#i can't believe i'm star wars posting on main

[pacificwaternymph]

I see people fighting about who to ship Commander Fox with and so I propose: ALL of them.

Fox is dating Riyo AND Quinlan AND Bail AND Breha. All at the same time. Just one big massive polycule.

[ruescott]

can feel my star wars divorce slowly but surely beginning. I can’t do this anymore besties

[foone]

The worst part of working at the Dimensional Nexus is that we don't get the regular internet there so you can't just watch your shows on Netflix or whatever. We gotta stick to analog media, since the digital stuff doesn't deal well with the temporal flux (the analog stuff doesn't either, but it's usually just a fuzzy image for a second, while your computer just crashes).

Everyone brings in their favorite media from home on old analog tapes (or laserdiscs. They're analog too! And we've got a couple hardened players on the lounge, so we can watch them).

Anyway while you're on-base (which could be for months or years), all your (video) media consumption ends up being on CRTs and piles of tapes you brought or traded with coworkers. Most people bring in a second suitcase of tapes so they'll have something to watch.

I brought in some letsplayers I stuck on a few VHS tapes (yt2vhs is a great program), and box sets of Star Trek: TNG and DS9.

About a month in, the trades really open up, as everyone has watched their own tapes and wants more. I got a good deal on a laserdisc of the Soviet version of... Well, nevermind. But let me just say, in my defense, the author of the books never went off the deep in in that universe, and the Soviet version wasn't made with her cooperation, anyway. I know that's sometimes a little difficult for people from the 91-verse to believe, but that's not the author's reputation in the rest of the Nexus.

Anyway I traded my TNG episodes for VOY. I've seen TNG a dozen times, so I figured it was time to go back over VOY.

It seemed to be pretty similar to what I remembered (other than them killing off Seska of all people at the beginning of S3? Who kills off your series's main villain?!) but at the end of S3 I hit the big divergence between our universes:

Seven. They introduced him early on in Scorpion, part 1, earlier than I remember.

The storyline goes mostly the same, with just a little less 7/Janeway romantic tension (do they even get together in this version? I'm gonna have to wait until season 5 to find out!)

Harry Kim lives in this version of Scorpion, too. I'm not sure why that is, they were clearly setting him up to die? Probably some executive meddling or something. I don't have access to Trekpedia (especially in that universe!) to check.

But yeah. This is one of the universes that got the twinky Seven instead of the catsuit-girl version (Not that this version wears any fewer catsuits). They got 9 seasons instead of the usual 5, so I'm excited to see if those extra ones are any good. When I was picking up the tapes I was surprised how many there were, and Josh told me in his universe they get home in season 6 and the remaining 3 seasons are a sort of spin-off/reboot done when Orbita took over from UPN.

Can't wait to see how that goes. More Star Treks need a post-script season (or three) made in the USSR!

Anyway I'm already looking forward to finishing this because I've already gotten a lead on a copy of TNG where Yaphet Kotto said Yes to the Picard role (sadly that version doesn't have the quintessential Jeffrey Combs as Riker, but I hear some people swear by the Gregg Marx Riker).

Still looking for any copies of the Kim Miyori-as-Data version of TNG. That one wasn't as popular (not it's vault! They had the US Doctor Who and both the Star Wars shows to go up against) so it's less likely to be brought in, but I'm always checking video libraries whenever I'm in that universe. Someday I'll find it. I found that fucking CED of the Walken A New Hope, I'll get the girl!Data TNG one of these days!

[bberry005]

yeah yeah i know i usually post silly little anecdotes about the bad batch but how about some real analysis?

people have said it before but truly the only way for this show to have a message and meaning in the end is for it to have a happy (if not that then bittersweet) ending.

the whole point of the show is family, specifically clone force 99/the bad batch as a family. the show literally starts with them accepting omega into their family. throughout the show, this theme of family is repeated. them helping hera syndulla rescue her parents. them helping rex rescue their fellow clones because they're all brothers. phee introducing them to her family on pabu.

star wars has always had a message of love and family, but more often than not, that ends in tragedy. we're all hoping the bad batch will give us that ending where they're all reunited. they'll rescue omega/all escape tantiss in some way, tech will be revealed as cx-2 (i'm a supporter of this theory and for this post i'm going to assume he is cx-2), and they're able to all go and be TOGETHER as a family. what they do after that doesn't matter. they just need to be together.

i can see any of them sacrificing themselves in the finale, but the whole point should be that they're not ALLOWED to. not when they're this close. not when they're a family again. not when crosshair is back. not when they learn tech is alive. not when omega is safe. whoever (likely hunter or echo) tries to sacrifice themselves needs to be held back. because family is the point. because they're not letting ANYONE else pull a plan 99.

the bad batch show might be ending, but it shouldn't be the end of them as a squad. they HAVE to live. because family is the point, because they protect each other, because they're allowed that quiet life of not being soldiers and that time to heal and to join the rebellion if they want to. but if hunter, wrecker, crosshair, and echo die, and tech is either not cx-2 or they can't save him, and omega stays in tantiss forever, it destroys their whole theme that they've spent the whole show developing.

tragic endings and stories are star wars specialty (the prequels, the clone wars, rogue one, andor, hell even rebels and solo to an extent). the bad batch has potential to show us that there is that other central theme of star wars: hope. there's hope for our main characters and that they'll be the ones who show us that not every hero who fights for the rebellion/the republic just faces tragedy. there's hope that omega can grow up in peace. there's hope that hunter can have his quiet life away from being a soldier. there's hope that echo can keep fighting for what he believes in, that crosshair can heal, that tech will live, that wrecker will see all his brothers again.

basically, star wars give us a happy ending to this story of family and hope. we deserve it, the characters deserve it, and the story deserves it.

[verstarppen]

A THANK YOU LETTER

an apology and update! for all you beautiful people - 2 for the price of 1

hello! over the months i've written and deleted this letter because i was too much of a coward to show my face after i left. i contemplated if it would be adequate enough, if it even matters. At the end, i owe this fandom too much, so here it is:

THE APOLOGY

i am truly sorry. there's no better way of putting it.

the more i create the more i realise how this fandom held my hand and i simply wouldn't be the person i am now if this blog never existed. i've always struggled with sharing art and writing online, as i thought it was too lame and took the coward route of keeping it to myself and my closest friends.

ever since this blog, i've found that less of an issue. the more i think about how much i let you and myself down by disappearing the more i feel the shame weigh me down. i never wanted to leave, but life has this funny way of forcing your hand when you least expect it.

without getting too personal, this year hasn't been great for me or anyone close to me - friendships died, family members were hospitalised, university crushed me, expectations from everyone around me made me question if i'm failing in every aspect of my life, i lost passions like art - something i've always thought of as my dream career, and i fear the stress will only grow rather than die down.

in some of those harder moments i would always turn to a distraction, create something for a fandom i enjoy to get my mind off things. to see your comments and your messages always kept me going even when i physically couldn't take the stress of everything around me anymore. being busy made my flame for F1 dwindle, too. it's one of the main reasons i didn't return earlier. I've missed half the races this year, yes that includes both lando and oscar's wins, and although im looking forward to the summer break ending and the racecs coming back, i don't think the enthusiasm will ever return to the way it was when this blog was at its peak.

