General Hux is the spy. Could've gone farther with this. RIP Dawg

Another FinnRey scene where you begin to understand Rey is pissed off and darker than possibly Finn thought.

Palpatine and Ren scene. I'm so annoyed Palpatine is in this movie.

We meet a ragtime band on horses surprise their former stormtroopers. All of them. From the same company. Sure Jan.

Seeing the death star again, so odd and doesn't look a thing like the original. We see scavenger Rey again.

Reylo fights again because Rey is the denial queen and she's free to take out her aggression on Ren. He likes feral Rey. In another less PG film, they've fought and then boned, but Leia died. Also, Dark Rey.... I'm here for it. Mostly cause it looks cool.

The film makers did the best they could with Carrie's Fisher passing. I thought they handled it with class and dignity while incorporating it into the film.

After Leia's passing and Rey healing it. Ren in his ever presented conflict nature overlooks the water when his father appears. It's poignant and character driven scene. It's beautiful scene about the enduring love of a parent. A flawed parent but a loving one nonetheless. Ben had two of those and he seems to finally understand that now.

Poe has a good scene with Leia's body about being a leader. Something that, despite all the bravado, he finally admits he doesn't know how to do. This would've been a great scene with her alive. Part of the issue people have the sequel trilogy of the lack of respect paid for previous generations. As if they are flawed and bigoted. On screen and off screen. A scene where Finn, Poe or Rey paid respect for the accomplishments of previous generations. Their courage and their bravery. Billie D. feels like just a stand-in.

Palpatine army blows up yet another planet. yawn.

Finn is a general bestow as such by Poe. Good choice. Sanitation worker aside no one knows more about The First Order than someone who was a stormtrooper. Finn reveals Palpatine wanted Rey alive...... then why tell Ren to kill her? Because if Rey didn't go dark then Ren was the fall back or vice versa?

So far it's not a bad film, just a disappointing film. The stuff that made my blood boil is about to come.

Rey isolates herself on Acht-to, burns the ship and we see ghost Luke. Why? She saw herself on the dark throne and she's afraid of herself. This might have meant something. At one point. It just feels like a retcon at this point. She's a Palpatine but Leia and Luke didn't care? Then what the hell were you worried about Ben for? If blood and legacy means nothing.

I'm not one of those people that need everything in a movie to make sense. It's also a space fantasy film, but damn.

Rey leads the Resistance to Exegol, she just doesn't know it. That was handy. No, really the way the movie sliced that together worked very well. Poe and Finn make a great speech about the resistance. Not as rousing as I'd like.

Exegol being the basis for the Sith religion is actually really cool. Wish we could've learned more. Empress Palpatine sounds like a boss ass name.

I hate everything about the ending of this film.

Rey once again goes into the enemy territory without a plan. The resistance doesn't really have one either except gumption.

Ben Solo is back! He's great. He's a hero. He's got great hair. He's likeable. We haven't seen him for 20 minutes, he doesn't say a word except "Ow" We have a beautiful Reylo moment where we Rey and Ben see each other through the Force Bond and she looks at Ben with such relief, joy and love that he's there with her. Ben fight like hell to get to her. This is it! Bendemption. We've waited three films for this. Then they tossed him off a cliff.

While it's a great scene of Rey listening to the previous Jedi's and rising up. I'm so confused how the dyad coming together empowers the devil. Ben has been made completely irrelevant.

I mean, we got a Reylo Kiss! It was epic and then it was over. We were lucky to get that considering Disney started to shy away from Reylo due to all the "controversy" I just hate this so we'll move on.

The hug was nice!

Rey Skywalker?

And that's that

[gremlin-bot]

That ain't happening Thursday!

we are back baby!!

I was working on a lot of stuff for fandom events so I really couldn't share a lot. Now that most of that is done I can start on other things! Starting with the sfw part of a Nsfw Brain Dead ship Fic!! it is affectionally named "smut fic, yes the one with star wars" in my wips folder.

Danny had been friends with Tim for over half a year and he has been pining after him for just as long. He is so gone for this boy it's not even funny. Sam and Tucker had been dealing with his lovesick ass the whole time and he can tell they are at their limit.

