#made star wars resistance season three

[beasanfi1997]

The episode Iron Squadron from Rebels season three predicted Star Wars Resistance because we see that Kaz was with Neeku, Tam and Bucket as his father Mart Mattin did It with Gooti Terez, Jonner Jin and R3. I really Hope that Jarek Yeager was the friend of Jun Sato and Mart Mattin if we will see them(Yeager and Jun Sato) with Jun Sato's Brother in Bad Batch and even Yeager and Mart in Rebels season five. I would like to see Yeager see again Mart After Kaz realize that he was adopted by Hamato Xiono, the friend of Mart, in Resistance season three. I would like to see Mart, his crew, Yeager, Hamato Xiono, Immanuel and Venise Doza when they talks about the future of Ben in the Mandalorian

[regarding-stories]

The dark abyss that is Andor

There were several things that led to Andor.

On the one hand, Disney screwed up its Star Wars intellectual property by handing it to complete hacks for Episode VII to IX, leading a potential cash cow to attract less and less viewers over the course of three increasingly bad installments. Seriously, The Last Jedi is one of the worst disappointments I've actually watched, and not only was I thinking "This can't get worse..." every five minutes only to be proven, "Yes, it can!!", it completely killed my appetite to see IX (and I would have left the cinema at that one's sheer stupidity). With VII, I saw it once with some initial excitement in a cinema when it released and a strange feeling afterwards, and I never revisited it. VIII I saw on two separate long-distance flights because I couldn't stomach the thing in one sitting. IX I didn't see at all, but devoured YouTube videos ripping it apart. Clearly, Disney had a Star Wars problem.

The other thing is the reboot that was The Mandalorian, especially season 1. The Mandalorian had a penchant for not very strong logic in its writing that you still accepted because you had so much damn fun and loved the characters. Given the fact that it clearly pulled lots of viewers into Disney+ that were loving its vibe that was true to the core of Star Wars, Disney management saw the fact that theaters and theme parks were closed due to COVID on the one hand and that big Star Wars movies were at risk of actually losing money on the other hand, and they did what executives are wont to do - they decided that if it worked once, it will work again and declared they will pump out TEN Star Wars series in the near future.

Meanwhile they cancelled also their ongoing series of "A Star Wars Story" movies that started with what could be called "Episode III.5" - Rogue One. Rogue One was plagued with production problems, so much so that seeming key scenes from the trailer weren't in the movie. "I rebel!", anyone?? Still, it turned out to be something new - a new kind of Star Wars story. It took the idea of a war movie (or its modern equivalent, Band of Brothers) and put it into the Star Wars cinematic universe. It did without an actual Jedi (kinda-sorta) and it showed a strong performance of Diego Luna as the morally gray Cassian Andor. And... (spoiler alert) ... it killed its whole cast in its finale.

I know people that say Rogue One is their favorite Star Wars movie. (But other people dislike it.) I hold it in high esteem. The way the resistance is portrayed also seemed to be somewhat subversive - both to its previous image on screen and to what is portrayable on screen for mainstream audiences in general. It became clear that unlike in the original three Star Wars movies resisting an empire is, on the ground, a dirty business and not just about big battles or commando raids. (Which then happen anyway. Because Star Wars.)

Then followed the lackluster Solo and the third installment Yoda was never made as Star Wars increasingly lost its ability to draw crowds into seats.

And thus it came to Andor

Now what do you do with a character that (spoiler alert? really?) dies. You make a bloody prequel. Which is funny. Andor is a prequel to Rogue One which is a prequel to A New Hope. Prequels, like sequels, carry the risk of rehashing the original material without adding anything to it (Solo ...) and being trapped by the inevitability of what has to happen next, curtailing its writing (Kenobi ...). But Andor season 1 betrays none of that. (Talk about being addicted to prequels, Disney...) It is a strong piece of cinematic art in its own right.

And yes, I'm saying art. About a Star Wars series. That's how I feel about it. Andor not only has strong execution, it has depth. It was a show that made me pause it and think about what just happened on screen. It's a show that gets deeper if you know about history, unlike most shows that actually reveal their shallowness to the knowing eye. (Looking at you, The Man in the High Castle. Boy, I hated that tripe.)

But even before we get into that, let me say how I impressed I was with its set and costume design. Whereas the Book of Boba Fett gave us cyberpunks on floating scooters, Andor poured a lot of heart into how everybody looked in their various environments, creating a more rich and varied Star Wars society by portraying various strata thereof, from the life of imperial senator Mon Mothma to the middle class living literally in her shade somewhere on the middle levels of planet-city Coruscant to the mining town labor class that we find Cassian in. It flawlessly cuts between different well-thought out locations, including, of all things, a holiday resort.

This is paired with some very strong performances by similarly strong actors. I mean, we all knew Stellan Skarsgard would deliver, sure. But Denise Gough absolutely kills it, acting-wise. Her delivery as a villain is perfect, the way she manages to always look so sour and annoyed already is quite something, how she normalizes evil into a technocrat career. Every flinch of her face conveys books of information to me as the fascinated viewer. She is at the heart of this series, and worth the price of admission alone.

And let's not forget Andy Serkis' heart-rending performance. Really, we're being spoiled. People are seriously acting, not just standing in front of a camera wearing costumes! In Star Wars!!

And yet, if it was only that, it still wouldn't have impacted me as deeply as it had. There's one more layer to this, and it's the massive bottom of the iceberg that is Andor. I haven't forgotten, even though I'm writing this a year after watching it.

(And definitely spoilers from here on onwards.)

Life under fascism

The second half of season 1 however can put deep horror into any thinking person's mind. It radically departs from previous portrayals of the evil Empire. It's not relying on cheap gimmicks like Episode VII where we see a village razed by the First Order. (So evil. So cliche, too. Also murdering Max von Sydow. Tsk, tsk. They had to get him off stage before any good acting happens...) Andor creeps under our skin and then reaps havoc.

(This part of this entry will become increasingly dark. You might not want to read on. Because fiction is one thing, and comparing it to historical reality is another. This is an actual trigger warning. Proceed with care.)

The first half of the season is standard fare, almost. Cassian gets himself in trouble and there is really no redeeming quality about it. He also gets everybody else into trouble. The Empire in its heavy-handed hurry to eradicate resistance actually creates it in the first place. And still... the lack of compunction about torture, about going victim by victim, vanishing people into its torture cells, breaking them... this is merely an overture. No hero is born here, but evil wears its mask imperfectly.

Cassian escapes his small world to eventually live the good life on a resort world, getting laid, pretending to be someone else. Instead of being caught as the fugitive and murderer and partisan he actually is by now, he simply gets caught up in the arrest of somebody else. The way the Empire "perpetrates justice" not only gets him arrested while having done no wrong (in that cover identity), he also gets sentenced by a court that doesn't even pretend to actually care about due process in any way. There's a machine of oppression, and instead of competently catching him, Cassian becomes caught up randomly in one of its many gears.

And while this may seem random, it's brilliant. It's one of the many reasons why resistance exists. Because the Empire's overreach is everywhere, grinding up people just living their lives while trying to perfect its control. The corruption of the desire for power leaks through in its banality.

What follows is Cassian's imprisonment, and this segment is brutal and horrifying on a deep level. The more you know, the worse it gets. Cassian is transported to a prison facility where he's forced into repetitive labor to make equipment for the Empire. There's a set of steps every labor team has to execute, and the team with the lowest quota gets punished with electric shocks. Day after day.

This is "Vernichtung durch Arbeit." ("Destruction through labor.") This is what the Nazis did to their political opponents. Before there was a Holocaust, there were concentration camps. And prisoners were made to work - the cynic motto across the gate of Auschwitz was "Arbeit macht frei." ("Labor sets you free.") People would gradually be ground down until they gave out in one way or another, fell sick, die of exhaustion, broke psychologically. The series never tells us its "inspiration," it just goes through similar motions. With the veneer of a super-clean techno prison over it.

Not only that, the very scene reminded me of what I read in a book about the Holocaust. Towards the end of the war the engines for the new secret weapon jet planes or rockets were manufactured by prison labor. Crews of malnourished prisoners would each execute a few pretrained steps and crank out more jet engines in slave labor than was previously done in the Reich's armament factories. This was the culmination of the Nazi system where all labor-intensive things like the bunkers of the Atlantic Wall or the underground factories of Dora-Mittelbau were erected by and on the back of slaves that were themselves gradually killed in the process.

Without ever breathing a word of what is portraying, Andor portrays the same. Skillfully, horribly so.

The devil is in the details

Some way into this horror, everybody gets their sentence doubled. The counter simply goes up. No explanation. Total helplessness in the face of total control. The deep gut feeling of "No one gets out here alive" or "It will never end" begins to descend. That number was a sort of life line for people to brave another day. And it lies!

As unbelievable as it may seem, people did get released from concentration camps, especially those on "lighter charges" like "antisocial behavior." But nobody really knew how long they had to stay or if they were to be released. Often, initially told they had to do 3 to 6 months depending on their conduct, and yet most people never left alive. A quick read in a book behind me says that 8 million people were sucked into the system, 7 million died, 200,000 left by being released by the system itself. The idea you might be released one day added false hope that in itself could create further psychological torture if it was dashed over and over again.