i feel like a coward for disappearing and it's a big regret of mine this year. i can't promise to write for F1 again, but what i've made will always be archieved here :)

THE UPDATE

not great. i can't even lie i'm not doing too hot right now. i promised i would return to writing when things finally calmed down and yet the more stress there was the more one off projects i made to combat it. throughout the months i've accumulated a lot of side projects for different fandoms like star wars, star trek, dc, merlin and lesser known fandoms such as heavy rain, mortal kombat, the sims (no seriously have you seen the lore) etc. that i have nowhere to post. in april i decided i can't afford (literally) to distract myself with any hobby projects for the sake of my situation and thus... i was an idiot and i deleted my ao3 account. there weren't that many stories on there anyway, but i regret it even if it was the right decision.

i owe @wtfisakilometer2 so much for telling me that the people who love the blog wouldn't mind what fandom it is as long as it's by me, even if i don't fully believe it. it did open my eyes to finally write this, though, so direct all your love to her.

so that leaves me here, sort of homeless on my own blog and with very conflicting feelings about it's direction. i intend to preserve it as an archive of my F1 writing without messing with it, but still let you know about my new ao3 and everything on it so i can keep both our interests in mind.

thank you for reading if you made it this far, i hope you have an awesome day and a lot of cat memes in your pinterest. thank you for all the lovely messages (i read everything) and thank you for everything this fandom has offered me. i will truly never get over you guys.

- star :)

[momphineasandferbmadeablog]

how would YOU write phineas and ferb star wars 2 and 3 if they make them in the new seasons

OKAY SO

there are a couple of problems we have to solve first -- unlike luke, leia, and other star wars protagonists, phineas and ferb have active living parents who probably do not want them participating in the rebellion and exisiting parallel to the plot of original star wars, which is going to make it difficult for us to put them in the plot. and we can't solve this problem by having the empire murder them and burn their house down like happens to owen and beru, because this is a kid's cartoon. MAYBE they think phineas and ferb are at ski camp on hoth like they suggested at the start of episode 4a while they're actually helping out with the rebellion alongside isabella and the former stormtrooper gang.

they have to be there for the evacuation of hoth. im imagining isabella having to go out in the snow to rescue phineas and ferb like han does for luke, but they build some kind of igloo structure (ice chalet, perhaps) to survive the night rather than having to sleep inside a dead tauntaun. then i'm imagining p and f go to dagobah to train in the force with former jedi master...meap. they do not know that luke is also there training with yoda. meanwhile, isabella, buford, baljeet, and candace are stuck in space in the centennial chihuahua experincing the han and leia subplot -- i want baljeet and buford to recreate the scoundrel scene. darthenshmirtz, who survived the explosion of the death star, is chasing them through space to try and learn where perry the rebelpus has gone. in the end, everything comes to a head on cloud city ( i saw a comment on cj's post saying stacy should fill the lando role and i actually kinda love that so i'm stealing it, and candace took them there to find help. of course, stacy doesn't betray them on purpose, i bet she's just like accidentally live streaming it on the holonet or something). darthenshmirtz, who's a fan of her channel, shows up and holds the kids hostage, leading phineas, ferb, and perry to come rescue them. buford trips and falls into the carbonite pit after the main story crew has left, and baljeet is distraught. Darth and Phineas have a dramatic confrontation where Darth tells Phineas he’s his father, and Phineas almost believes him before Darth says “kidding! That’s just a stupid fan theory!” and stares directly at the screen. Phineas and Candace (who is slowly realizes she might also have the force) sense each other and the rest of the gang is able to save him and ferb, and escape from the empire with stacy's help. the movie ends with them all staring out the window into space, planning how to rescue buford and help stop the empire.

i got another ask about this so i will use that to give my ideas for episode 6!

[theosb0rnway]

Just finished the Bad Batch finale and HOLY SHIT IT WAS SO FUCKING GOOD

SPOILERS BELOW THE CUT

THEY ALL LIVED!!! HOLY SHIT THEY ALL LIVED I CAN'T BELIEVE IT--

So um.... yeah Tech's still not dead to me, CX-2 is alive, everything is fine, we'll see him soon, it's fine-

Crosshair GOT HIS HAND CUT OFFFF- Not the biggest Crosshair fan but I still feel so bad.... BYT AT LEAST HE MADE THE SHOT AND SAVED OMEGA AND HE GETS A HAPPY ENDING NOW

Speaking of happy endings, THEY ALL GET TO GROW OLD!!!! I'M SO FUCKING HAPPY FOR THAT, I'M SO GRATEFUL THEY GET TO LIVE THAT PEACEFUL LIFE THEY WANTED, EVEN IF WE DIDN’T GET TO SEE IT

GONKY'S ALIVE AND WELL, THANK THE FORCE

Emerie helped the kids escape I'm so glad they all made it too AND THE KIDS LOOKED SO CUTE ON PABU WITH MOX, DEKE, AND STAK

ECHO'S STILL ALIVE AND HELPING THE CLONES FIGHT, HELL YEAH

They rescued the clones!!!! I'm SO FUCKING HAPPY they did

HEMLOCK AND RAMPART ARE FUCKING DEAD, LET'S FUCKING GOOOOOOOOO

Rampart was a double-crossing son of a bitch and he got what he deserved. Rest in peace, Nala Se. You may not have always been on the right side, but you died doing the right thing.

Did I mention that I don't think Tech is dead?

The CXs were SO COOL I wish we got to see more of them!!!

DID I MENTION THAT I DON'T THINK TECH IS DEAD?!? (I'm not losing hope guys, I'm not-)

The Zillo beast absolutely RIPPING UP TANTISS was fucking FANTASTIC and I love it and it was VERY VERY MUCH DESERVED

Baryn is me, I need loud destructive noises to fall asleep LOL (this is why I can only fall asleep to FNAF songs in my ears-)

Seeing grown up Omega made me cry, and I love that older Hunter looks like pretty much every older Hunter fanart ever drawn-

Wish we could have seen older Wrecker and Crosshair, and GIVE ME SCENES OF BOTH OF THEM HEALING, PLEASE- (Crosshair did not eat on screen the ENTIRE SEASON I don't like that at ALL.)

Overall, I thought the finale was a solid 9 1/2 out of 10, the only thing that could have made it better was a CX-2 is Tech reveal, but... I mean I got everything else, so I'm not entirely disappointed.

I'm still staying VERY MUCH a part of this fandom, sorry not sorry to my followers who came for the Ninja Turtles and got Star Wars copy-paste men instead-

As I mentioned, I do have a Bad Batch project coming out soon, and I guess I could call it a fix-it now... but yeah, I'm not done with Star Wars and at this point in my life, I really don't think I'm leaving this fandom any time soon. Yes, it has some issues, as all fandoms do, but it's where I fit best at the moment. I'll still be posting other stuff, but Star Wars and the Scream franchise are my main fandoms for now.

