#enjoy some more of my ramblings

[phantom-of-the-501st]

Thoughts on TBB 1x4

It hasn't been a month since the last one. Yay!

*Talks about not making analysis posts as often* *immediately posts an analysis*

I had the energy to get through another episode and type this up straight away so you're in luck!

"Hide? But I've been stuck on Kamino my whole life. Can't we explore?"

THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT I WAS SAYING LAST EPISODE! Now that she's had some time away from Kamino, Omega just wants to explore. Everything is so new and exciting for her. For the Batch, it's more a case of okay, get in, do what we need to do, get out and don't make yourself known. Unless they know that they are completely safe, they don't always appreciate the stuff around them. It's more of a case of observing details as a precaution and not because the whole thing is fascinating like it is to Omega.

As soldiers, there were probably so many instances of them being dropped in new places, only for it to end really badly. But I think that makes Pabu all the more special. It's a place that they'd never been before where they could actually just appreciate the stuff around them. For a second they don't need to think about the dangers, or what could be lurking round the corner. Seeing them all appreciate a new space is so lovely, whereas here, they are very on edge.

And I like to think that they learn a lot from each other as well. Omega learns that sometimes you need to be more wary, and that you need to be aware of the dangers of your surroundings. But I like to think that she taught the Batch to appreciate the world around them more, and to indulge every once in a while.

The Batch and Bribery

I'm sorry, but have the Batch never bribed anyone before? They are a ragtag group of misfits who constantly find themselves in trouble and do things by unconventional means and you're telling me that they've never had to bribe someone before? What???

I like to imagine that everyone in the past just looked at Wrecker (or Crosshair) and thought "haha NOPE" so they've never had to pay anyone to keep quiet.

Echo's Droid Disguise

IT HAS A KAMA!!! It's a detail that I've always loved. The idea that he still has a kama even though it's not a thing that you see in droids is one of my favourite things. Once an ARC trooper, always an ARC trooper, even when in disguise (apart from that one shot where they forgot to include it and it's the first time we actually see the back of Echo's legs since TCW).

Also, if Fives was here, I can totally imagine him wanting a droid disguise as well. Just one of those typical sibling moments where his brother got something really cool and now he wants one too. Except I feel like he would be having too much fun with it and that Echo would have to keep smacking him upside the head because Fives would keep doing the robot dance instead of paying attention. (He would also just make fun of C3PO the entire time).

Plus, I'm not gonna lie, I feel robbed. The fabric(?) bit around Echo's head goes under his headpiece thing and WE NEVER GET TO SEE HIM TAKE IT OFF. I don't know why I want to see this so much (maybe because I'm curious about how it attaches) but I wanna see his headpiece come off so bad!

And one final note on the disguise, why do they even have it? Where did it come from? They don't seem to have used it before so I'm assuming they just had it lying around. Did Tech make Echo a droid disguise as a "just in case" thing? How long have they had it??? And does that mean they have a box of disguises somewhere? I like to imagine that it just consists of Echo's droid disguise, a bunch of poncho's and one of those plastic glasses/moustache combos.

More Echo

HE'S SO SOFT AND NURTURING ASDFGHJKL I CAN'T

He really is just the sweetest bean. I love him so much! Honestly, I can imagine that Echo has always just been really good with kids. The idea that the 501st would be deployed somewhere and the next thing you know, Echo has an entire swarm of kids around him who love him (because how can you not) and he's being super friendly and sweet towards them. And I think that comes from being the "responsible" one from Domino Squad. He would have to corral his brothers, so he just learnt on instinct how to handle kids. And I can also imagine him being the one that everyone would turn to if they felt sad or scared and he would be there to comfort them and I'M GETTING THE FEELS!!!

This is just turning into me gushing about Echo...

Oh well, what's new

*me watching Echo this entire episode show*

(Also, this is completely irrelevant but these gif came up when I was searching for the other one and now I have the urge to rewatch TFATWS because I love Bucky and Sam so much. They're another one of my chaotic duos and this moment is so wholesome <3)

Anyway, back to the TBB!