Then there is the "divide and conquer" approach to prisoner management. Work crews are led by other prisoners, rebellion and resistance is quelled within the ranks. This Andor merely hints at, but the Nazi oppression system skillfully created hierarchies to make sure a comparatively small detachment of guards could handle a large mass of inmates which could overwhelm them if acting together.

But it doesn't stop here, not in Andor, either. Eventually we learn that the Empire starts to eliminate the prison population. Rumors start to spread that an entire floor of the super prison was eliminated by electrocution. Just like the real Nazis the space Nazis start to construct yet another death machine to eliminate opposition.

And this leads to that sub-plots final chapter, the prison revolt. There are a few historical mass escapes, even from Nazi death camps. There's also the heroism of the two uprisings of Warsaw (including the ghetto uprising). Left with nothing to lose, left with nothing but death ahead, the prisoners overwhelm the guards.

And this happened in real life, too. It's probably based on the historical case of the death camp inmates that were forced to run the gas chambers and crematoria themselves. This is part of the Holocaust itself, the Nazis had finally dropped all pretenses and resorting to kill people in an industrial manner. And these people knew that eventually their whole detachment would be killed. They knew too much, were witnesses to this massive crime against them and humanity itself. They were also among those destined for death. Like in an antechamber of hell itself they were merely bidding time. So they managed one of the few mass escapes on record.

While Andor doesn't stray as far down the road as actual history does, it knows how to cite history for those who know. It's not made up of whole cloth. It actually is referencing the real history of the most inhumane version of fascism, but it does not put the fact in your face. But if you know, its chamber of horrors becomes so much deeper.

And that's why

This is what makes Andor an absolute masterpiece. It recreates the conditions without blindly copying the source. It adapts, but you can feel how deeply inhumane the circumstances are that it depicts. It gives you the bloody creeps, and even if you don't know how much it is rooted in darkness, you will still feel it. It shows. It tells. But it never spoils the source material.

This is art. This is the deep craft. The banality of evil, the careless, uncaring attitude of evil towards those it deems unworthy and not human. It's all on display. It switches us into the place of Cassian and of Andy Serkis' character as it draws us in as audience. We don't see what happens on other floors. We don't have the information advantage. We can only imagine. We are subjected to the fact that we can only imagine it. And so we share a bit in the plight of these characters. Sometimes not showing a thing is the highest accomplishment of movie making.

And this is why I'm pissed that a series that was planned for five seasons was already cut to play out in two. Because we need more of this and less of more Jedi doing backflips. Just like Loki plays on a completely different level than the rest of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Andor leaves all of Star Wars in its dust. If Rogue One was the attempt to tell a different kind of story in the same universe, Andor is the attempt at a different level of depth.

And this, more than Rogue One, makes it clear why they fight.

Watch it if you can.

And sorry if I horrified you.

[heyclickadee]

My take (that no one asked for) on every single Star Wars show and non-saga movie:

The Clone Wars (movie): It’s…okay it’s rough. This wasn’t supposed to be a movie at all, putting three episodes of the show together and releasing it theatrically was part of the distribution deal with Cartoon Network, as far as I know, and it does show. It’s grown on me, though.

Clone Wars (The Tartakovsky Series): I think I’m probably in the minority here, but I actually don’t love this one. It’s fun, slick, and stylish, like everything Tartakovsky does is, and I don’t dislike it, but it just doesn’t do much for me. It’s cool. Maybe it’s a little too cool. Great art style, though.

The Clone Wars: Very high highs, very low lows. Though to be honest, I actually love a lot of the goofier episodes. They’re fun. It doesn’t have to be all drama all the time. Sometimes you can let Jar Jar be an agent of chaos. Sometimes you can have an episode about interest rates. I don’t have the nostalgia factor going with TCW the way a lot of people do—I didn’t watch it until I was in my twenties—so I do have to admit that it is tied with one other show as my least favorite of the animated shows, but that’s not a bad thing. I still love it.

Ewoks: I’ve only seen about six episodes. It’s veeerry 80’s. I think eight year old me would have gone insane for this show had I seen it. Adult me actually has a bit of a soft spot for it. I’ll watch the rest of it eventually. (Aaaand now I have the theme song stuck in my head. It’s. It’s definitely a theme song.)

Droids: I…haven’t seen it.

Resistance: I finally had a chance to get all the way through this show (I was eyeballs deep in “okay fine we’ll try this college thing AGAIN” when it was airing and just didn’t have time to check it out) and you know what? It’s actually pretty good. It’s definitely skewed even a little younger than Star Wars typically is, but it does what it does really well. Sort of feel like this one is slept on.

The Mandalorian: It’s a fantastic adventure of the week show. I actually don’t dislike the “plot” episodes, but mostly I’m just here to watch what shenanigans Din and his small green force son get into. Season three is weaker than the first two, but I don’t even really think that season is bad. There was some great stuff in it—just uneven and mixed in with some not so great stuff. Overall, good popcorn viewing, as far as I’m concerned.

Andor: Okay, yeah, Andor is fantastic. I do think some of its popularity is that it’s one of two (maybe three) Star Wars shows made for adults more than anyone else, so some people don’t quite have the same “why isn’t this making me feel like Star Wars did when I was a kid?” dissonance watching it, but it is also genuinely amazing. Probably the best thing Star Wars has ever done even if it’s not technically my favorite.

The Book of Boba Fett: Is it a mess? Yes. Do I still enjoy it? Yeah. My main problem with BoBF is that it’s got some serious structural issues. Even besides Din coming in and taking over two whole episodes, I think that the telling the story via flashbacks was a mistake, and that we should have followed Boba through the childhood bits and slowly caught up to him in the present. Maybe revealed it was all a flashback while he was in the bacta tank from there. And I…don’t love Robert Rodriguez’s directorial style all that much, never really have. That said, I do hope we eventually get more of this, though if we do I think it will be folded into something else. Still don’t love the live action pike design. (I actually have a conspiracy theory that BoBF was originally just a few episodes or even a season of The Mandalorian, and that it was made its own thing for marketing purposes.) I want more Boba, more Fennec, and more Sand People, if nothing else.

Solo: One, killing off Val Beckett was a huge mistake. It’s not story breaking or anything like that, but doing so when she’s one of very few black women in Star Wars and half of one of, like, two interracial couples in the entire franchise means that it hits in a way it wouldn’t if she was someone else. So, yeah, don’t like that. Two, the rest of this movie is a blast and audiences just hate fun. I don’t care that no one asked for this movie, it’s fun and campy and there’s a heist and I like it. Three, Enfys Nest has the sickest armor design in the whole franchise and I need more of her.

Kenobi: So…maybe unpopular opinion here, but…I really like Kenobi. Kenobi’s a delight. It’s not perfect, it’s got some problems, but I like that it’s about a guy who’s that depressed and alone slowly regaining his sense of hope, I like that we had something focus on Leia for a while (because Anakin and Padme had two kids and Leia always gets left second string), I like that you’ve got grifters like Haja and former imperials doing what little bits they can to help even though they can’t fight the whole empire. And I know that thoughts are mixed on this, but I actually thought it made a couple bits of A New Hope make more sense where Leia is concerned; kid me could never figure out how she knew who Ben Kenobi was when that was the name he only went by in exile on Tattooine (“Ben Kenobi? Where is he!?”), and it kind of made the switch from the very formal request for aid on behalf of her father to the more personal, “Help me, Obi Wan Kenobi,” a little more poignant, for me, anyway. Reva is an amazing character, she’s a perfect parallel and eventually perfect foil for Anakin, she’s a mess and a he’s in pain and I just. I love her. I have mixed feelings on the live action Grand Inquisitor’s performance (and mixed feelings on the makeup—on the one hand it could be better and on the other hand the other main live action pau’an we’ve got—the actor’s head was just shaped like that). Nevertheless, this show for me was mostly about the big emotional beats, and it hit all of those really well.

The Bad Batch: This is a magnificent show and I adore it apart from That One Thing and the fact that everything was left completely open, even going into the epilogue, apart from Omega’s coming of age and the Hunter’s and Omega’s relationship’s arc. That was resolved very well. I am mildly insane about this show. I love it. Also, it vexes me. Tied with two other shows as my favorite Star Wars show in spite of all that. Amazing soundtrack. Sidebar: If it turns out I’m right and That One Thing is an extended fake out and we’re not quite done with these characters, I’m sorry, but I’m going to be the most insufferable person alive.

The Acolyte: Everyone is very pretty and just a little stupid. Mae is very fun. The good scenes are very, very good. The writing is pretty uneven; judging from interviews I have a completely different view of writing than Leslye Headland and had a hard time picking up why a lot of the characters did anything, but when it hit, it hit. It’s…very CW drama, which isn’t a bad thing—just not always my thing. That said, Sol is a fascinating concept for a character and Lee Jung-jae did an incredible job with what he was given. Same with Qimir and Manny Jacinto. It’s honestly not my favorite Star Wars show, but I’m still disappointed that it looks like it’s not moving forward. The leftover story might end up being folded into the high republic book series, but I still hope we get some kind of on-screen continuation. I think the public needs more of Darth Babe the Jacked.