Thank you to the cast and crew of this WONDERFUL show, you did it again, Star Wars. (*puts TBB in my top 3 TV shows of all time*)

And thanks to all my friends here on Tumblr who helped me get into this show and traded theories and so much more! (Also special thanks to @atyourdinosaurs for all of your love, theories, and ideas [and for inspiring my new project], and to @casp1an-sea and @thecoffeelorian for being two amazing friends I made from this fandom!)

We had a great run, guys. It's a honor to love this show and to be here for its final moments. Here's to more Star Wars and to more Bad Batch content in the future.

-Oz

[empresskadia]

So, June is a special month to me for a number of reasons, but the main one I won't dive into and the second one is that it's the start of summer [which happens to be my favorite season].

In honor of my month being here, I'm doing reader-insert prompts for Halo throughout the month. I'm willing to do some for Commander Shepard and other characters if we discuss it beforehand.

These are gonna be short scenes with the prompt ranging 200-500 words, posted throughout the month, so if you are interested, please send in some for me!! You are more than welcome to send in multiple different asks, I want my inbox flooded

 Prompts

"This is absolutely not my fault."

"There are a lot of things that I didn't think were possible before you."

"You give me a reason to keep going."

"Sometimes, I wonder why I put up with you."

"I don't care. I'm not leaving you."

"Can I hug you?"

"You're the best thing that's happened to me in this fight."

"I believe in us."

"I will be waiting for you."

"Come back to me when you figure it out."

"Do you think we'll ever find peace?"

"I don't want to die"

"I'm barely holding on"

"Even Spartans need someone to rely on."

"your eyes are so pretty"

"Don't ignore me."

"I'm very concerned."

"I'll always come back for you."

“Is it possible to love too much?”

“This is without a doubt the stupidest plan you’ve ever had. Of course, I’m in.”

“I’ve seen the way you look at me when you think I don’t notice.”

“I thought you were dead.”

"Put your lips on mine."

"All I can think of is you."

"How long are you gonna keep denying you feel the same?"

"Please don't leave me like that ever again. It scared me."

"Seeing you smile gives me hope."

"I'm scared to lose you."

"I never thought a Spartan could be this gentle."

"Stay close to me; we can't afford to get separated."

"The stars look different when I'm with you."

"Do you ever think about life before the war?"

"I trust you to cover my back."

"This feels like our last mission together."

"I can't believe we survived that."

"You make even the darkest days seem brighter."

"Do you ever wonder if there's more to life than fighting?"

"I've seen what you're capable of, and it's incredible."

"I didn't think I'd ever meet someone like you out here."

"I'll be your shield if you need me."

"We make a good team, don't we?"

"You always know how to make me smile, even in battle."

"Your courage inspires me every day."

"I can't imagine doing this without you."

"Your strength gives me hope."

"Every time I look at you, I see a hero."

"I've got your six, always."

"You make the impossible seem possible."

"I thought I'd lost you back there."

"No matter what happens, I'm with you."

"Your presence is my only comfort in this chaos."

"Do you ever dream of peace?"

"I can't stand the thought of losing you."

"You're more than just a soldier to me."

"The universe feels smaller when I'm with you."

"You give me something to fight for."

"I'll follow you to the ends of the galaxy."

"Your bravery is unmatched."

"Even in the darkest moments, you shine."

"I believe in you, more than anything."

[ordinaryschmuck]

I saw a post about how Carmen Santiego has great character designs and diversity through race and body types. I considered it a good post and one that makes a good point...And then below it was a reblog about how a person went "If Carmen Santiego can have a diverse cast of HUMANS, then what the hell is up with Hazbin Hotel and Helluva Boss?"

First of all...What the hell do either of those two things have in common? They sure are animated shows, I'll give you that. Except that one's a children's animated spy thriller and the other two are adult musical comedy dramas in Hell. Stylistically and tonally, neither of them have anything to do with each other and you just randomly made a point because...you hate Hazbin and Helluva? Cool. Congratulations. Now get a new personality and just fucking watch something else if these two shows made your hatred this obsessed when you randomly attack a show through a post that has NOTHING to do with it. The OP wasn't attacking Hazbin Hotel or Helluva Boss. Unless they constantly attack it and they made that post to prove a previous point, something that does NOT come across in that original post, there's no reason to go "Hey, why didn't these completely different shows with their own styles take notes of this kids show with ITS unique style?"

And here's the thing: I like Carmen Santiego. I like the way that it looks, and I think its style really is unique compared to other animated series that have come out around the same time. And I do agree that it has a great diverse cast that shows off a lot of body diversity where every single character looks unique in their own way. But here's the thing: I would not go out of my way to attack other shows, to the point where I'd hijack someone else's post to say, "Yeah, this show is WAY better than this other one I hate." And if I had in the past...I'm sorry. I really am sorry. I hate that I acted that way and I will try to do better. Because that's what I do with media criticism or talking about stuff I don't like. I try to act BETTER than I have in the past because that's not how you talk about media. Whether you like it or hate it, it's never a good thing to talk about something you hate when the discussion is about something someone else loves. Sometimes it makes sense, as there are often two products that are similar to each other. Like Marve/DC, Star Wars/Star Trek, and The Owl House/Amphibia. Those are media where there's a lot to compare and contrast, with people being unaware that the main reason why they like the other basically boils down to personal preferences when it comes to consuming media. But with Hazbin/Helluva and Carmen Santiego, there's really NOTHING to compare and you're just going out of your way to talk about something you hate when it's not relevant to the conversation. It's like people who hyped up Puss in Boots: The Last Wish just to shit on Velma. Yeah, The Last Wish is a thousand times better than Velma, but there's nothing similar about both products that make the discussion worth it. You're just using something you love as a weapon towards something you hate.

I get it, people like some things and hate others. It's how we're wired as human beings and I can't stop that. Nor do I think I CAN stop it. But just feel like this is making media discussion worse when all we can think of to do when discussing something we love and bringing in something we hate into the conversation. It's not necessary, and you're feeding the creators that thing you hate by still talking about it. You want to know the best possible way to react to "objectively bad" media? Stop talking about it. Stop watching it. STOP ENGAGING.

If you don't fucking like it, stop consuming this piece of media and go watch something you enjoy instead. Give THAT your time. Show how THAT does everything right and sing its praises. Raise up this one thing that you believe is "objectively good" so it can effectively overshadow this thing you consider "objectively bad." There's a way to discuss media without shitting on something you don't like.

[warsamongthestars]

Back on my bullshit.

I've got a lot of questions, on how the TBBshow works exactly?

Cos yeah, its been clear for a long time, it doesn't want you asking questions because it will just, fall apart at the seams and go from Frankestein's monster to Frankenstein's ground floor beef.

Like, basic shit. Here's the Plot breaking questions:

HOW DID THEY RECRUIT STORMTROOPERS SO FAST? If they could just, recruit people out of the blue like that, like, Immediately Post-War side, not even 24 hours after the destruction of the Jedi Temple. Where the did they come from? And if they could just, come in like that, why weren't there any natborn armies during the Clone Wars itself? Recruitment takes a long time. Boot camps, at minimum, take 3 months real world. So, Plot Hole 1: Spawning Stormtroopers with Cheat Codes.