Okay, my next note literally just says "Five's would've been such a fun uncle istg" and I don't know how to go into more detail with this because HE 100% WOULD AND NOW I'M SAD THAT HE'S NOT AROUND BECAUSE HE WOULD SPOIL OMEGA ROTTEN AND TEASE ECHO ABOUT BEING A MUM AND WOULD JOKE THAT HE'S HER FAVOURITE AND OMEGA WOULD PLAY ALONG AND HER WOULD TEACH HER ALL THE PRANKS THE HE AND ECHO USED TO PLAY AND I JUST MISS HIM SO MUCH I-

...I guess that's how I go into more detail.

Okay, deep breath *breathe in* *breathe out*

I think I'm okay now... maybe.

"I am worth more than 2000"

WE LOVE A MAN WHO KNOWS HIS WORTH! Echo's just like "I'm sorry, but I have to put up with you lot 24/7, you're not selling me for that price, what do you think you're playing at?"

Although, as much as I think this scene is hilarious, I do like the fics that delve more into the negative repercussions of Hunter's decision here. The idea that something like this actually triggered Echo's anxiety or self-loathing or doubt because he was sold as a droid is a really interesting avenue and while I think they probably find it too serious of a thing to discuss in a children's show, half of the stuff that happens in TBB is much more horrific so GIVE ME ECHO HAVING PTSD FFS! Not because I want him sad, but because I think it's an interesting avenue to go down, especially if you have Hunter learning to navigate where Echo's boundaries are as someone who has been through the trauma that Echo has.

Omega and Cute Animals

Honestly, Omega getting distracted by cute animals is such a mood. I just wanna pet every adorable animal that I see and I totally get distracted every time I see a cat.

"I got separated from my friends"

At this point, she still refers to them as friends rather than family. I feel like that's less of a case of her not feeling like they're her family, but more a case that she's not sure where the boundaries are with them at this point and whether it's appropriate to refer to them as such. They're still figuring out the dynamic at this point and I love the little details like this that show that.

Klink

I LOVE KLINK SO MUCH!!!

"Gear up, fellas! we're going into the field!"

I swear, in every scene this man does something that makes me love him more. It 100% feels like something Rex would do and I like to think that comments like this are a habit he picked up from his older brother.

"You got me for a bargain"

This analysis could just be me gushing about Echo for who knows how many words. The sass level is perfection.

Vehicle Safety

Now onto something that has bugged me for a while in Star Wars. WHY DOES NOTHING HAVE AN IGNITION KEY??? I'm sorry, but vehicle theft rates would probably be much lower if you couldn't just get on/in something and drive away with it. They can invent hyperspace travel but they can't find a way to stop people from running off with your speeder bike? Someone needs to get on that ASAP.

Poor Civilian

I feel so sorry for the bloke who got thrown out of his speeder by Fennec. Imagine driving home from work and a random bounty hunter just yeets you into oncoming traffic.

Actually, that's another thing. Does nothing have seatbelts??? They have bars across the crash seats in the Marauder, but why are there no other seatbelts??? Props to Din who actually set up a way to keep Grogu strapped into the seats on the Razor Crest. Everyone else is just waiting to be thrown into traffic.

Concluding Thoughts

I feel like this was less analysis and more headcanon

Echo is great

Road (air?) safety in the Star Wars universe is atrocious

[goblins-riddles-or-frocks]

forever obsessed with dynamics between vampires, specifically that of a maker and fledgling, as a way to explore abuse. the creation of a vampire itself can so easily be a literalization of the lasting impacts of trauma and also much more simply the ways a perpetrator might shape their victim’s very identity. the extremes of isolation in the way that the new vampire, in most narratives, must cut all ties to their mortal life, or else go through an elaborate charade to maintain the facade of humanity, while forever still being removed from it. and the sheer dependence and vulnerability of being in an entirely new state of being, wholly uncertain of what it entails, and relying on another person to define… everything.