Rogue One: It’s great. Yes, the entire main cast dies, but the central message was still about hope. Vader gets to pun. I remain somewhat dismayed that the only thing a portion of the audience took away from it was that the Vader hallway scene was cool. He’s a horror movie monster there. Still a great movie. (Also, Saw, why do you have that??)

Young Jedi Adventures: This skews very young; most Star Wars is for kids in the first place apart from Andor, the Acolyte, and mmaaaaaybe the Tales of anthology (the other live action shows are, in my opinion, solidly whole family), but this really is made for very young children. That said, I have watched it, and it’s a very well done show for very young kids. Also I would die and kill for Nubs.

The “Tales Of” anthology series: Yes, I am counting this as one, because even though there’s a shift in focus from the Jedi to the empire between seasons, it all follows the exact same format and structure. I’d argue this series is the one that’s primarily for the adults who either grew up watching Star Wars animation or got into it as adults. It’s good, lots of atmosphere, the episodes do range in quality but I generally like them, and it’s nice they get to play around with different techniques, like making miniatures and incorporating them into the animation. The Dooku and Barriss episodes are probably my favorites.

Ahsoka: I know the fandom is divided on this, like they are on most things, but I love this one, okay? It’s not perfect, but I have a good time watching it. It just happens to be this perfect blend of campy, fun, dramatic, and mystical that really feels like Star Wars for me. I like it when Star Wars gets weird, has silly little guys, and doesn’t take itself too seriously. Lucky for me that this series has extragalactic travel via whale, Ahsoka being dragged to Force Therapy by Anakin, and Ezra hanging out with the space fraggles. That, and I love some of the concepts. I like the idea that force sensitivity isn’t the be all end all, that connecting to the force is something you can learn with practice even if you weren’t blessed with the genetic lottery. Peridea and the space it occupies in folklore is neat. And the music is wonderful. It is a little uneven, it’s not Andor or anything quite that amazing, but I’m eager for more.

Visions: This anthology is fantastic and you’re missing out if you haven’t seen it. I don’t love every entry, but even the weaker ones are worth seeing once, and the stronger ones are worth seeing a whole lot more than that. It’s a great blend of styles and takes from people normally not involved in creating Star Wars. This is in a three way tie for my favorite Star Wars show.

Rebels: Again, it’s not perfect, because no show is, but I also think it’s the strongest standalone show Star Wars has besides Andor. Yes, there are weaker episodes, but on the whole it’s remarkably consistent, and the second half of season four might be some of my favorite Star Wars outside of parts of the original trilogy. Also, it has some stunning backgrounds, and while the art style doesn’t always work for every character, the character animation ends up really hitting its stride towards the end of the second season, and just gets better from there. And, as always, the music is fantastic. Rebels rounds out that three way tie for my favorite Star Wars show along with TBB and Visions.

[novelconcepts]

How ‘bout 51 for taivan and 79 for tai & nat? Thanks, friend! :)

51 - Blessing/Good Luck Charm; 79 - High Five

Taissa's never been to the mall with just Natalie before now. It feels incredibly strange. They're not exactly hang-out buddies.

She'd normally have chosen another person entirely to ride on her handlebars, but that would sort of spoil the surprise. And, anyway, it's this person she trusts to help her pick out a present.

Weirdly, no one else in the world seems to know Van like Natalie Scatorccio.

"This?" She holds up a Hot Wheel. Natalie wrinkles her nose.

"You think Van's into cars?"

"It's a van," Taissa says witheringly. "It's a joke."

"Oh," says Natalie, "well, in that case--no, I'm fucking kidding, put that down."

Tai groans. "This is impossible."

Natalie has shot down absolutely everything. Socks. Stuffed toys. Pen knives, keychains, charm bracelets, necklaces. Everything Taissa has held up--patterned with dinosaurs, spaceships, movie characters, or soccer balls--Natalie has vetoed. So far, the only thing they can agree on is that the item has to be small enough to fit in Van's locker.

"A lucky rabbit's foot?" she wonders. "A pet rock? What stupid-ass thing am I supposed to be aiming for here?"

"We'll know it when we see it," Natalie says mysteriously, which only makes Taissa roll her eyes. The we in that sentence is doing a remarkable amount of heavy lifting, from her perspective. She'd wanted Natalie to help her, not fire missiles at her every idea.

Not the belt buckles. Not the mood rings. Not the tiny Star Wars Micro-Machines, nor the Pez containers. Nothing screams Van, no matter how much Taissa squints.

"This!" Natalie says at last. Taissa's jaw unhinges.

"No way."

"This," Natalie insists. "I'm telling you. It's perfect."

And--because Natalie didn't ask why Tai wanted so badly to buy Van a present before the season kick-off, because Natalie hasn't made fun of her once for doing this even though it's neither Christmas, nor Van's birthday--Taissa complies.

She doesn't know what to expect, presenting it to Van before their first game. Part of her considers giving up, keeping the item in the front pouch of her backpack for the rest of time--but, of course, there's Natalie. Bouncing on the balls of her feet. Rattling Taissa's shoulder with twitchy hands. She's all but hissing, Go on, give it to her in Tai's ear.

"This," Taissa says, "is from both of us."

Van raises her eyebrows. Out of the corner of her eye, Taissa sees Natalie do the same.

"It is?" they ask in eerie concert. Tai squares her shoulders.

"It's a good-luck charm." She resists the impulse to add, It was Natalie's idea. It's stupid. It's stupid, and therefore, I had nothing to do with it.

"We know you've got your ritual," she says instead. "And we figured, new year, new...add-on."

She dips her hand into the pouch, coming up with the small rectangle. Van looks perplexed.

"You got me a lighter?"

"A good-luck lighter," Natalie chimes in, which is great, because Taissa's half a second from dropping her head into her hands. "For burning the shit out of the competition."

Maybe, Taissa thinks, a fourteen-year-old was not the best person to invite to the mall after all. She should have gone with the mood ring. Or the Hot Wheel.

"This," says Van, her eyes shining, "is awesome."

She cracks open the lid, flicks the flint wheel. And, because Natalie helped Tai fill it in advance, a flame bursts to merry life.

"Awesome," Van breathes again. Tai winces.

"It is?"

"I told you," Natalie crows. She holds up a hand, slapping Taissa's palm so hard, the sting reverberates up her wrist. "Nobody else has a good-luck Zippo!"

That much is true. And nobody else gets the full force of Van's excited hug, the lighter still clutched in one fist as she flings her arms around Taissa in thanks.

That Zippo keeps Van company for the next four years. Before every game, Taissa watches her fish it out, flick it open, shut, open, shut. Three times, like clockwork, before flicking the flame to life. She watches Van shut her eyes, lips moving soundlessly--Tai can never make out what she's saying; it isn't for her, she recognizes--and then the lid slams shut. The fire doused, Van replaces the lighter on the top shelf, and goes out to absolutely dominate between the goal posts.

She'd be like that anyway, Taissa is sure. It's not the charm that does the trick. Van's excellent at what she does, the best goalie the city has seen in at least a decade. The lighter has nothing to do with it.

Still, every time, she meets Van's eyes and sees that flame reflecting back. Every time, Van grins. Raises the lighter a little higher in salute.

And, four years later, that lighter is in Van's pocket. When a plane goes down. When campfires need setting. When someone asks, "Who's got a light?" Everyone looks to Natalie, of course--and Natalie, obediently, flicks her Bic to life.

Only Taissa looks to Van. To the little silver rectangle tucked into the cup of Van's palm. Only Taissa sees it, and says nothing.

They could all use a little luck out here.

[tarisilmarwen]

Rebels Rewatch: "Homecoming"

Hera's daddy issues, and lots of fanservice for TCW fans.

Oh hey, one of my husband's favorite episodes!

Three guesses as to why.

Yep it's because of the Quasar Fire-class cruiser-carrier.

Anyway, the need for such a thing is demonstrated right with this opening scene, with an ill-fated A-wing getting blown up as it tries to dock.

The A-wings get a raw deal in this show, seems like any time they need a fighter to blow up they do an A-wing.

:(

You know by now Hera's started to get to know the pilots under her command, so every loss is a little bit more personal now.

Kanan being silently supportive as Hera goes to call home.

Cham appears and cue TCW fans freaking out.

Not sure why we forwent the fanfare this episode, I don't think the circumstances are quite serious enough for it.

Kanan acting all cutely nervous to be meeting Hera's father kjhkjds.

And him getting everyone's names wrong lol, look at their faces. They're all just like, "Dad. Dad, that's not my name."

Numa introduced and though I have only seen the episode where she appears once I understand TCW fandom's base instinct to sob uncontrollably at how big she's gotten.

Cham being all, "NO I won't let you have this carrier I have to BLOW IT UP as a SYMBOL of RYLOTH RESISTANCE!" is absolutely annoying, Sato and Hera are saints for putting up with it.

I love the immediate cut to Ezra helping Hera tune Chopper up, implying he did his whole "follow you out of concern" routine and got invited to stay. :)

This is becoming a familiar sight isn't it? Ezra's role as heart of the team, peacemaker, counselor, and "bridge" is particularly emphasized this season. Not surprising, we collect most of our finale-important assets and allies this season.