WHY DIDN'T THE CLONE ARMY REBEL? If the argument is, that the chip just Wears off, and we know that our troops can and will just rebel against bad officers (We've seen it happen), and that they all do have a pretty strong moral backbone in general... ... How come when this, so called "Wear off" occurred, we didn't see a rebellion enmass? Especially after Kamino's destruction? Still can't recruit and train people that fast, and there's still an entire clone army, and its pretty clear that the show claims there are lots of clones in the ranks and hiearchy... Clearly, it must not just "Wear Off". Plot Hole 2: Attempting to claim that established Sci-Fi Brain Tumors isn't Sci-Fi Cancerous.

WHY IS EVERYTHING EVERWHERE ELSE? Where is Cody? What's going on with Rex and his Rebellion? Why did Echo join that exactly, and how come the Batch couldn't be convinced? Why the fuck is Ventress even There. The story (and its writers) keep wanting to push that "Everything is going to occur at a later time". Well, mothers and fuckers of the audience, if Star Wars were to end tomorrow, like full on Vault Sealed Forever, or nobody has access to these "other stories" either by money or medium--then no, the Story didn't happen somewhere else--it simply Didn't Happen at all. Thus, teasing stories that simply Aren't, and refusing to fill in the story that Is. Plot Hole 3: The Excitement is Farther than the Galaxy Far Far Away

PABU The Empire knows about Pabu, it bombed it for the sake of the Force. You tellin' me that, after Tantis was done, Pabu just magically regerated with anti-Evil Empire shields? And that it wasn't immediately placed under Imperial control like EVERY PLANET TBB HAS ESTABLISHED SO FAR!? Plot Hole 4: You don't need to see their identification, this is not the planet you are looking for.

EMERIE KARR I like her concept, so I'm gonna be picking on her execution. So female clone that is effectively a narrative clone of Omega, except if Emerie existed at the same time as the Bad Batch (likely as its hinted 5th member) and the Clone Wars, as we're supposedly meant to believe that Omega did--how come Omega didn't know about her before. Where the fuck was she. Why would Hemlock be finding a random clone in nowhere space and decide that she was sexy enough to be the sexy lady evil scientist? Her concept is great, but current execution breaks the timeline. Plot Hole 5: Omega split into Omega 2 by Mitosis

HOW ARE THEY BROTHERS EXACTLY? How are our Main Characters brothers? I don't mean in the literal sense, I mean in the sense of "These guys are brothers in arms thick and thin, been through so much shit and came together in support in the face of adversity" And yet, the only thing we see is, bickering, no conversations, refusal to confront topics that directly affect them with each other, obsessing about anything else but actually talking to each other, abandoning each other at a moment's notice for one bullshit thing after another without discussion. Utterly ignoring each other when lives are on the line... Leaving one for Dead... Claiming that they're trying to protect their child sister in order to give her a place to grow up, but insist on bringing her on every dangerous mission ever, treating her as a child soldier... ... When they could've just robbed the stupid lizard bitch and been on that isolated planet they were talking about in Episode 2 before the end of Season 1. After a certain point, I think I should be calling The Galactic Child Protective Services Plot Hole 6: With Brothers like these, who needs enemies?

KILLING A MAIN CHARACTER (Aka "oh my gods they killed Kenny") In congruent to the above Plot Hole. They killed Tech, where's the fallout? Where's the effect? Are you telling me that Mayday, a random one episode clone, was more narratively important than Tech, who's been with us for years? And that's just the written death. The narrative deaths have occurred to all the Bad Batch. this bad ass squad who works together like instinct, is suddenly failing at everything, like its their first day off Kamino. Even though, by the show's own visual environmental storytelling, the Batch have been performing missions together since the first battle of Geonosis. They're more experienced than the Republic Commandos by those tally mark counts in their room wall. And yet, inspite of the visual story telling and the Clone Wars, and every piece of Clone Media prior to this Ever, they're suddenly the big bumbling buffkins who can't operate without running headfirst into the nearest beehive. Character deaths themselves occured... ... From Hunter being a generally snarky, one of the guys, who puts on a show of leadership for the Reg's sake--because a shallowed out parody of Optimus Prime and Captain Rex. ... To Crosshair, a snippy, keen if cruel sniper but with a heart of empathy, reduced to a hyper soldier even without the tumor. When this is the kind of man who would pick a fight with god on toothpick power alone. ... To Wrecker, whom for some reason, suddenly lacks skills he had in the Clone Wars. ... To Tech, who no longer gives out fun facts, or even has an emotional reaction to people getting hurt, like he used to in his first introductory episodes. (Remember the horror he had when he realized the Algorithm had a Human voice?) ... To Echo, once bold and audactious, guised beyind a clone who is a seeming rule stickler--now a bitchy side piece who eventually just leaves instead of having a conversation with the very team that took him in, who reduced his once partner-batchmte Fives to a foot note. One story written death, Five Narrative Deaths, Five Character Deaths, because what was had in the Clone Wars--of which the TBBshow explicitly says its a direct sequel to--clearly wasn't here when this started. Whoever these guys are, they aren't the Bad Batch. Plot Hole 7: Fell at Sunrise and Was replaced by Mirrors

PLOT HOLE: the Rush A special mention plot hole that occurs when you place too much action in too short of time with too little thought. Effectively attempting to turn a TV show, subscription serivce or not, into a 25 minute long tiktok-vine-ytshort. Its exhausting, its Patience killing, it has no Pace; and to believe that this is a good thing, means that you are Also affected by the Rush and should probably pick up a real book or maybe play Pokemon Generation 1 or pick up a text adventure, because you are going too fast for your brain to handle it and it is not good for you. Its commercialism techniques. Don't make them the new norm.

If I've missed any plot holes, lemme know, I'll take a look. Even with my SPECIAL EYES (MY BRAND!) I can't spot everything.

[whispers-soundtrack-project]

Destiel

Fanmix Part Two

Part One

Link to the Spotify Playlist is at the bottom of the post

All That I'm Asking For (Lifehouse)

Gravity pulls * And we fall from the clouds * We prove to each other * That we're both human now

If I Get High (Nothing But Thieves)

I’ll meet you at the divide * To break the spell * A point where two worlds collide * Yeah, we’ll rebel

I'd Do Anything For Love (But I Won't Do That) (Meat Loaf)

And I would do anything for love * I'd run right into hell and back * I would do anything for love * I'll never lie to you and that's a fact

Don't Deserve You (Plumb)

Your heart is gold and how am I the one * That you've chosen to love * I still can't believe that you're right next to me * After all that I've done

Aftermath (Muse)

War is all around * I'm growing tired of fighting * I've been drained * And I can't hide it * But I have strength for you * You're all that's real anymore

Church (Fall Out Boy)

If you were church, I'd get on my knees * Confess my love, I'd know where to be * My sanctuary, you're holy to me * If you were church, I'd get on my knees

I’ve Loved You Before (Melissa Etheridge)

Did I cling to every moment with you, * In every parting glance? * An accidental touch, * Did we ever take the chance for more? * I know I’ve loved you before

Help (Hurts)

Take my hand and lead the way * Out of the darkness and into the light of the day * And take me somewhere I'll be safe * Carry my lifeless body away from the pain

Where You Are (Tommee Profitt, ft. Mike Mains)

We’ll both keep walking * Through hell or heaven * Through unsurvivable odds * Through pain and sorrow * We’ll build our tomorrow * ‘Cause in the end it’s worth the cost

Starlight (Starset)

At night the Earth will rise * And I’ll think of you each time I watch from distant skies * Whenever stars go down and galaxies ignite * I’ll think of you each time they wash me in their light

[your-name-is-jim]

What a Kirk/Spock shipper sees in a Kirk/Female-Love-Interest story [PART 1/2]

[Part 2]

This is a pretty long post in two parts, so I hope you'll find it interesting. Don't worry, I shared a lot of pictures too! :)

First of all, what is it about?