"Danny, I swear to the Ancients if you don't ask him out or something soon, I'll start growing plants in your dishwasher." Sam lightly threatened after his half an hour long rant about the other boy.

"Sam, no!" Danny pleaded with her from his spot on the floor.

"I'm with Sam on this one, dude. If she doesn't go through with it then I'll keep giving you viruses. You'll be forced to talk to him to get rid of them because I'm sure as hell not doing that for you." Danny cringed at hearing Tucker. Yeah, maybe this was going on too long if Tucker was making threats.

"Fine, if I don't ask him out before the end of spring break you guys can go through with ya threats" The cheers this got from them was in his opinion a bit much.

So here Danny is, with two days left before classes start up again and still too much of a coward to say anything to Tim. He even is tired of his own bullshit at this point, but he is going to fix it today! 

Tim had asked him to come over to watch Star Wars later that night. He planed to ask the other out afterwards, let's just hope he doesn't chicken out. He really doesn't want to hand wash dishes and find a way to fix his computer without Tucker or Tim. 

---------—x—---------

Tim couldn't wait for later tonight. Danny and him were supposed to continue their rewatch and light roasting of Star Wars, with Attack of the Clones being next, it should be a great night. Danny's roasting and general presents always made the nightmare of getting someone to cover his patrols worth it.

His missed patrols did have the side effect of making him a bit restless. He ends up having to workout beforehand to settle himself. Normally, it wouldn't be a big deal, but this damn proposal meeting is taking forever. At this rate, he wouldn't be able to change out of his workout clothes. Well, guess he can use this as an opportunity to flirt with the other man. He’ll wear some booty shorts and a crop top then. If it doesn't drive Danny up the wall nothing else will. 

Tim really should just ask the other boy out at this point. His crush was getting ridiculous, and it was really a matter of time before he said fuck it and kissed that hot nerd. He almost did before he was interrupted by Danny getting a call. He was going to find the coworker that called Danny in to cover for them that day and steal their left shoes.

Tim internally sighed as another person talked about something that could have just been an email and was barely relevant. God, when will this suffering end.

---------—x—---------

When Tim opened his door, Danny knew he was going to die. 

He was going to die of blood loss because all of his blood is quickly heading to his dick, and it’s all Timothy Jackson Drake-Wayne’s fault. Tim was in bright fucking red booty shorts with white trimming. His shirt did not help either! The black hand-cropped top with the cartoon ghost on it was bisected by its uneven cropping. Tim’s slim torso displayed the efforts of his clear workout. A bead of sweat dripped down his torso to his waist line. 

Ancients, he wants to follow it with his tongue. 

Danny snaps his gaze up to Tim’s face, hoping he didn’t get caught with wandering eyes. The other man smirks and steps out of the doorway to let him in. Danny was a fucking goner. A dead man (more than usual) all because of the man in front of him. 

Danny quickly slips his sneakers off and stumbles after Tim. So many questions running through his mind, none he can ask without giving his exact feelings away, if his dick didn’t give half of them away already. 

Fuck, he was pathetic.

He takes a deep breath. He can do this, survive the movie and ask that gorgeous genius out. He just hopes that Tim feels the same.

[eriexplosion]

Andddd we're getting into the end game of season one with War Mantle.

GREGOR MY DARLING <3 Having a terrible time of it. I'm still desperate to know what fills in the portions between the whole 'getting exploded' and this. Anyone like EXPLAINING HOW TECH LIVED WOULD TAKE TOO MUCH TIME - they could always do a Gregor and JUST NOT EXPLAIN SHIT.

Omega trying to copy Hunter's knife tricks is so cuteeeee

NO MONEY MEANS NO FOOD Tech has been trying to convince them of this all season.

Also Wrecker in this scene is why i can't see the batch dynamic without Tech working like imagine Hunter and Echo at odds about what to do and Wrecker is just like You Both Have Points :) Things would simply not get done quickly.

"Ensure every viable clone is mobilized" I am SO SAD ABOUT ALL THE LITTLE TUBIES? AND THE LITTLE CADETS... I am VERY CONCERNED about those babies.