Hngh that vulnerable little, "More important than family?" Fandom sometimes like to portray Mira and Ephraim as workaholics who had no time for Ezra between their broadcasts and resistance but this little line here, that Ezra would be so quietly horrified at the idea of rebellion being more important than one's own family, suggests otherwise.

Also! "Well, there's nothing more important to me." Throw that shade baby boy, love you for it.

Hhhmgngnll shut uuuuuuuuup Cham. When Ezra was preoccupied with concern over his homeworld he wasn't nearly so obnoxious. And, you know, actually accepted that other people and other worlds need help too.

Hera slipping back into her Rylothi accent when talking to her father. <3

Kanan implying his grandmaster Mace Windu talked to him about Clone Wars adventures. <3

Hera's absolutely sour sulk face. XD

This whole scene really, Gobi teasing Hera about "your Jedi", Kanan gushing about Cham, Hera cutting her father off with the doors twice.

It has all the vibes of "surly adult daughter reluctantly visiting estranged home to show off the grandkids and being annoyed that husband and dad get along so well".

Kanan's fake accent here is kind of amazing.

Hera's devotion to authenticity dislodges and reveals the supply of grenades in Numa's sack. Honestly, Cham reminds me a little bit of Saw with how obsessive he is about his own personal cause. He and Saw are both fighting for a good reason, true, but their attachments--Cham to Ryloth's freedom in particular, Saw to being right about the Death Star stopping the Empire from inflicting more loss at all costs--have blinded them, made them single-minded and selfish, hostile to others and uncaring about their plight.

Ezra, on the other hand, though he's always very worried for his world, his people, still is able to put them aside in order to do things for the wider cause, still able to access his compassion for people outside of his immediate circle.

(This would take a brief backslide in Season 3 after Malachor but come back with internal character development at the beginning of Season 4.)

Lol I knew as soon as that mouse droid got trapped that it would be used later.

Synchronized Force Push FTW.

And I love this moment where they throw each other forward, it's so awesome. Been a while since we've heard the Main Titles theme used to denote heroism too.

Ezra bouncing excitedly once he pulls off the Mind Trick, like Kanan knew he could aww.

Hera's double-take lol.

"I must destroy this ship for Ryloth!" Oh take a chill pill.

This is another case of, "Wow, that's a fast turnaround." but it's way less egregious than Ketsu's turn, since there are multiple other voices chiming in in support of Hera after her speech and all Cham does is take a step back and let Hera have the floor, he doesn't actually help until later.

Sounds like a muted version of the TIE Fighter Attack track here.

Right, so, this moment is touching and all but pulling harder on the yoke wouldn't actually do anything, this is orbit not atmosphere.

Imperial theme here, and then a snippet of "Shenanigans".

Ezra has an idea! Bet Sabine loves it because it involves blowing stuff up lol.

Love the teamwork here with this moment.

Eyyyyy everyone wins! The Rebels get the carrier, Cham gets his symbolic firey ship explosion of justice, way to go Ezra, that was a good idea, nice "bridging".

Hugs! <3

An almost Stargate-esque cue here (no surprise, Kiner worked on Stargate SG-1) which... it's not Hera's theme I don't think, at least I can't find another occurrence in "Wings of the Master". Cham's maybe? It definitely sounds like a leitmotif.

Aaaaaand a nice moneyshot of our spacefamily.

Another quality Hera-focused episode, expanding on her backstory without contradicting what we already knew. (Which I've already talked about was a bit of a problem with Sabine and "Blood Sisters".) Hera doesn't really develop much but then, again, she never really needed to. Still nice to see her reconcile with her father.

Another variation on the Friendship Fetch Quest--though Cham reappears later he's not a crucial asset to the finale like the other allies we gain this season, and once more the most important gain this episode is a ship. That Quasar carrier is going become a familiar marker and staple of the Phoenix Cell and we're going to get very used to seeing it in establishing shots... which makes the great big hero moment in "Zero Hour" it gets hurt a LOT more.

Honestly it's worth watching just for how seamlessly synchronized Kanan and Ezra are getting in combat. :)

[rebelsofshield]

Star Wars The Bad Batch: "The Harbinger" - Review

After almost a dozen years away, Asajj Ventress returns to television, but this Star Wars anti-hero’s big comeback proves to be a much quieter and gentler story than most may have anticipated.

Fennec Shand’s contact, the force-wielding bounty hunter Asajj Ventress, arrives on Pabu and offers to help Omega understand her what her high M-Count might mean and if this means that she might be Force Sensitive. However, the Batch soon discover that Ventress isn’t just any normal bounty hunter. She’s a Separatist war criminal and former assassin to none other than Count Dooku himself.

“The Harbinger” may have been the most anticipated episode of The Bad Batch in its entire history. When the full trailer to the series’ third and final season dropped, nobody was expecting to hear Nika Futterman’s venomous whisper. Despite a potential resurrection in a canned story arc for Star Wars Resistance, most fans had considered Ventress dead for well over a decade. Regardless of your feelings about the novel Dark Disciple, I think it’s fair to say that fans of the character were always disappointed that one of The Clone Wars’s most interesting characters had her story resolved in a novel rather than on screen, especially given how much Futterman’s performance came to define Ventress’s character. Getting the chance to not only see Ventress back in animation but also alive following her previously canon death was the best kind of surprise.

Given the expectations placed on “The Harbinger,” it would have been all too easy to let Ventress’s big return steal away focus from our principle cast of characters. We’ve absolutely seen our fair share of Star Wars shows that have pushed aside their main storylines in favor of letting that week’s guest star have their time in the spotlight, but script writer Jennifer Corbett thankfully avoids this. Ventress’s presence here is clearly positioned as a potential, atypical mentor figure to Omega and her own journey regarding her potential destiny. Answers about her resurrection or what she’s been up to since the end of the Clone Wars are saved for another time and while that may frustrate some fans, it ultimately serves the show.

Whether or not Omega is Force sensitive has been a mystery hanging over this series since the premiere and the question has only gotten louder since the start of season three. We needed another Force user to give us these answers and in a way Ventress makes for a more inspired choice than some of the other potential options. We could have easily brought Ashley Eckstein back to voice Ahsoka in a one-off episode, but Ventress brings with her a greater sense of conflict and unease that allows this episode to work dramatically. Even if Ventress seemed redemption bound when fans last saw her in The Clone Wars, we don’t know where exactly her current loyalties lie, and the Batch have no reason to think that she’s changed from her time fighting on the opposite side of the war. Also Ventress, isn’t really the most nurturing of people?

Ventress’s presence here also plays into long running themes in The Bad Batch about trusting former enemies in an ever changing galaxy. Ventress makes it clear that she doesn’t see the clones as enemies but victims of the same power structure that used and abused her. Omega in turn looks to Ventress as a potential mentor and another formerly lost soul like Crosshair.

It all makes for a much less explosive and flashy episode than some fans might have been expecting. While we do get a very well choreographed little smackdown between Ventress and the Batch and an end of episode fight with a sea monster, “The Harbinger” is a very action light episode. Ventress doesn’t join the Batch in taking down Imperials. There’s no surprise lightsaber duel. Instead we focus on a complicated woman helping a confused girl find her way.

If the Lucasfilm team hadn’t made it clear that we are definitely not done with Ventress’s story, it might have been disappointing to get such a relatively lowkey outing for her big return to animation, but as it stands I can accept this quieter, more emotional story. We see a Ventress that is oddly enough more sure of herself than we’ve seen her in a long time. She’s not necessarily a servant of the light, but she’s absolutely not a villain. Seeing her solve the episode’s big ending sea monster attack with a peaceful, nonviolent use of the Force feels like a huge step for her character and an evolution that is both surprising and entirely welcome.

Ventress’s answers regarding Omega’s future remains a little too vague for the time being. Sure, Omega may be Force sensitive but what exactly that means for her as a character or the future of this series is still a big unknown.

Despite the surprisingly gentle story told here, we end the episode on a feeling of unease and foreboding. The Empire is never far from getting what they want and the team’s peaceful existence on Pabu can’t lost forever.

Score: B+

[mochiwrites]

MUMSCARIAN IN A WAR IM GOING CRAZY

WE ARE SHAKING HANDS RN 🤝🤝🤝

I think this is the first time the three of them have been on the same side before???

season 6:

prank war - grian and mumbo on the same side but scar was neutral party benefiting from the war

area77 - the hippies vs scar and doc, mumbo wasn’t involved

season 7:

mayoral race - grian was mumbo’s campaign manager and scar was running for mayor

mycelium resistance - grian vs scar, who recruited mumbo to help find the resistance base

season 8 had the boatem vs big eye crew prank war but I don’t recall the three of them ever working on a prank together… so that one’s kind of a technicality thing???

and now we have the buttercups vs doc and the three of them are all on the same side and 🥺🥺🥺 theY BUILT A CAMP TOGETHER. SCAR PUT A HOTGUY POSTER IN GRIAN’S TENT. THEY WERE COMPLIMENTING MUMBO’S TENT!!!