[liecanthrope]

wait because seriously being an adult therian fucking rips, especially when you start being independent.

dog with a blog? nah. dog with a JOB. i come into work with my tail and my theta delta necklace and the building implodes from my sheer swag. weirdo teenagers love me. also having your own paycheck means you can get whatever gear/treats you want (once bills are paid, of course - bet youve never heard a dog say that!)

living in your own apartment? well the pet limit is 2 but if i include myself im going over the limit. whoops! good thing i love lying to landlords (fuck landlords). living alone (no roomie) is even better bc theres no one to judge you for your animal habits. i can make a huge den in the living room and who is going to stop me?

i even have my own health insurance. bro. imagine being a dog with medicaid. im climbing the walls and howling and barking. i love being a dog filling out government paperwork.

having your own vehicle? THIS DOG CAN DRIVE! if i feel like going to the lake i can just go to the lake! nobody is stopping me! midnight ride with the windows down to howl at the moon? yes please!!

you can literally just go wherever bro. i moved 11 hours from my hometown to the mountains to feel more at home. i lived in the great plains and now i can just go out for a hike in the rockies and howl at the sky.

being an adult therian slaps so fucking hard i cant wait for the youth to grow up and experience the joy of freedom. yes being an adult is incredibly stressful but if youve been stifled living with family, you get a real chance to develop who you truly are. adult therians i love you im rubbing against your neck and mixing our scents. mwah.

[gingermintpepper]

In my Zeus bag today so I'm just gonna put it out there that exactly none of the great Ancient Greek warrior-heroes stayed loyal and faithful and completely monogamous and yet none of them have their greatness questioned nor do we question why they had the cultural prominence that they did and still do.

Jason, the brilliant leader of the Argo, got cold feet when it came to Medea - already put off by some of her magic and then exiled from his birthland because of her political ploys, he took Creusa to bed and fully intended on marrying her despite not properly dissolving things with Medea.

Theseus was a fierce warrior and an incredibly talented king but he had a horrible temper and was almost fatally weak to women. This is the man who got imprisoned in the Underworld for trying to get a friend laid, the man who started the whole Attic War because he couldn't keep his legs closed.

And we cannot at all forget Heracles for whom a not inconsiderable amount of his joy in life was loving people then losing the people around him that he loved. Wives, children, serving boys, mentors, Heracles had a list of lovers - male and female - long enough to rival some gods and even after completing his labours and coming down to the end of his life, he did not have one wife but three.

And y'know what, just because he's a cultural darling, I'll put Achilles up here too because that man was a Theseus type where he was fantastic at the thing he was born to do (that is, fight whereas Theseus' was to rule) but that was not enough to eclipse his horrid temper and his weakness to young pretty things. This is the man that killed two of Apollo's sons because they wouldn't let him hit - Tenes because he refused to let Achilles have his sister and Troilus who refused Achilles so vehemently that he ran into Apollo's temple to avoid him and still couldn't escape.

All four of these men are still celebrated as great heroes and men. All four of these men are given the dignity of nuance, of having their flaws treated as just that, flaws which enrich their character and can be used to discuss the wider cultural point of what truly makes a hero heroic. All four of these men still have their legacies respected.

Why can that same mindset not be applied to Zeus? Zeus, who was a warrior-king raised in seclusion apart from his family. Zeus who must have learned to embrace the violence of thunder for every time he cried as a babe, the Corybantes would bang their shields to hide the sound. Zeus learned to be great because being good would not see the universe's affairs in its order.

The wonderful thing about sympathy is that we never run out of it. There's no rule stopping us from being sympathetic to multiple plights at once, there's no law that necessitate things always exist on the good-evil binary. Yes, Zeus sentenced Prometheus to sufferation in Tartarus for what (to us) seems like a cruel reason. Prometheus only wanted to help humans! But when you think about Prometheus' actions from a king's perspective, the narrative is completely different: Prometheus stole divine knowledge and gifted it to humans after Zeus explicitly told him not to. And this was after Prometheus cheated all the gods out of a huge portion of wealth by having humans keep the best part of a sacrifice's meat while the gods must delight themselves with bones, fat and skin. Yes, Zeus gave Persephone away to Hades without consulting Demeter but what king consults a woman who is not his wife about the arrangement of his daughter's marriage to another king? Yes, Zeus breaks the marriage vows he set with Hera despite his love of her but what is the Master of Fate if not its staunchest slave?