An analysis about a 32-pages comic published in 2020 by IDW Publishing. More specifically, I'm talking about the Valentine's Day special from the comics series Star Trek: Year Five that I recommended here. The title of this story is Captains of Sea and War, and this is the official summary:

"James T. Kirk has had many loves during his mission among the stars, but this time he may have met his match in fellow Starfleet Captain Laura Rhone."

As I said in my review of Star Trek: Year Five, this Valentine's Day special is not linked to anything else in the main comics series. That means it can be read alone or, on the contrary, it can be skipped if you're only interested in the series (where Kirk doesn't have love interests, by the way).

Do I recommend this comic issue?

It depends on your preference! Just like the rest of Star Trek: Year Five series, the art is great and so is the characterization, at least most of the times. Jim is written as a romantic book lover and definitely not as a womanizer. However, if you only ship Kirk/Spock or you're not into Kirk romance with women in general, I believe you should avoid wasting your time and money. Just read my analysis if you're curious! :)

Why am I talking about this? And why as a Kirk/Spock shipper?

Good question. The short answer is that I read this comic and I have a lot of thoughts about it.

The long answer is that I love TOS Kirk and I'm interested in him as a character, romantic scenarios included. Since Kirk/Spock is my OTP, I can't suddenly take my slash goggles off, so I already knew before reading this comic that I'm not exactly the target audience and nothing is ever going to convince me that Spock isn't The One for Kirk. However, it was an interesting reading in multiple ways, so I'd like to say why!

I want to be 100% clear about my Kirk/Spock preference because even if I will try to talk objectively about the comic to a certain degree, this analysis is biased; if you don't like Kirk/Spock, this is NOT the post for you. That said, you may not see the point in a K/S shipper writing an analysis about a romance between Kirk and a female character, but… well, unless someday they'll release official Kirk/Spock comics, this is all we have.

There are two reasons why I read this story despite being pretty much a monoshipper when it comes to Kirk:

I had already read the main comics series and I liked it a lot, so I wanted to give this special a try.

I thought it was probably going to be okay, because in my headcanon Kirk and Spock don't actually get together until The Motion Picture. Kirk has a lot of love interests before that movie, so adding another one doesn't really bother me. It turned out (as I'll mention later) that I wasn't completely right about the era, but I take Star Trek comics as "extras", so I just ignore what I don't like.

Note: this analysis contains SPOILERS from the entire Valentine's Day special.

However, it does not contain spoilers from the main Star Trek: Year Five comics series. So, if you're planning to read that one, you're safe here! Just avoid this post if you don't want spoilers about the Valentine's Day issue.

Okay, are you ready? Let's go!

So, Jim is on shore leave with Bones. As you can see, the moment a pretty woman gets close to them, Bones leaves, because he's a great friend :)

We already know from the summary that the woman who talks to Jim is Captain Laura Rhone. Now, I'm already going to stop here to take a moment to at least appreciate the creators' effort: as someone interested in fictional writing, I must admit that creating a Valentine's Day special in 2020 about James T. Kirk finding love is an extremely hard task, to put it mildly. Seriously, if it can't be Spock (or the Enterprise :P), how the hell do you even do it? Are you going to give Jim another woman-of-the-week who's going to die? Another blond white woman? Another woman who forces him to choose between her and his ship? Or, on the contrary, a woman who'll choose for him and break up because she knows he wants the Enterprise?

NO.

Star Trek TOS was made in the 1960s, but we're in the 2020s now. Fans are tired to see always the same tropes with female love interests, and some of those tropes are just very outdated. So what does this comic do? Well, first of all, fixing what didn't work in Turnabout Intruder. Oh, let me get this straight: overall, I like Turnabout Intruder. I love the canon bodyswap, and I lost count of how many times I quoted "You are closer to the Captain than anyone in the universe" in my Kirk/Spock fan-fictions. However, there's no way that in the 2020s we're going to believe that a positive future means this:

In the Valentine's Day comic, Janice Lester still exists (she's mentioned once in a dialogue), but since Laura Rhone is a very good Starfleet captain around the same time, I believe we're now supposed to think that Janice was one crazy person who was never going to become a captain because of her personality and behavior, not because she's a woman. This is actually how I've always liked to mentally re-write this part of Turnabout Intruder in my head, because that's how I want to imagine it.

Anyway, back to the comic. Captain Laura Rhone is on shore leave too; she recognizes Captain James T. Kirk and she decides to introduce herself to him. She's very straightforward about her interest in him, so we immediately see that part of her personality.

Of course, the two captains can't enjoy their shore leave until the end. I'm posting this part to appreciate Bones in his beach clothes and Laura's very loyal Andorian officer who slips ("Laura! I mean, Ma'am!") when she sees her Captain in danger and oh whoops now I ship them. She doesn't remind me of anyone, I don't know what you're talking about.

Anyway, wrong ship. I'm obviously not following what the story is trying to tell me, because this is what happens next:

Just a moment to appreciate sleeping Jim. Cute.

So, after that night together, Jim and Laura don't see each other for 6 months. They meet again when the Drake, Laura's starship, has a battle against a group of space pirates and the Enterprise intervenes without consulting Laura first. Laura and Jim have a slight fight about that, but Jim apologizes, and it ends with them in bed again.

After that, because Jim is a romantic man, not a womanizer, and thank goodness the creators of this comic know, Jim asks Laura on a date. As they're walking together on a planet, Laura points out that they're doing things in the wrong order. Jim's reply is rather interesting: he asks her if they need to know what they're doing, and if there has to be a shape or a meaning to it. It's the first sign that even if they're both obviously attracted to each other, Jim is unsure about the kind of relationship he wants with her. When I think about his previous experiences, I believe it makes sense. He may be a romantic at heart, but he suffered so much for love that I can see why he's trying to be careful. There's also another reason, more related to the time this story takes place, which is a few months before the end of Jim's five-year mission. We see it here:

Ah, yes, a typical first date conversation: what Spock talks about. Well done, Jim. Saying "a friend of mine" doesn't make it less obvious; I did my Star Trek homework and I know you're quoting the basis of Vulcan philosophy to her :D

(Of course, now I won't stop imagining Jim casually mentioning Spock during every single date he has with someone… That would explain why his love stories never last…)

On a serious note, as I was working on this analysis I realized something extremely interesting about the context of Jim's lines. Jim is mentioning IDIC when he's questioning his future as a starship captain. He remembers that Spock talks about Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations, but Jim can only do one job. However, what will Spock tell him someday, right next to an IDIC flag?