I was really hoping mumbo was going to get pulled in and I am SO happy grian and scar got him 🥺 this is definitely going to spawn some drabbles from me because rn all I can think about is the three of them spending time together at their camp and maybe even laying under the stars and !!!!!!!!!

also thinking about how falling sand kept making grian crash. and grian pushing scar off the edge at scar’s insistence because scar made him crash. I’m fine. I’m normal. I’m

[monstrousproductions]

I again come to you, my all knowing dude, since last time you gave me some badass recs on fantasy books that I really ended up liking!

Do you know some good anime, TVshow or movie you would like to recommend? I just don’t like straight romcom stuff!

Ooh I'm glad you liked the books!

I'm not a great person to ask for recs for visual media to be honest, I don't watch a lot of TV or films and generally don't enjoy them as a medium. I watch a lot of TV with my eyes shut lol

That said, there are of course exceptions! But my apologies in advance if these are all old news to you xxx Again, putting this under the cut to save clogging up the dash!

I went to the cinema three times last year, and every one of the films I saw was a banger. They were Everything Everywhere All At Once, Glass Onion, and Banshees of Inish Erin. Really brilliant, highly recommend them all.

I actually love rom-coms but will resist the urge to rec those here. The exception is Big Eden, which is sweet and gay and lovely and makes me cry. It's a pure regular 2000s rom com, but gay, but like, actually gay, not just "we made the two main characters both men but didn't actually deal with the fact they're queer". I love it.

Emma is my favourite Austen, and my favourite adaptation of it is the 2009 four-parter with Romola Garai.

Black Sails starts slow but is worth every second of slowness, especially if, like me, you're more for the "rip someone's throat out with your bare teeth and howl in ungodly gay rage" kind of queer content than the "nice boys kissing" kind of content.

Speaking of men in boats, the Terror is very very good. Ooh it's very good.

And hey, while we're talking Jared Harris (as I often am), Chernobyl was also very very good! Also made me cry, unsurprisingly.

If these feel a little heavy, RTD-era Doctor Who is my go-to comfort telly! I was once in the middle of bad depressive episode and had been sitting on the sofa crying in front of Gilmore Girls for a good few hours when I realised I was too sad for Gilmore Girls, and had to stop mid-episode to watch the Agatha Christie episode of 10ant/Donna to actually calm down. Don't talk to me about Steven Moffat.

And finally, if you're at all into Star Wars then I really recommend the Clone Wars! The first season is a little janky but it's good craic and also has lots of my favourite and best boy, Darth Maul, a man who is kept alive purely by homosexual rage and, for a brief time, robot spider legs.

[stellanslashgeode]

I don't think I've written my pitch for a Star Wars series here yet so.

It would start in the High Republic era. So much opportunity there. We meet a Jedi Master who is one of those long-lived alien species. Maybe Cosian. She's already very old. She's a traveling judge. Her job is to go from place-to-place settling disputes. Often she arrives in a town and solves three cases at once, Detective Dee-style. But she has a problem. She is tired of always having to train legal secretaries. They only want to stay with her for like 30 years before settling down and that's like mayflies to her. She sees a friend of hers who is a droid engineer. She has a custom-made model assembled that's basically a little stack of hard drives with an armored casing, photoreceptor, vocoder, and SCOMPlink. He doesn't even have any arms or legs so she carries him around in a backpack. The armor is painted blue, that's our main character title card: STAR WARS: BLUE MAX.

We follow the Jedi and Max around for a season until she dies in the finale either of extreme old age or defeating a reoccurring foe. Next season a lot of time passes between each episode. Max is housed at his masters' temple near her grave. Jedi students come from all over to ask advice as Max knows everything his master knew. He becomes frustrated that the caliber of Jedi who come don't measure up to his youth. He arranges to have an old labor droid modified with a hollowed-out chest so he can travel around Krang-style. They spend a lot of time just sweeping the temple grounds. It's a very slow contemplative Miyazaki vibe season.

Season three the Clone Wars start. Max finds the temple behind Separatist lines. He is programmed to support the Jedi order as part of his core programming so he collects military intelligence however he can and tries to find ways to send it back to the Republic. He also deletes any information he can find about his own existence. At the end of this season the war ends with the Jedi purge and Max finds he is the largest depository of Jedi lore outside Imperial control. He continues to sabotage enemies of the Order in secret. He's a droid that was built to be very robust with a lot of backup systems, if the series is a success it could last until the Sequel Trilogy. I envision it animated maybe in the Resistance-style but whatever works. I'd write it as fanfiction but I'm no good with mystery stories so far. Give it a shot if you can, just let me know so I can read it :)

[madelgard]

Tag people you'd like to know better

Thank you @klarionthewizard and @neumh for the tag!

Three ships:  Conan Antonio Motti/Tiaan Jerjerrod (Star Wars), Bertie Wooster/Bingo Little (P.G. Wodehouse stories), Henry IV/Richard II (Shakespeare's Henriad plays)

First ship:  It was probably Goku/Vegeta from DBZ. I need to wear the Cone of Shame.

Last song:  "Tevye's Dream" from Fiddler on the Roof

Last movie: Tim & Eric's Billion Dollar Movie

Currently reading:  The Plantagenets: The Warrior Kings and Queens Who Made England by Dan Jones. Also a lot of fic, with the most recent being The Dance of the Seven Veils by marketchippie (Measure for Measure fic, Isabella/Angelo).

Currently watching:  Summer's Lease rewatch time let's fucking goooo

Last thing I wrote:  Poked a bit at this Thrawn/Piett and Motti/Jerjerrod thing centered around the idea that the Chiss gain a sort of seasonal plushness that results in a thicker Thrawn:

Into Piett’s suite aboard the Chimaera, Thrawn and Motti stepped into view. That they had just returned from the exercise suite was obvious. Stripped to their undershirts and trousers, their tunics were off—Thrawn’s held under one bulky, bare arm, Motti’s slung carelessly over his shoulder—and both men had a light sheen to their skin, as though they’d just stepped out of the showers. Thrawn’s gaze swept the room, landing, as it always did, squarely on Piett. Exercise effused him with a lively flush, a bruised and purpling blue darkening the high ridges of his cheeks. It made his smile very white indeed. “Firmus,” he said happily. The bass-baritone of his voice was all warmth. “You will be pleased to know that Conan Antonio and I are now at a three-g pull in the heavy gravity room. The added resistance is most gratifying.” With a cackle, Motti crossed the room and plopped himself onto the sofa adjacent Piett’s, flush against Jerjerrod. “Gratifying is one word for it.” He slung an arm around Jerjerrod’s shoulders, tugging him closer. “I’d say it’s sweaty business, actually,” he murmured, very near to Jerjerrod’s ear. It was spoken murky and low, but unfortunately still audible to the rest of them. “Very sweaty. Maybe you’d like a demonstration, Tiaan.” At Motti’s drawl, Jerjerrod shuddered. His cheeks had pinkened considerably. “That doesn’t interest me in the slightest.” Thrawn sat down next to Piett, so near that their legs touched. His thighs were large, and solid, and hot enough that Piett couldn’t help but press up against him. “That does not surprise me,” he said, frowning at Jerjerrod. “You have no aptitude for athletics.” Jerjerrod bristled, but Motti laughed. “He’s plenty athletic. Why, just last night, he demonstrated a remarkable degree of flexibility when he—” “Conan!” Jerjerrod hissed. He’d gone scarlet. “That’s private!” “Firmus is athletic,” Thrawn announced to no one in particular. “Notably athletic, considering his size. We enjoy a daily run together, prior to our shift.” “Running’s boring,” Motti declared. His hand had dropped from Jerjerrod’s shoulder to sling around his waist. He’d taken to rubbing mean little half-circles in the indent of Jerjerrod’s hip, and Jerjerrod, for his part, had gone rigid. Staying upright seemed to be requiring all his attention. “Unless you’re being chased. What d’you think, Ti? Want to chase me down the hall?” Jerjerrod’s answer was breathless. “I suppose you’d quite like me to hunt you down.” “Mhmm, like an animal.” “Like a dog.” “Bring me to heel, sweetheart.” “Don’t think I won’t,” Jerjerrod muttered. He was staring at Motti’s mouth, and Motti, in turn, looked to be about a half second away from hauling Jerjerrod directly into his lap. Disaster was imminent. Piett had suffered such a collision before, and had no intention of witnessing it again. Not in his quarters; the sofa was far too cumbersome to clean. “So,” he said, loudly enough that Jerjerrod jerked his head in alarm. He seemed surprised to find Piett still in the room. “Perhaps we ought to, uh, part ways....” “An excellent idea,” Jerjerrod said at once. He stood quickly, towing Motti up by the elbow. “We have—ah, that is, there’s... there’s flimsiwork Conan and I need to review, in our, ah, his quarters.” “Is it a big stack of flimsiwork, Tiaan?” Conan was grinning. “Large? A lot to handle? Would you say it's thick—” With a snarl, Jerjerrod dragged him away, Motti still needling him even as the blaster doors slid shut. In their absence quiet filled the room, pleasantly oppressive. And to Piett’s side, Thrawn was scorching.

Currently writing:  The Wedding Night chapter of my Motti/Jerjerrod marriage fic, Pale Veils and Silk:

Throat dry, he darted a glance at Conan’s face, and his stomach performed its familiar flip. Husband. Husband. Husband. Conan was grinning at him. “What’s on your mind, Ti?” “Nothing,” he said at once, so immediately guilty that Conan barked out a laugh.

