#oh and yeah i know there's that bit in the mortis arc but like. IT'S SO BRIEF AND FOR WHAT | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

ironmandeficiency · 4 years ago

Text

accidents happen

pairing: kix / mechanic!reader (afab here)

word count: 2163

summary: accidents happen even to the most careful people.

a/n: can be read as part of the kix/mechanic!reader universe i accidentally made (here, here, and here). made some tweaks to the og req but stuck to the general theme. sprinkled in a few of my oc boys for ✨flair✨

warnings: speeder crash, prego!reader

you don’t remember much of the speeder crash. it was a blur of lights, a cacophony of twisting metal and the screams of passersby as they worry about the wellbeing of those involved. that is, until your head slammed too hard against the controls and knocked you out cold.

the sensations of latex icicles checking your pulse roused you from your unconscious state. your eyes struggled against the bright lights of what you knew was the five-oh-first medbay, the foggy yet familiar voices of frantic clones being a dead giveaway. they were worried about many things—your condition after the wreck, whether you would be able to return to field work with them once you recovered, kix’s reaction once he catches wind of what happened...

kix hadn’t kept his cool when your arm was slightly crushed by general skywalker’s delta-7 aethersprite, how was he going to handle his cyare being in a speeder crash?

answer’s simple: he wouldn’t.

kix had just left the operating room when he heard the commotion of a new patient being brought in. jogging to the cot where they lifted the patient, he pushed his way through the unusually tight crowd of vode until he got to the foot of the bed. “alright boys, what do we got?”

“speeder crash just outside of 500 republica, two broken ribs, a—oh we got it taken care of kix, go get some rest-”

“you just left surgery, take a break!”

“this’ll be easy peasy, we got it!”

the voices of his brothers were agitated as the crowd was damn near trying to push him away. with a few well-placed nudges and shoulder bumps, kix realized that they indeed were trying to push him away. this just made him all the more intent on figuring out why they were trying to boot him out. he was a medic for kriff’s sake, bronco had no business trying to shove him out of the way like that!

“easy peasy my shebs, bronco! i…”

it was you.

you were lying unconscious on the bed in front of him, surrounded by brothers on all sides as the other medics, clone and civvie alike, were taking care of you. there was an oozing, bloody gash along your temple and a growing knot that was already grossly discolored.

it was instinct for kix to want to take point on this. it was you, he didn’t want anything to go wrong. and if something did go wrong, he wouldn’t want to have the scapegoat of blaming a vod for anything. it had to be on him, he had to be the one to take care of you.

the protests of several vode immediately follow kix’s insistence, multiple hands starting to pull him from your bedside. he begins to struggle against them and they immediately start to grip him tighter as they guide him towards the exit.

“you can’t do this! i need to-mmph! be here! let me go!”

“you know why we can’t do that, vod.”

“bantha karking shit you can’t! i need to be there, you don’t understand!”

arguments continued and tension mounted in the medbay, kix still fighting to get to you while the others were either treating you or holding him back. all other conscious thought ceased to be, the gut instinct of taking care of you being his only purpose.

then a firm voice booms through the chaos with enough force to wake the dead as he calls the medic’s name.

“leave, kix. that’s an order.”

rex’s heart was being smashed by his own boot as he spoke. he hated having to be the one giving the ultimatum to the frightened medic in front of him, but as captain, the burden fell onto him. kix was clearly not able to separate you from what needs to be done for the patient and he was not going to allow that kind of responsibility on his vod’s shoulders.

not if he was going to be able to sleep tonight.

rex’s eyes betrayed how much it hurt him, but the bristling of his words showed no such emotion. he couldn’t show any of this inner conflict, not as a captain and especially not as ori’vod to nearly every man surrounding your bed. but the men know that their captain isn’t heartless, that he views you as one of the best things to happen to the five-oh-first, that he has a reason for everything he does.

it takes a hell of a lot more convincing (read: sedative) to get kix to back down. rex and fives carried the medic to the barracks, taking care to lay him down gently. the proximity to the younger trooper told rex that a sedated kix was having more of an effect on him than he let on.

even though fives had other duties to take care of while on leave, rex knew that a distracted fives would not be able to complete any of them to his regular standards. so, like a good captain and ori’vod, he excused the younger brother from his tasks.