Now, I don't know if the people who worked on the Valentine's Day comic really thought about this, but I think it's still, well, fascinating that Jim is using Spock's words to think about his own future, but he's following the wrong direction. I believe it's also worth pointing out that Spock will tell Jim that commanding a starship is his "first, best destiny" years after finding his own place in the universe. On the contrary, during the time this comic takes place, Spock is busy with his own inner distress.

Anyway, that's enough Spock for now. Back to Jim's first date with Laura…

So, I started this analysis with a question: how the hell do you write a love story with TOS Kirk in 2020? This is the way this comic tries to answer: you create a female character just like him.

Okay, they look cute together. Laura loves being a starship captain! She loves reading! And dancing! And climbing!

Wait, wait, wait. I appreciate the inclusion of Jim Kirk's canon hobbies. I really do! But aren't we forgetting one?

This is interesting. Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but this makes me think that they didn't want Laura to have something in common with Spock. Spock is the character who plays chess the most in TOS, so I can see why the creators of the comic didn't want the readers to think about Spock instead of thinking about Jim's girlfriend. That would be too bad, huh? :)

There's also horseback riding missing, but that doesn't appear until the movies, so even if I personally believe that a farm boy like Jim learned how to ride horses when he was young, I can see why they skipped it in this comic. It's also mostly associated to another love interest (Antonia from Generations), but if this is the reason they didn't want to show Jim and Laura riding a horse, I'm just going to think even more that the lack of chess is suspicious, and they're counting Spock as one of the "girlfriends".

On the other hand, since horseback riding is associated to starship captains in TOS and TNG (I don't know about the other Star Trek TV series because I haven't watched them yet), I think it would have been a good idea to have one panel with Jim and Laura riding.

That said, if I had to make a guess about the real reason the comic doesn't show horses… I'm a doctor writer, not an artist, but I believe that drawing horses can be a pain in the ass, so in this comic they just didn't bother haha

Anyway, back to the plot! As I said, Jim and Laura's personalities are very alike. Of course, that doesn't mean they're perfect for each other, but I admit that this premise made me curious when I read this comic. Let's find out if it works out!

I'm posting this picture because of the book Laura is holding: first of all, this is where the title of this story, Captains of Sea and War, comes from. But it's also important to remember the book. You'll see why in Part 2. :)

So, two months later, Jim and Laura trust each other as captains without even talking:

We see Laura's other friend, probably her first officer, trying to warn her, just as Spock does on the Enterprise. I'm taking a little moment to appreciate "Noted, adored, and ignored, Commander", because it's really sweet. Imagine Jim telling this to Spock :D

So, the captains are right, and everything is good, because…

Okay, okay, wait a minute.

Apparently, one of the good things of this relationship is that Jim and Laura make a good team together. They don't even need to communicate to understand each other during a mission. Now… I don't even need to put my K/S goggles on to say that Jim and Spock are canonically one of the best teams in Starfleet, if not The best team. You don't need to ship them to know how many times they understand each other without words in the series, how many times they make plans and just know what the other will do, how many times Spock hears/sees someone that should be Jim and just knows something is wrong, and so on. Of course, as a Kirk/Spock shipper, reading in a Valentine's Day special that making a good team is good for Jim's love life makes me happy!

"Yep. All that sex didn't go to waste."

Jim. Jim. Are you saying that you and Laura are a good team in Starfleet because you had a lot of sex? I'm not even going to say what this makes me think as a K/S shipper… Did I say that Kirk and Spock are the best team? :D

Okay, okay, maybe it's not the same. Because Spock is a man, and Jim isn't attracted to men… right?

Ahem. I lost my mind when I read this for the first time, and I'm going to lose it again.

"There don't seem to have been many ladies in your life. Gentlemen, either." "Well, I've been busy."

Now, let's be honest here: Laura's lines didn't have to be phrased that way. We know Jim likes women, so even nowadays nobody would bat an eye at "there don't seem to have been many ladies in your life"; and if you're the writer of a very heterosexual comic who wants to avoid K/S shippers like me thinking "hehehe, because Jim has a man in his life", you can still write something neutral like "there don't seem to have been many lovers/romantic partners in your life". Or just a generic "it looks like you haven't been on many dates lately".

Laura mentioning "gentlemen" explicitly can make some readers think that men are an actual option for Jim. (Me, I'm "some readers".) Sure, it's not a confirmation, but Jim doesn't deny it. He just says he's been busy. There is room for interpretation in multiple directions, but even if I put my personal preference aside, I think it's important to remember something: in context, in this part of the story, Laura knows Jim. We've seen in a previous panel that they've done a lot of things together. Laura is not a stranger who may say "you don't have a girlfriend… or a boyfriend" because they don't know Jim. Personally, I think it's very likely that Laura asks about ladies and then adds gentlemen because she knows Jim is bisexual with a preference on women. It fits my headcanon for him. (Of course, he can be into anyone, not just men and women, and he has a preference for women because hasn't tried dating Spock yet :D)

Anyway, the other thing that panel points out is that neither captain would give up on their own starship. Well, that's fair.

Okay, okay, I'll be serious: Jim sacrifices the Enterprise in The Search for Spock during an emergency. Of course, it's definitely not a coincidence in the narrative that said emergency happens because Jim is looking for Spock's body. However, we all know how much Jim loves the Enterprise and how bad he feels without a starship, so it's only fair that in normal circumstances, he shouldn't be forced to give up on his "silver lady".

Laura understands that they're the same, so...

This is another thing I appreciated! Who cares about gender norms, a woman can propose to James T. Kirk! :D

Now, just as I said about the "gentlemen" line, it's important to think about the context of this proposal. When the two of them are drinking together, Laura says "I've been asking around about you". That means Jim and Laura's relationship is still casual, to the point that she could have expected him to have flings with other people too. Honestly, this is just my opinion, but I'm not even sure I'd call it exactly an open relationship, because that would still imply a relationship in the first place. I'm mostly referring to the fact that Laura has been asking around about Jim's love life instead of just, you know, asking him? I believe that if they trusted each other and were in an open romantic relationship, either they wouldn't care about each other's partners or they would just talk about it. Since Laura wants to marry Jim and have an exclusive relationship with him, it makes sense for her to bring up Jim's love life. However, I can't really help side-eyeing that "I've been asking around".

Am I reading too much into this? It's possible, but this is another clue about their dynamic that I'll mention later in the story.

Sooo, Laura asks Jim to marry him. What does Jim answer?

Unfortunately, I reached Tumblr limitations of the number of pictures I can share, so… you'll find out in Part 2!