Tagging @retro-hussy, @alexx-dax, and @shakespeareaddict

[fanthatracks]

I once read that the early rounds of a photo contest are largely based on snap judgements. If an image doesn't make a strong immediate impression, it's game over for that particular entry. Of course I'm not a judge and this isn't a photo contest, but Star Wars has always been jam packed with iconic compositions so I thought it would be fun to pick out my favorite frame from each episode of the latest season of The Mandalorian. The Apostate The sight of Bo-Katan Kryze lounging on her throne has sparked its fair share of jokes and memes, but I actually liked this frame quite a lot. As a former photographer, I've always appreciated when a single image could convey a story. This shot definitely checked that box, as it perfectly summed up Bo-Katan's character arc up to this point. The Mines of Mandalore I had every intention of choosing a frame that portrayed the episode title. With usage of The Volume starting to look more and more obvious over the years, the vastness of the underground Mandalorian mines was both impressive and a welcomed change in visual scale. However, the action junkie part of my brain vetoed the decision and I wound up with this frame instead. I'm always a sucker for lightsabers, or anything close to it. Plus, I really liked this fight scene! The Convert I'm always partial towards all things original trilogy, and couldn't resist this epic shot of a decommissioned Star Destroyer. One of my favorite aspects of The Force Awakens was seeing familiar looking ships (including but not limited to Star Destroyers) in an unusual context, i.e. as wreckage in the deserts of Jakku. Here we had that again, this time in a New Republic junkyard on Coruscant. Very cool. The Foundling While not being a part of the current story arc, the Order 66 flashback was one of my favorite sequences of the season and of course I had to go with a shot of Kelleran Beq totally kicking butt. Having watched a ton of Asian action films in my day, I tend to be partial towards stationary wide angle fight choreography. Plus, dual lightsabers! The Pirate There were many scenes I liked from this action packed episode, but unfortunately all the movement resulted in heavy motion blur in most of the frames I wanted to showcase. I hardly had to settle though, as this shot of our heroes hurtling through hyperspace was particularly striking to me. Guns for Hire Perhaps it isn't a total coincidence that my least favorite episode of the season also didn't do much for me as far as visuals. On paper, Bo-Katan igniting the Darksaber would have been the ideal choice but the backdrop just looked way too much like my neighborhood park. The super battle droid chase scene came across as slightly goofy to me, but it did end in a fairly interesting overhead shot. The Spies The penultimate episode of the season had plenty of great scenes to choose from, yet this dark and gritty shot of an Imperial Viper droid hovering above Elia Kane was an easy choice. I really liked the huge amount of intrigue captured by this one frame, whether within the episode or if viewed without any context. The fact that it looked like a scene straight out of Star Wars 1313 didn't hurt either! The Return The season finale was a visual feast of spectacular action sequences, and I legitimately had a difficult time narrowing them down to one single pick. I very nearly went with the midair shot of a hovering Koska Reeves firing her blaster and knee darts, but the TIE interceptor/bomber attack edged it out. At a glance it may look like a fairly standard Star Wars space battle, but I liked the unusual sight of Imperial ships attacking one of their own. Of course, the light cruiser was being piloted by Axe Woves at this point but still made for low key unique visuals that we're not likely to see too often. [amazon box="B0BRYGM9R1"]

[beasanfi1997]

When i watched the gatekeeper part 2 from Power Rangers Mystic Force, where Udonna use her Spirit to help her son Nick, Madison, Chip, Vida and Xander to fight against Morticon, while She use her magic to touch her magic Wand, i stop thinking about Ahsoka that She use the Spirit to help Rey and the Ghosts of Anakin, Obi-Wan, Yoda, Mace Windu, Kanan, Luminara Unduli and Aayla Secura to kill Palpatine on Exegol

[bylightofdawn]

I've been listening to my RVB Mercs/Lolix playlist kinda nonstop for the past couple of weeks and it has me HELLA nostalgic for Red vs Blue.

But I can't help but feel like it's been tainted as a whole by RT's kinda skuzzy turn in the past few years. The way they've treated their talent, the fact they have defended pieces of shit up until someone had to come up with all the receipts as to WHY that person is a piece of shit...all of it has just made it very hard for me to enjoy the series anymore.

It sucks because I love Red vs Blue. It's such a dumb, enjoyable series, especially in the later seasons. I adored everything with the Project Freelancer stuff and then with the Chorus trilogy. I love Felix and Locus but fuck is it hard to enjoy the series without it being in the back of my mind how shitty RT apparently is behind the scenes. And I'm not saying everyone is a piece of shit but they have clearly encouraged a very toxic culture and now I'm afraid to even say I am/was a fan.

It just...sucks.

Because now I have to be conscientious of my consumerism regarding the company. I technically own all the seasons save for the last two or three but it's a pain in the ass having to deal with DVD's. It's not on Netflix anymore so if I WANTED to rewatch them I'd have to either break out my DVD's because I don't want to give them traffic on YT or on their site. :/ And yeah maybe I'm being overly dramatic here but I am really not comfortable giving RT anymore of my cash. I did purchase some of the seasons as bundles through online streaming a while ago so I do have that as an alternative to giving them add revenue on YT. I just don't have seasons 1-5 or anything after the Chorus Trilogy. And yeah I guess I could just buy them through vudu or something like that so RT isn't getting the full profit from it and maybe that's what I will do one day when my nostalgia gets so strong I can't resist going back and rewatching the show.

It's just mired in this bitter taste now. Hell, RVB is how I got INTO Halo as a fandom. I'd always judged it by the rude dudebros shouting expletives and using the N-word in voicechat rep that the series had and just wrote it off. Then I watched RVB and it got me curious about the Halo universe so I read the first tie-in novel and I was fucking hooked. Now Halo is my second favorite sci-fi series outside of Star Wars and it has this AMAZING extended universe with all these awesome books and characters beyond just the Master Chief and I have RVB to thank for my initial hook into the series. And even THAT has been kinda tainted by association. I am still buying Halo novels and one day will own an Xbox again so I can play the newer games etc. And you can DEFINITELY make an argument that Microsoft/343 is 10x worse than RT.

But I guess that's where you have to make your own choices on how you are going to interact with a problematic creator/creative team when it comes to voting with your dollar. And I definitely feel for like say the HP fandom and the struggles they have to face when it comes to JKR being a huge piece of shit. I get it, it sucks.

It just...definitely makes me sad and bummed out I can't support a company I used to enjoy and thought was pretty cool. :/

EDIT: Also? My Lolix playlist? Is fucking AWESOME and full of certified bangers and I will continue to listen to it prolly till the world or I end. Pffft. And continue to curate with all the care and exacting standards of a true 90's kid trying to burn their perfect CD/Mixtape.

If you know, you know. 🤣

[crypticpatterns]

Tag some people you want to get to know better. Thanks @celamity for the tag!

Three ships: Akeshu (Goro Akechi x Persona 5 Protagonist), Souyo (Yosuke Hanamura x Persona 4 Protagonist), Lumity (Luz x Amity from The Owl House)

First ship ever: Honestly, despite reading a lot of really shitty YA romance bc that's what my friend was into, I never really shipped something until I shipped Reylo. I think it was a combination of being ace and a closeted gay that made me indifferent to romance until I was introduced to the cosmic ship of Reylo that represented the reconciliation between the Dark and Light sides of the Force and was about two very lonely people finding belonging in each other. It connected to me both on a grand thematic and very personal way like no other ship had.

Last song: Halo by STARSET. I've been hyperfixating on it for days. It's a Royal Trio song from my fic code violet.

Last movie: Willow. It was really cute, but Sorsha deserved SO much better.

Currently watching: Hm I suppose I'm watching Star Wars: Resistance with my lil sis Joy but we haven't watched an episode since December. I started but never finished Green Eggs and Ham because Joy recommended it (it's surprisingly really good). Oh yeah, and I'm watching season 2 of Buffy with my sibling. Can't believe I almost forgot about that.

Currently reading: Way too much. A fantasy AU Akeshu fanfiction, Mockingjay, Skyward, Indexing, and a bunch of other stuff I started but dropped but will probably pick back up and finish eventually.

Currently consuming: I haven't eaten anything yet today (I just woke up) but I'm about to have breakfast which is going to include a Dunkin' Donuts brownie batter donut.

Currently craving: A Dunkin' Donuts brownie batter donut.

If you see this consider yourself tagged.