Hunter is the most hesitant bitch in the world. We're banking a lot on a clone we don't even know. The way this man would bundle his squad into a bindle and carry them off into a cave forever.

More Mysterious Tracking Skill. Smell a stick, get a full picture of what happened.

OKAY SO AS I'VE SAID BEFORE, I WATCHED TBB COMPLETELY BLIND, NO IDEA ABOUT TCW OR THEIR ARC IN THAT. WHICH EXPLAINS THAT HUNTER HAS ELECTROMAGNETIC SENSITIVITY. So let me tell you. When he goes from sniffing the ground to being like THERE'S SOMETHING HERE. INSIDE THAT MOUNTAIN. All I could do was go 'okay whatever you say!' but I had no idea how he would have made that determination. Magic mountain vision.

"We do not know for certain if CC-5576 is even in there... or if he is still alive." the way Tech has this line and then Echo saying that if there's even a CHANCE they have to try to get him out... if Echo doesn't go searching for Tech I'm calling bullshit. If there is even a chance, Echo will take it.

God the confusion over only 50 clone troopers and 1000 'TK troopers.' Just genuinely unaware that the clones are being replaced, and it's such a foreign idea that they don't even consider it.

"That's CAPTAIN traitor" is one of my favorite lines in the show

Perfect screenshot, no notes

Love the exchange between Tech and Gregor. Yes he was captured, AFTER he made it out!

Gonky sounds like he's worried about Omega I know all he can do is waddle and gonk but I will apply anthropomorphization as necessary.

I'm SURE THEY GOT EVERYTHING UNDER CONTROL! *Hard cut to the batch NOT IN CONTROL OF SHIT*

SCORCH. This is my first time rewatching since playing Republic Commando and my intense affection is mixed with 'baby this isn't you someone help him'

Gregor getting shot in the chest and surviving like yeah doesn't this tell you something about perhaps not going into battle in a FUCKING TANK TOP I STILL CAN'T BELIEVE REBELS KILLED HIM LIKE THAT

No show that made Hunter take this fall without a single scratch on him is going to kill Tech with a fall into the clouds unless they truly TRULY somehow ran out of ways to kill someone. Hunter bounced down that like he was in a pinball machine.

"Glad we're not going that way!" one of you is

The fact that they don't even think of using Gonky until Omega plugs him in like that's how utterly detached they are from what Gonky is actually SUPPOSED TO BE DOING. He is a friend they just love him!

When Gonky got fried I was actually super worried for him the first time.

Hunter telling them to leave without him and bringing in "That's an order" while Omega BEGS TO GO BACK. GODDDDD MY HEART.

The way she does exactly this when Tech falls in Plan 99

Lama Su's uncertain doom is done so well

LAST MOMENT WITH CROSSHAIR AND HUNTER I AM SCREAMING STILL.

I was hoping for the whole squad (because I'm agonizingly lonely) but you'll do

[im-yotsu]

Get to know me tag game:

Thanks for tagging me @bluedeedeedoop :D

Favourite colour: dark/forest green

Last song: Femininomenon, because at this point I couldn't avoid Chappell Roan and had to find out what she sounded like. I'm actually ejoying her discography.

Currently reading: Dracula (in the pace of Dracula Daily, of course), Choujin X and Queen's Shadow.

Currently watching: Nana (holy shit I recommend this one so hard) and Tangled the series. (I'm also rewatching Clone Wars and Shingeki no Kyojin, what can I say, they're comfort shows).

Currently craving: I'm craving baklavas 24/7

Coffee or tea?: Coffee, I drink 2 daily. Tea is nice but I prefer ice tea.

Any hobby you'd like to try?: Miniature making. I've done stuff like that before, and let me tell you, when I'm zoned in making crafts days could pass without me noticing.

Any discipline you'll follow during the Olympics?: I'll follow my team with football and basketball, but I like to watch generally everything I can catch.

Any AU/Alternative Universe you’re plotting for?: Nope xd

[popculturebuffet]

Next up for Cartoon Network era of shows, who is your favorite character from each of the 2000-03 half of the Cartoon Cartoons-era shows you've seen like: Sheep in the Big City, Time Squad, Samurai Jack, Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy, Evil Con Carne, Whatever Happened to Robot Jones, Codename Kids Next Door, and Star Wars Clone Wars 2003?