If you're reading my analysis for the Kirk/Spock shipper's point of view, I especially recommend the second half, because that's where things get more interesting! :D

I hope you enjoyed the first part of this analysis! Thank you for reading until the end! See you soon!

Part 2!

[roseaesynstylae]

Star Wars: Republic Commando: Hard Contact, The Remaining Chapters

Okay, this is different. It's basically a speed-run, going over everything that I feel is interesting in the remainder of the book. Part of it is exhaustion, and part of it is that most of this book is actually pretty decent and I decided to just focus on the stuff that stood out to me.

Chapter 10

"'I meant I could help with martial skills. If you want to train with your lightsaber.'

'I'd probably end up slicing off something you'd miss later.'"

Okay, this little exchange is pretty funny.

Chapter 13

"Weequay didn't all look the same. She knew this one. He had chased her across a barq field. He was a rapist and a murderer, not that the descriptions set him apart from any other of Hokan's thugs. She reached for her lightsaber."

That was my reaction to the word rapist being used in Star Wars. Nothing much else to say, I just really wasn't expecting the word to actually be written out on page.

Chapter 14

"She was a Jedi. Skirata said they were fine people, but they didn't -- and couldn't -- care about anyone."

Okay!

Before I get to the meat of it, I'd like to say that that's a much nicer statement than I ever expected from Kal Skirata about the Jedi. I don't think Traviss had his personality down yet.

And now... "They didn't care about anyone?" "They couldn't care about anyone?" Uhhh...

*in a very fake nice way* Did you by any chance forget that Anakin -- Anakin -- said "Compassion, which I would define as unconditional love, is essential to a Jedi's life. So you might say, that we are encouraged to love." Did you not notice how much the various members of the Jedi Order clearly care for each other? Do you not remember that the Jedi help people and repeatedly show display compassion to those they help?

Jedi-Bashing: 18

Chapter 15

"So how do we justify what we are doing now? Breeding men without choice, and without freedom, to fight and die for us? When do the means justify the end? Where is our society heading? What are our ideals, and what are we without them? If we give in to expedience this way, where do we draw the line between ourselves and those we find unacceptably evil? I have no answer, Master. Do you?"

-- Jedi Padwan Bardan Jusik, addressing the Jedi Council

(I only wish I could communicate as much disdain as this one expression.)

I'll just leave you with a couple points.

The Jedi did not order the clone army. Sifo-Dyas did. Yes, he was a Jedi, but his order was explicitly unknown to the Council.

The Jedi did not want to enter the war, nor use soldiers like that, but they had no choice.

Basically all Jedi we see (aside from Pong Krell) care a lot about the troopers under their command. (For further information, see Koon, Plo.)

In conclusion, shut up and don't lecture the Council on things they definitely have been concerned about.

Jedi-Bashing: 26 (one for each sentence in that paragraph)

Di'kut Count: 6

So, in conclusion...

All I have to say about this book is two things. One, this is probably the RepComm novel I'm probably going to like the most. Two, I can't believe that the Jedi hate in this series is a case of unreliable narrators. Look at all the little jabs in this book, where there's no physical appearance from the notorious Kal Skirata, where there's no reason for anyone to really think of the Jedi negatively. But, it can still be ignored. That's not something I can say about the rest of the books.

Brace yourselves, people. Triple Zero is coming and with it, Republic Commando's most infamous character.

Main Post

[droolingvenus]

Enter Here:

Hello, and welcome to my little corner of Hell! You can call me Venus, I'm not new to this hellsite by any means and I finally decided it was time to carve out the niche in the Star Wars fandom that I always dreamed of someone else making.

On this blog, I will be posting various headcanons, blurbs, quotes, fanart, possibly fanfictions of my own writing, all relating to what I consider to be my favorite ships, including rare pairings and a variety of ships that I think I came up with because I am single IRL and would really rather not be.

I personally write a ridiculous amount of self-indulgent fanfiction that I don't post anywhere and only write for my own enjoyment, but my preferred pairings and AUs are very rarely anywhere near canon. I always hoped there were more people with uncommon interests in the fandom, but after years of no luck, I've made the decision to find them myself, or convert some people...

My main ships that I enjoy writing about/am interested in exploring are:

Quinfox/Foxquin/Vox (Quinlan Vos x Commander Fox)

Codywan (Commander Cody x Obi-Wan Kenobi)

Blyla (Aayla Secura x Commander Bly)

Quinobi/Obiquin (Quinlan Vos x Obi-Wan Kenobi)

Rexsoka (Extremely wary of this one, I would only explore the concept post-Clone Wars Era as Ahsoka is... A child before the end of the War... Yeah, none of that please)

Kanera (Kanan Jarrus x Hera Syndulla)

Dinluke (Din Djarin x Luke Skywalker)

Wreckme? (Padme Amidala x Wrecker? Weird one that I think ONE SINGULAR PERSON has art of and now it lives in my brain dumpster and I've been toying with it a bit)

I'm curious about Kit Fisto x Aayla Secura x Commander Bly, but I haven't actually explored it much, so if you've got any thoughts or favorite fan works, feel free to send them my way!

These are the ships that I currently find myself interested in and writing about, but I'm open to hearing about what other people might like, my only boundaries are non-familial/platonic ships between clones, that's not my cup of tea, and any Master/Padawan ships, something I'm not interested in and would prefer to not engage with, you do you, of course.

I also enjoy at least two AUs, one that I believe pre-dates my use of it and the other is a very common one: Sith AU (Duh) and Victory Ball AU (In which the Clone War ends in a Republic-Jedi victory and things are all made right, Palpatine will always die, usually in increasingly hilarious or vengeful ways, depending on how my day went)

I am a SUCKER for the Soulmate trope/AU, and if anyone ever wants my thoughts on a specific ship being soulmates, ask! I will gladly babble my nonsense to any who wish to hear it!

I will forewarn that I am likely to post about ships + reader, for example, I'm already planning for my first real post to be a Quinfox x reader headcanon, so if you're like me and are polyamorous or LGBTQ+ in another way, you're welcome to send things in too! There's room for everyone around here, my little deal is that no one can be harmed and it can't be an illegal relationship (Examples include but are not limited to: Non-Con, incest, underage/of age partners, abusive dynamics/themes, coercion,) in our standards. As long as it would be legal here, I can usually give it a chance, though if you want me to write about a ship committing crimes together... That's a different story, I have access to Google and no respect for my search history, if you want to hear about being Codywan's assassin/lover, shoot me an ask, I have thoughts ;)

Lastly, I will post NSFW and suggestive content at some point and while I will do my best to add many tags and warnings, if you can't handle that risk and/or you are under 18, GO AWAY. I'm not sorry that I'm an adult and that I enjoy adult content, and anyone who doesn't want to see it is more than welcome to leave.

Ageless blogs and blogs run by minors will be blocked, and it will not be warned or nice, I don't want you here and if you're truly mature, you should be mature enough to respect that this space is not for you.

Asks are open, requests are open, ranting in the asks is more than welcome, feel free to send any questions in and I'll get to them ASAP!