[shunsellon]

new vestroia and misogyny, part one

season two of bakugan starts a trend that would persist until the end of the series, namely the cutting down of the main female cast from three to one, and eventually to none by the second arc of the fourth season. here i break down the misogyny behind this writing choice, most especially in new vestroia, and how it all boils down to one thing: toy sales.

part 2 of this will cover how new vestroia’s writing has affected its more active female characters as well as how the relationship between the gender binary and the toy market extended to bakugan’s toy packaging.

despite the large number of the fandom being comprised of AFABs, bakugan is a shounen anime and as a result has always been more geared towards a male audience. bakugan is also a show that was created to sell toys, and the show is its biggest advertisement. by putting two and two together, it’s easy to come to the conclusion that the toys are also geared towards young boys.

the gender binary has always played a big role in how toys are sold and advertised. from auster and manbach (2012), research has long shown that girls and parents of girls will be more inclined to dabble in masculine and gender-neutral things than boys and parents of boys would in feminine things:

this effect has been reflected in the merchandising of many popular series that are geared towards boys. female characters have consistently been left out of merchandising, even if they are the main character or have been on-screen longer than their male counterparts. iconic marvel and star wars characters such as princess leia, black widow, gamora, and rey have been noted to be missing from official merchandise. though abandoned, the blog @butnotblackwidow​ documents how black widow is forgotten in marvel merchandise. to add to this, one of the reasons for the cancellation of the 2003 teen titans show was due to a lack of toy sales -- this was attributed to teen titans letting female characters terra, raven, and starfire shine. part of why it was cancelled because girls liked it but the toy market demanded segregation by gender. 

bakugan flopped in japan but did well overseas, prompting a second season. the success in toy sales is the reason for the misogynistic writing choices in new vestroia. to ensure its financial success, the writers wrote out female characters. most notable is the second season’s lack of active female brawlers in the cast -- from the 3:3 male to female ratio in season 1, it became 5:1. this tokenism of female characters is dubbed by scholars as the smurfette principle: where the female character only exists in reference to men, establishing a male-dominated narrative. season 2 onwards also sees a reduction in feminine bakugan and their perceived strength in-universe. if you’re watching the english dub of season 3 and the dubs which translate from it (which is majority of dubs outside of east and southeast asia), there would be no feminine bakugan entirely (avior is feminine in the japanese and other east/se asian dubs, she is made male in the english version). this trend would continue until mechtanium surge arc 2, where active female brawlers and feminine bakugan are cut out entirely.

however, new vestroia is particularly more misogynistic than the seasons following it because it actively undermines and writes its preexisting female characters in a way that “justifies” leaving them out of the narrative. here i list all instances where the writers blatantly write runo, julie, alice, chan, and skyress with the intention of leaving them out:

s2e01. runo and julie are purposefully left behind by drago, dan, and marucho (drago later apologizes for this, but it starts a pattern where the girls are constantly left behind/denied their chance to go to new vestroia/partake in battle).

s2e10. runo and julie fuck up, runo gets stuck between dimensions, the resistance gets separated, and the vexos come to earth as a result. this episode prompts the audience to place the blame on runo - establishing a pattern where female characters are purposefully written to look bad, blames themselves, then are written off from battling.

s2e19 is one of the worst bakugan episodes on earth. with apollonir’s help, dan, baron, and mira make plans to return to new vestroia. they invite runo, julie, and alice to come with them. but mira betrays them, forcing them to travel using michael’s transporter, which now only works if the traveler has a gauntlet. this forces runo, julie, and alice to stay behind. again.

but this episode also contradicts what’s already been established - that alice still has the portable version of the transporter that masquerade used in season 1. she uses this multiple times throughout season 2, but somehow they never thought to use it to transport themselves to new vestroia? despite masquerade using it to transport himself in and out of the doom dimension in season 1 (see: s1e34)?

considering all this, it just reads as a shitty attempt to not get the girls into new vestroia, despite alice using the card twice in the episode without a gauntlet and with multiple people.

s2e30 sees the return of skyress. here, she is portrayed uncharacteristically bitchy - she’s never acted the way she did with ingram before. like with runo, this prompts the audience to not sympathize with her.

this all backfires when the writers forcibly make her weak against lync and aluze in the final round, leading ingram - a masculine bakugan - having to step in a save/avenge her. this pattern of masculine bakugan having to step in and save/avenge/take care of a feminine one doesn’t only apply to skyress - it’s applied to elfin with preyas throughout the second half of new vestroia.

this episode, in my personal interpretation, is one of many that seeks to defang the original six with the exception of drago and preyas. skyress has a base power of 450gs - more than neo drago who stood at 400gs but obliterated everyone in the first half of season 2. but skyress, who is stronger than neo drago, is not given a time to actually shine and win a battle?

(also consider that neo drago has the same base g-power as base drago did at his strongest. power scaling doesn’t mean shit in new vestroia, the season is so plot-focused and hates women so much that it refuses any attempt at cohesion.)

in the end, skyress admits that she was wrong and is never seen again until she gets killed in ms arc 2.

s2e32. there’s bad episodes and there’s this. there was no reason to make alice and chan lose this battle. hell, i’d argue there’s no reason to portray alice as so scared to battle. her entire arc in season 1 is coming to terms with the fact that she is a battler and stepping into her place as the group’s darkus battler - it is part of her entire identity and informs a lot of who masquerade is (additional reading: marukrawler’s analysis on alice and masquerade). in s1e19 she is also shown to be more than willing to travel to new vestroia and save hydra, but like runo and julie, the writers decided that she isn’t allowed to.

the writers forget that in the first half of the season alice fearlessly ran towards spectra and gus, that she physically hit lync for threatening michael, and that she eagerly accepted dan’s invitation to travel to new vestroia in favor of portraying her as scared to battle shadow. her fear of battling shadow - of battling in general - just rehashes season one problems that were already resolved within season one, resolved by s1e48 to be specific.

anyway. alice and hydra get their iconic moment together and destroy hades. that should’ve been the end of it. but no, alice and chan get beaten by mac spider. this defeat by mac spider does not make sense at all, because two episodes later preyas defeats both mac spider and dryoid.

like i said with the skyress episode, s2e32 is an episode that seeks to defang and belittle the original six. it fails to make sense when you consider that hydra was The Shit in season one is already in his final evolution - the most powerful he can be via natural evolution - and is unable to defeat mac spider with help from fortress, but preyas can? preyas on his own, without angelo/diablo? and beats dryoid at the same time, who defeated an evolved nemus?

oh and they depowered hydra. from 550gs to 500gs. but somehow preyas rose from 340/400gs to 500gs on his own. stronger than storm skyress and the same level as alpha hydra. it does not make sense. oh wait, it does. it’s because skyress is a feminine bakugan and hydra’s partner is a woman but preyas is none of that, so he can stay.

the destruction of michael’s transporter happened for two reasons. the first is to make chan and alice look more like incompetent battlers despite shadow being the one who actually destroyed the transporter. like runo and skyress, alice is shown to regret battling and is shames herself. chan also never appears again after this.

the second is to write out alice and have no reason for her to appear. the destruction of michael’s transporter doesn’t mean anything because the following episode shows that klaus has his own. eventually, spectra will lend them his transporter, and then drago will evolve into helix drago which gives him the power to open gates between dimensions.

but the show contradicts itself again, because alice is still able to use the card version in the literal next episode. which can be used to travel between dimensions as established in s1e34, but is somehow forgotten in season 2?

s2e34. this episode is the sole episode where runo is able to brawl. in the japanese dub, she’s prompted to go out because dan asks her to make him curry. by contrast, the english dub changes this to make it so dan tells her she’s a shitty brawler. she goes out to either get curry or prove herself in battle, depending on which dub you watch. 

mira goes out to tell her that it’s not safe (despite runo having nothing to lose as she doesn’t carry an attribute energy, but mira holds one, and she goes out. with wilda. and was of sound mind when she made the choice to go out. with wilda.). they run into lync and mylene, brawl, and mira loses the attribute energy. despite mira the one going outside and taking wilda with her, the show decides to make runo blame herself for mira’s loss because runo chose to go outside.

this also the same episode where runo and julie make the sound offer to be the resistance’s first line of defense as they don’t carry attribute energies. this episode becomes even more misogynistic because baron and ace question their capabilities (despite runo and julie being the ones who were actually able to defeat the ancients, while baron and ace stay bringing in Ls) — even worse in the english dub because dan tells runo she’s a “lousy brawler” — and the episode is written in a way to prove them right. it writes runo to be useless with the intention of writing her off the show.

s2e37. billy visits julie and the brawlers. marucho shows them bakugan interspace while shun checks the surveillance. ace battles julie and billy. this battle isn’t as bad as alice’s or runo’s on how it shames female characters (though julie still loses). that comes after, where it’s revealed at mylene and shadow tracked billy to marucho’s house and julie gets shamed by proxy of being the reason billy came over.

like episode 34, the english dub also changes dan’s lines. in english julie tells him that billy didn’t mean to get lead the vexos to them and dan says that it doesn’t matter. in the original, julie apologizes (once again placing the blame on herself like alice and runo did) but dan says that it’s fine and they should focus on the future instead.

julie being shamed here isn’t the only problem with this episode. julie is coded to be latin american, and her portrayal here is one of many instances where she falls under the spicy latina stereotype. see this post for a break down of julie and the spicy latina stereotype, approved by a mexican latina.

the last two episodes especially show how the plot and lore will bend in order to make writing out the original girls a sound choice. first, mira will tell runo it’s not a good idea for her go outside as the vexos pose a threat. but in e36, dan tells baron it’s fine for him to take maron outside because he already lost his attribute energy and thus would not be a liability if he went. this is cut from the english dub - you can watch it here unsubbed and still get the gist as dan mentions the lumina energy and baron is shown feeling like shit over it.