I realize now this was about CHARACTERS not just the shows in general. Since I did on the first one though, i'll give my opinons AND the characters to split the diffrence. First covering last time Dexter's Lab, Johnny Bravo, Cow & Chicken, I Am Weasel, The Powerpuff Girls 1998, Ed Edd n Eddy, Mike Lu and Og, and Courage the Cowardly Dog.

In order: DL: Dexter's Dad, easily one of Jeff Bennet's performances and I feel bad I had no idea it was him ands not phil hartman. Johnny Bravo: Carol, as him dating an antelope is just.. such a hilariousl awkward concept, and this is coming from a guy who dosen't have the best cringe comedy tolerance. Chronos MASTER OF TIME and the Nixon Shark are both close seconds. Cow and Chicken: The Big Red Guy: the sohw itself may be mixed but god I love him IAW: Weasel. Easily The Power Puff Girls: Hmmm this is a hard one but due to a thing i'm working on and his general meanace I have to go with him. He had a uniqueness to his apperances: It was always going to be terrifying unless it was with other villians and always something unique and memorable. EEE: Ed. He's truly the best and a meme machine fo ra reason Mike Lu and Og: Mike herself whose a nice mix of ignoarant yet still savy. Courage: The boy himself out of the main cast though pretty much every character here is fantastic. Kitty out of the antagonists, as she's the most tragic, has a truly creepy deisgn and was a gay character long before that was common OKay now onto the next era Sheep in the Big City: This is one I need to rewatch as my recent kablam retrospective (Please check it out), had me rewatch the off beats and I like Willems sense of humor and might ge tit more. The sheep himself is my faviorite, having a great design, likeable demeanor and nice bleats. Time Squad: Another one I need to revisit and a true classic: Simple premise, hilaroius characters and Larry 3000 is easly my faviorite. C3PO if they meant for him to be gay. Samurai Jack: Like most of these in this installment I need to revisit it. One of the best cartoons ever. Havne't checked out the last season, hear mixed things. Faviroite is the scotsman: he's hilaroius, fun to watch and a nice counterpart to jack being just as capable but everything our boy isn't. Billy and Mandy: A comedy classic. A bit too mean for i'ts own good sometimes, but a truely great horror comedy most of the time: creative premise, truly stacked cast of side characters, and richard steven horvitz greatest performance til lhelluva boss (zim is VERY close to billy though. ) Faviorite character is asking a lot of me, but I have to go with my childhood faviorite, Dracula. He could've aged poorly and shoudl have, he is making fun of blaxplotatoin.. but he never feels like a black sterotype, just a cranky throughly weird old man Evil Con Carne: One I need to revisit, yes AGAIN, and a show I always felt was undereatted. It just never took off the way Billy and Mandy did and you can tell maxwell atoms still had affection for it given he both ported skar over to billy and mandy (A really great decision and one I dearly love) and brought hector and ghastly back for one last hurrah. It was also one of my first exposures to Grey DeLise and Armin Shimmerman (Though I jus tlearned about the latter), and one of Phil LaMarr's best roles. With that last qualifier, Hector is my faviorite: his pomoposity, voice and being shoved in a bear are all great.

Whatever Happened to Robot Jones?: Need to revisit it you know the drill. Has a great title character, also my faviorite, concept but I don't remember it a ton. KND: Easily my third faviorite Cartoon Network show. A gloriously built world that's both nicely detailed and approriately childish, and a show that evolved from a pretty one note premise to a truly wonderfully thought out masterpiece that parodied just about everything with a nice chunk of x-men refrences. Faviorite is Numbah 2. Hoagie is just the best and his solo adventures tended to be some of the best of the series.

Clone Wars (Genndy's Version): Another one that, say it with me now "I need to revisit" and a true classic. Beautifully animated, great to watch. I will say the second season isn't quite AS good, trying a bit harder to be a lead int oa movie loosing the sheer flexiblity and cretivity season 1 had. I mean season 1 has mace windu going bare fisted monk on a bunch of droids alongside the ongoing arcs about ventress and whatever his name was. It also made general grevous a massive disapointment in the films.