The nuance is there. Even in his most bizarre actions, the nuance and logic and reason is there. The Ancient Greeks weren't a daft people, they worshipped Zeus as their primary god for a reason and they did not associate him with half the vices modern audiences take issue with. Zeus was a father, a visitor, a protector, a fair judge of character, a guide for the lost, the arbiter of revenge for those that had been wronged, a pillar of strength for those who needed it and a shield to protect those who made their home among the biting snakes. His children were reflections of him, extensions of his will who acted both as his mercy and as his retribution, his brothers and sisters deferred to him because he was wise as well as powerful. Zeus didn't become king by accident and it is a damn shame he does not get more respect.

[welcometogrouchland]

I understand that literature nerd Jason Todd is kind of overblown in fanon compared to it's actual presence in canon (a few issues during his pre (and post?)crisis Robin tenure that highlight it) BUT consider that I think it's hilarious if the unhinged gun toting criminal has strong opinions on poetry

[lucasoliko]

Hellooo sorry ive been busy with college lately but also i finally started playing bg3 and this is for all the fat gortash truthers out there

[elsecrytt]

so i had a thought.

what if 236 is actually jujutsu tech propaganda?

mei mei is broadcasting this entire thing, right? what better way to protect gojo from bounty hunters etc., than convince the entire world that he's already dead?

the final battle happened offscreen, with significantly less fanfare. gojo rescued megumi, defeated sukuna. the day was saved.

at a cost.

gojo gave up everything - at least, everything he valued. the six eyes, his abilities as a sorcerer. he assumed that would make him a normal man, and he was right -

what he didn't realize was that it would also make him blind.

so now... you live in a nice apartment complex. a guy moves in next to you.

you can't help but notice he happens to be blind - at least, he's wearing a blindfold, uses a cane, but he's often swearing and stumbling through his porch, over his entryway. he is very, very blind.

you, wondering what the fuck up is with your obviously blind neighbor who seems to have no sense of self-preservation.

he walks into objects all the time, especially hitting his head on things, since he's so tall. forgets his cane when going out. the dude just left his door open the other day, like, WIDE OPEN, who DOES that?

helping gojo learn, not only how to be human, but how to be disabled. how to not be disgusted with being disabled.

gojo learning that being blind isn't the end of his life, nor the end of his happiness - life is still worth living, even without one of his senses.

helping gojo mourn his lost sense while still finding things to enjoy. gojo who learns to cook by taste, by feeling heat or texture, with your help. gojo learning to organize things so he always knows where they are from memory.

bringing gojo audiobook versions of your favorite stories even if he teases you for your taste. he listens to them when he has nothing to do, which is most of the time, now.

he goes out on walks all the time because he doesn't have a job, you learn. while it's nice to not have to work, you can tell he comes from money, his life comes with a gaping hole inside it, one that isn't entirely explained by the blindness.

gojo who's overstimulated all the time because he no longer has infinity as a barrier, but somehow also as touch-starved as ever, alone in a foreign country away from all his students and colleagues.

gojo, who has only ever done Big Things with his life, who has only ever been an Important Person doing world changing things, now, just an ordinary guy.

he barely cares what happens to himself now. it's not that he wants to die, or anything. it's just that he doesn't have a reason to live.

and that wouldn't change overnight. not with cooking lessons or audiobooks or friendly greetings whenever you see him by the door. not with smiles or waves (he can't see them) or a braille rubik's cube you find online (how did he solve it in under a minute??) or karaoke (he has an AMAZING singing voice, and he knows so many songs better than you do?).

it wouldn't change overnight, because nothing worthwhile forms in a day, or two, or even a week or a month.

but gojo's life doesn't have to be amazing a day after he's gone blind. or a week. or a month. it's okay if it's difficult, he learns, it's okay if he hates it, hates himself, hates every choice that brought him here, even if he would never take it back.

it's okay. it gets better. with you there? it's getting better.