second, it’s shown that the vexos track the brawlers via attribute energy. e35 has a clip of hydron smiling as he receives an alert for the aquos energy once elfin goes outside without marucho. the clip of hydron is also cut from the english dub; you can watch it subbed here.

when put next to episodes 34 and 37, it becomes obvious how the girls are purposefully made to look bad. why is runo blamed for mira losing the attribute energy, when mira was the one who went out knowing she’s the liability, and baron went out without an attribute energy just fine? why is julie shamed by proxy for billy unwittingly being tracked by mylene and shadow because of his gauntlet, when the vexos track the resistance via attribute energy?

it’s because they’re actively trying to write out the girls and make it seem to the audience that it’s a logical choice, but it isn’t and it’s obvious they don’t want women here, that’s fucking why. the english dub makes it particularly worse because it omits these small details and then changes the script to make dan an even shittier character.

all this eventually leads to two instances where the girls are left behind. first is s2e38, where spectra takes the resistance to the mother palace. despite them saying in the beginning of the episode that they wouldn’t leave runo and julie behind, they’re still left behind.

second is in s2e51, where tigress and golem retire from battling because they think of themselves as liabilities in comparison to the rest of the team. this also terminates any chance of runo and julie battling. hydra is never given a speaking role after his battle with shadow, and alice also stays behind. what a coincidence that this final nail on the coffin also comes after runo, julie, and alice are repeatedly denied opportunities to go to new vestroia, made jokes of in battle, and are blamed when things go wrong. what a coincidence that this is the one episode where the girls can pass through a dimension gate, but instead are written to willingly stay behind.

it’s in this episode where julie also says that she and runo “were never the brawlers that they (the resistance) were” when anyone who has ever paid attention to season 1 would know otherwise. this line is also a complete assassination of character on julie’s part - her whole trial was about not comparing herself to others and in season one she was willing to die if it meant the brawlers would complete their mission.

this character assassination also becomes worse when you factor in julie’s short appearances in season 3. she says that she quit bakugan and that her driving force behind battling was to catch up to dan. this is again entirely untrue and inconsistent if you pay attention to season one where she battles for herself and for the bakugan, not because she wants to reach dan. again, her entire trial is about not comparing herself to others and it’s when she realizes that that golem evolves. this all only exists to give a reason, albeit a shitty and misogynistic one, for why julie isn’t an active brawler anymore.

julie was repeatedly denied opportunities to battle and help throughout season 2, and the one battle she was given, she lost and was quickly shamed for something out of her control (that never seemed to be a problem for the resistance - see baron). then the writers deemed that wasn’t enough and regressed her character even further. all for the sake of keeping girls out of the main cast, because their show is one big toy advertisement, and the toy market demands segregation by gender. the message of season 2 is clear: the girls aren’t welcome on the battlefield anymore, they should just hold the fort and make food for the obnoxious male mc, who the english dub makes even more obnoxious and annoying.

in conclusion,

*dropped down to a mere minor character for money. inesidora’s artwork, truly timeless.

thanks to marukrawler for helping me out with the japanese subs/translations. other translation credits go to nhi huynh on youtube.

[rainydaydream-gal18]

(The Bad Batch) Crosshair x Reader: Hold

Author's Note: I figured I'd combine these! I hope that's alright and this was what you're looking for! Thank you for the requests!!!

I present to you what should have happened.  JK I'm enjoying the show (even though I do hope Crosshair comes back!!) and totally excited for Season 2.  This is just one of many alternate scenarios, as is commonly written in the Star Wars fandom.

Word Count: 1,169

Warnings: A touch of angst.

You watched the quiet exchange with hands clasped together and teeth biting your lips, waiting, hoping…

Dawn had risen over the ocean planet, the pale light washing the sky in pastels.  You should feel nothing but relief after the squad returned safely to the ship.

The squad escaped Kamino.  Everyone was safe.  You only caught a glimpse of him through the viewport and nearly tripped over your feet racing off the Marauder.  With you being a jedi on the run, Echo had thought it best that you remain on the ship while he led the others to rescue Hunter.  You had watched in horror from the platform as laser blasts streaked through the dark, stormy night and impacted the structures of Tipoca city, setting them ablaze, while your squad was still in there.  There was no way of knowing whether they found Hunter or if any of them made it.

The decision to go after them was easy enough, but by the time you geared up and stepped out into the deluge, the tube that ran underwater to Nala Se’s laboratory was destroyed.  Debris littered the sea around you and sank into the murky depths.  It was too dangerous to fly the ship over because the Empire might have detected you on their scanners.  You could only wait.  Wait and wonder if Tech, Hunter, Wrecker, Echo, and Omega were okay.  Wonder if Crosshair was alright after all.

What was most important was that everyone was okay.  You nearly burst into tears when they climbed up onto the platform at the first light.  They were fine.  They were shaken up from the ordeal, sad that the closest thing they had to a home was obliterated, disappointed that Crosshair was still refusing to come along, but fine.

Even so, you couldn’t help but hope.

With eyes locked on Crosshair’s lean form, you hoped.

Omega returned to the group, shaking her head.  Your heart dropped.

Why was he doing this?  Something wasn’t right…  It had to be that chip.  Had to be.  Hunter had quietly told you what Crosshair said, that his chip was removed a long time ago.  Had it really?  Then why did he clasp a hand over the side of his head before?  When you first saw him?

You watched in disbelief as the squad started up the ramp into the Marauder.

“No…We can’t just leave him.”

“There’s not much more we can do,” Hunter murmured, resting a hand on your shoulder as he passed.  He looked over his shoulder at the sniper before his eyes flickered back to you.  A worn sigh emerged from his lips before he nodded, silently granting you a little extra time.

You nodded in return, determined.

Five minutes.  No more.

So you jogged over to where Crosshair stood on the platform with his back facing the squad.  He gazed out at the colorful sky with features screwed tight in pained skepticism.  His hand twitched, as if he was resisting the urge to touch the wound on his head again.

“Cross?” you said.

He stole a glance in your direction, but didn’t budge.

“I know that you’ve been through a lot.  Believe me, we have too.  But our best bet is to stay together.  We all need each other now more than ever.”

“It’s more complicated than that,” he replied, teeth clenched.

“No, it isn’t.”  You reached for his hand, gently wrapping your fingers around it and pulling it to your chest.  “Please, Crosshair.”  Your voice lowered to a longing whisper.  “I’ve missed you so much.”

When he didn’t reply, you released him entirely.  Bitter tears spilled down your cheeks as you looked over at Hunter, who stood with arms crossed.  

Three minutes left.

Perhaps it’s in vain. 

The pain of that thought pierced through your heart like a viroblade, stinging your veins.  Shoulders slumping, you met Hunter’s eyes in defeat.  His expression softened at your visible hurt, and he waited for you to join him up on the ramp.  He knew better than anyone what this meant to you- what Crosshair’s absence had put you through.

Each painstaking step took you farther from Crosshair, and it was as if your feet were made of durasteel.

Suddenly, you couldn’t go any farther.  You halted mid-step.  Another teardrop plummeted from your face , mingling with the rainwater on the platform at your feet.

You turned back around, ignoring Hunter’s quizzical expression, and marched right back until you were standing in front of your sniper.  He gazed down at you, frowning in his usual serious way, though he didn’t quite reign in the surprise in his eyes at your reappearance.

Without so much as a word, you threw your arms around him.

His muscles bunched and tensed at the contact.  It was apparent even beneath his armor.

As if you had landed a blow.

You only held onto him tighter, burying your face in his shoulder.  For several seconds you remained like that, clinging to the man you loved.  Searching.  Grasping for that part of him that you missed so terribly.  Although, it was starting to feel like a shout into the void. Except it wasn’t.

To your surprise and relief, you felt pressure on your form as he wound his arms around you and squeezed back.  He was returning the embrace tenfold, making you feel as though you might melt into putty if it weren’t for his arms holding you so securely.  A whimper of relief choked out from your lungs.  The tears kept falling for an entirely different reason.

His head rested on top of yours, earnestly seeking more of your touch.

Another cry escaped your lips.  Crosshair shifted to hold you even tighter.

“I’ve missed you, darling mine,” he told you.  His admission sent a quake through your bones.  He was starting to sound like his old self again.  You felt one of his hands leave your back to clasp over the side of his head again as he winced.

Feeling compassion for his pain, you pulled away to observe his expression.  “Let’s get out of here.”

He blinked his eyes open, still clutching his head, and nodded.

With your hand still grasping his, you led him toward the ship.  Hunter gave you a look of approval despite the part of him that was cautious.  He stepped aside so that you could bring Crosshair aboard.

Inside, Tech had a datapad out in front of him while he checked over the Marauder’s controls to ensure everything was fully functional.  He caught sight of the two of you, and his eyes widened in contained surprise.

“Oh.  You’re coming with us after all.”

He sounded pleased, which was what you’d hoped.

“Crosshair?” Wrecker exclaimed.  You heard his heavy footsteps as he stomped his way up to see for himself.

“Well, this is unexpected,” Echo commented.

Omega was grinning ear-to-ear.  “It’s great!  Welcome aboard!”

“First thing’s first,” Tech stated.  He adjusted his goggles as he eyed the wounded area of his brother’s head.  “Let’s get that chip removed.”