~Venus

[helix-enterprises117]

My Headcanon Star Wars Timeline

This might also double as a "Star Wars: A Beginner's Guide," so if you want, you can also use this as a reference for Star Wars stories you can pick up if you want to get into the franchise; but ultimately, this is not the main point of this post.

Pretty much all Pre-BBY Legends stories: How the Sith and Jedi came to be, how lightsabers were created, the first wars, how everything started out as a high-fantasy before it evolved into proper sci-fi, the fleshing out of the midi-chlorians as entities in Star Wars... it's all so damn fascinating.

KOTOR - KORTOR II: SITH LORDS - SWTOR: The Knights Of The Old Republic games, and it's unofficial third entry in the form of 'Star Wars: The Old Republic,' are stories that take place in an even LONGER time ago in the same galaxy that's far, far away. The first game talks about Revan, the second talks about 'The Exhile' and the third game has both characters be greater-scope forces in the background that influence the events of the game.

The Prequel Trilogy: I never had a problem with these movies. I grew up playing the LEGO games, so I guess it never registered to me that these were bad. But I love the prequels.

The Clone Wars 2003: Unpopular opinion, but this is way better than Clone Wars 2008; no offense to anyone who loves the 3D Show, but the 2003 cartoon is a flashy and high-octane series that NEVER stopped and it had an appealing art/animation style. More importantly, the characters here are far more faithful to their film counterparts than 2008!CW. Plus, Grieveous was a straight BADASS in this show.

Republic Commando (both the book & the game): The book is generally a good read, but the game is basically "What if Star Wars made a Halo game?"

Revenge Of The Sith - Junior Novelization: While RotS is a good movie, the book is... it's just so much better. It goes in-depth into Anakin's descent into complete madness, properly fleshing out his paranoia and his trust in Palpatine; it makes everything he's gone through in the film more believable.

Jedi Fallen Order, Force Unleashed, Force Unleashed II, Jedi Suvivor: These four games, all taking place in-between episodes III and IV, are two sides of the same coin. Both are epic hack-n'-slash games where you play as a lightsaber-wielding force-user. But that's where their similarities end, the Force Unleashed games are power-fantasy games where you are so unbelievably powerful that you can do just about anything; the Jedi games are a more traditional journey from zero-to-hero where you start out weak and the gameplay requires a bit of legitimate skill to properly master.

The Han Solo Books: The REAL origin story of Han Solo. Born of a family of thieves, Han joined the Imperial Navy because he wanted to fly. He meets Chewy and loses his job. Other goofy stuff ensues.

Rogue One: Didn't think a movie that was based ONE LINE IN THE OPENING SCRAWL OF THE FIRST MOVIE was gonna be as good as it was, but here we are.

The Radio-Drama version of the Original Trilogy: I love the movies, but I love the radio-drama adaptation WAY more; as it expands upon and fleshes out the things in the films that left me scratching my head, it has more context to a lot of it's scenes AND it has a bunch of other extra scenes that weren't in the movies that make listening to the radio-drama a fresh experience.

The Mandalorian (seasons 1 and 2): I haven't seen season 3 (I'm sure it slaps, though), but I think this is an awesome sequel show to the original trilogy.

The Courtship Of Princess Leia: I just— this book is so damn funny, I can't wrap my head around it. (Plus, I love Han and Leia as a couple).

The (original) Thrawn Trilogy & Dark Empire: While I'm well-aware that the Thrawn books are pretty much loved by many a Star Wars fan, Dark Empire (I've noticed) is a lot more contested... but I love the Dark Empire SO MUCH. I love the idea of the World-Devastators and Luke turning Dark is awesome.

All of the Post-BBY Books from the Legends continuity: Mara Jade, the Solo kids (Jacen, Jaina and Anakin) and Ben Skywalker are such cool characters that I'm actually depressed that they get de-canonized.

Star Wars Legacy: Cade Skywalker is a very interesting character, as he's a Skywalker who became a hedonistic criminal who doesn't want the burden of responsibility weighing on him by proxy of being a Skywalker, the Empire is actually kind of chill, and everything that we all thought we knew about Star Wars gets flipped on it's head. Legacy, in my mind at least, is an interesting way to end the story of Star Wars.

[all-socialism-is-democratic]

Some years ago, when I was still making the terrible mistake of being on Twitter (I finally quit when Musk took over, and I'm so glad I did), there was this account that briefly became the Main Character of Twitter.

I don't remember the username, but he was known as Everything Is Fascism Guy. All his posts were like "American Democracy is Fascism," "Student Loans are Fascism," "Parking Tickets are Fascism," "Television is Fascism," ad nauseum.

He got in particular trouble when he said "Star Wars is Fascism." Anyone who knows Star Wars knows it's intended to be explicitly Antifascist. But Everything Is Fascism Guy didn't mean the message of Star Wars was Fascism. He meant the existence of Star Wars was Fascism.

I defended him at the time. I said I didn't agree with him, but I understood him. His message was that everything that happens under Capitalism is actually Fascism. I didn't think that was true, but I got the message.

I now think that's true. Capitalism is Fascism. It's not just that Fascism is the end state of Capitalism—the racism, exploitation, militarism, Imperialism, and authoritarianism are baked into every stage of Capitalism.

Yes, even modern American Liberal Democratic Capitalism.

America's "turn" toward Fascism is really just the hood coming off. It was always there, at work behind the scenes, a intrinsic part of the system. Generally, it was targeted towards the "other"—Blacks, Native Americans, Jews, Muslims, Catholics, atheists, immigrants, women, LGBT people, Leftists.

But that has changed. Whatever you think of Project 2025 and its chances of being enacted, it is a declaration of intent by a well-funded, professional, Ivy League, well-connected Beltway Fascist elite. No matter who you are, they're coming for you.

Everything is Fascism, as long as Capitalism is charge. And Americans have been indoctrinated into believing that any alternative to Fascism is the "real Fascism." So they're more than prepared to accept the actual, real, mask-off Fascism, since "at least it's not Communism."

Voting for Democrats just delays the inevitable. The Democrats are NOT an Antifascist party. They will always capitulate to Fascists, in the name of preserving Capitalism. And Democrats can't win every election. Eventually, a Project 2025 Republican WILL win.

Now is the time for those of us who know better to STAND UP. Get in the streets. Disrupt business. Strike. Whether or not Trump wins, because there will always be another Trump. And it's not like the Heritage Foundation is going anywhere.

Occupy Wall Street was important, before it was sabotaged by the banks and FBI. The Bernie movement was important, before it was torpedoed by the DNC. The Pandemic-era protests and riots were important, before they died out. They showed us the way.

We need a Movement that won't die out or collapse when challenged. We need the Left allied with Liberals, because Liberals have the numbers. The Democratic Party does not believe in the things Liberals believe in, many of which (universal healthcare, free college, open borders, reparations, defunding the police, ending Imperialism, abolishing the Electoral College and Senate) we believe in.

We have to show Liberals the Democrats don't represent their interests. We have to show Liberals an alternative is possible.

And we can't wait for Fascism to happen to act, because FASCISM IS NOW.