[notachair]

thinking about how Sypha described Alucard like a "cold spot in a room" in S2, and Alucard showing up at the end of Nocturne S1 looking all desaturated, though yes ethereal, but also in a sense cold and ghostly, all buttoned up at the front. Sypha saying his sadness being like an icy well. And here he'd been so soft and happy by the S4 finale 😭 I'm nervous- but excited. And I fear the new groupie got some walls to tear down

[loopyarts]

My whole digital sketch/doddle spread of Holm. Aka me figuring out how to draw him while I am also having fun with it. He’s also my favourite minor character from dungeon Meshi. :3c He is just so adorable to me and I love this goofy 28-30 year old gnome.

[jadecantcreate]

in the whitchlite carinval. straight up “caking it.” and by “it”, haha, well. lets justr say. My chad

(some gideon exploration & little doodles)

[shepscapades]

shep I was talking to my brother about dbhc xisuma as one does and mentioned that ask about not being able to puzzle xisuma's face together mentally and my brother joked that the reason you put the spoiler bars and such on his face is cause you cant draw his whole face yet 😂

anyway I might have talked his ear off about dbhc idk tho lmao

LMAOO NOOOO!!! MY SECRET FINALLY IS OUT!!! /silly

[horsemeatluvr23]

the juppet !! i just realised he is jerma posing i swear that was unintentional...... i spent so long digging thru muppet concept art and looking at old puppet designs just to end up doing a rly simple drawing but. i love joehills!! i have only been watching them for like 4 years but their videos r so special to me :3

[valhallavalgrace]

Have you used your powers at all since getting to Hotel Valhalla?

Leo hasn't used his powers once in battle and it's probably costed him a couple losses. (The dreams are likely both from the gods and also from genuine demigod PTSD.)

I've posted a flashforward in-universe valgrace fanart about this arc here... he'll be happy again one day I'm sorry

prev ask

[secondbeatsongs]

when you're into the Big Ship™ in a Big Fandom™, you have the luxury of having an OTP - a real One True Pairing, where you can read about just them for ages, and you will never run out of fics, and everything is perfect and beautiful and nothing hurts

but when you go to a smaller fandom, you'd better pray to whatever god you worship that someone else in this room ships the same thing that you do, and that if they do, they're writing more than late-night crackfic, because you're on thin fucking ice!

and how small is your small fandom? is it less than 100 fics? maybe even...less than 20 fics?

welp, then it's time to make peace with that god and either open up a text document or learn how to ship everything, because it's swim or drown babey! and your ship is sinking fast

anyway all of this is to say that after hanging out in small fandoms and shipping less-common pairings for a while, going back into a Big Huge Fandom™ is wild because suddenly it's like...wait, why didn't I ship these people again? I don't remember. why was I only sticking to one ship in this fandom?? boring of me, honestly. these guys should make out.

[leslieseveride]

they really weren't kidding about the rom-com vibes in this season.

[kinou]

Rambling about the moralintern (spoilers under cut) from a new de fan. Writing this out to organise my own thoughts mostly

I've seen a lot of people interpret the ending to the moralist questline (where harry is taken away by warship archer) as him getting killed or sent to sad centrist 1984 jail. But if that's the case, why do they give him the chance to just walk out right before they pick him up?

I don't think they're cartoon villains. They genuinely are very concerned about the pale - enough to hear harry out and even work with him. This isn't to say they're "the good guys". They're happy to ignore or even *cause* any amount of mundane human suffering, it probably doesn't even register on their contingency spreads. But the pale is an existential threat to humanity (and to ze stabilité!).

But whatever you consider the pale to be a metaphor for, it seems this type of thinking is, if not the cause of it, at least the furthest thing from the solution.

It seems the only way to push back against the pale is the belief that things can be better, through communism, anodic dance music, being totally HARDCORE. Valuing stabilité above progress, being indifferent to individual suffering (at least beyond "the poor can have a little food aid, as a treat"), is the opposite of that. So the moralintern is inherently self-defeating.

All of which already makes them interesting antagonists/social commentary, but then you have the innocentic system which...!

God I can't stop thinking about this game I want to talk about it nonstop forever