“you can stay with him,” rex could read the arc trooper like a datapad; fives was tense and afraid, two feelings that only his closest brothers would recognize on him. “he’ll probably feel better if someone’s here when he wakes up.”

“but rex—“

“i know you stayed with him the last time his cyare was injured, fives. he would be grateful to have someone with him during this.” fives nodded his thanks grimly, taking his perch at kix’s bedside.

rex returned to the medbay with haste, hoping against hope that your injuries were mild. his return to the medbay was met with you awake, recounting the story of how you were rammed by a rogue speeder that ran their traffic light.

“we’re just glad you’re okay, gotabor.”

“yeah, no speeder can keep you down.”

a wave of peace rushes over the tired captain and he takes his leave. you were okay, kix would be okay, the five-oh-first would be okay.

queen and starchild continued to praise your resilience (“the toughest mechanic in the gar” is what you’ve been dubbed) before they’re cut off briskly by morticus, whose face was sporting a strangely lighter expression, like some of the burdens he carried were lightened for a moment.

“but we also have some news, gotabor. some that you really should be told in private.”

your first instinct is to tell morticus that you trust these men with your life, that anything he had to say could be said in front of them. but something in his eyes told you that pushing the matter wouldn’t end well. “i’ll be here when you get back, boys,” you give the remaining troopers soft smiles and a gentle squeeze of their hands, reassuring them that you were okay now, that in the hands of the five-oh-first you were the safest you’ve ever been.

they took a reluctant leave, looking over their shoulders one last time as they left the medbay. it wasn’t that they didn’t trust morticus, no not that at all, it just seemed that you had a penchant for getting injured and when brothers were repeatedly injured in increasingly severe ways, they didn’t always stay around much longer.

morticus is quick to say what he needs to, privacy being a very rare luxury in a five-oh-first medbay whether on leave or otherwise. “now that we have some privacy, gotabor, i have some news.” again, there was this happier lilt to his voice that he just didn’t have. morticus was stoic, cynical, even a bit dickish on the right day. to see him smile and sound happy about something was abnormal but pleasant all the same.

“is everything alright?”

“more than alright—you’re expecting.”

your face warped in your confusion, eyebrows crinkled and lips slightly pursed. “expecting what, morti?”

this man laughed—genuinely laughed—at your reply and if you weren’t so distracted by your perplexion, you would have said something about how nice his laugh is.

“a child, gotabor’ika. you’re pregnant.”

a sly grin made an appearance, morticus’s voice slightly teasing. the air was lighter around him than it has been in a long time and he was going to enjoy it with everything he’s got. “i’m going to assume that the baby belongs to kix—“

“of course it’s his, di’kut! but we had been so careful, always using protection! i don’t know how this happened…” racking your brain, you tried to remember a time when the two of you were a little less than careful but came up empty. “we weren’t trying for this, morti. it just happened, it was an accident.”

he patted your thigh with a smile. “sometimes accidents happen to even the most careful people. just take this as a win and keep going.” something to your far left beeped—another brother’s machine—and morticus quickly reverted back to tense medic mode, scrutinizing the readings before taking notes in their datapad and returning to your side.

“you got this, gotabor. you’re made of the stronger stuff.” he flurries around you, making sure you’re as comfortable as possible before telling you to rest and that kix will be with you soon. it didn’t take a seasoned member of the resolute to know that kix was so devoted and bent on protecting you however possible, and you knew that he was probably sedated yet again. he would be here when he’s up, you know he will. you just hoped that he liked what he was waking up to.

rex made sure to stop by kix’s bunk to tell fives that you were conscious and by all accounts, appeared to only be mildly banged up. the way the tension fell from his vodika’s shoulders comforted rex, glad that he could give the arc good news to depart onto the unconscious medic before them, the smile on his face genuine as he departed from the barracks.

it wasn’t very long after rex left that kix began to stir. as predicted by fives and the rest of those aware of the situation, his first waking thoughts and concerns were for you. the arc was quick to console his vod and encouraged him to go to the medbay to see you as if kix could have been stopped. fives had to bargain (and trade some of his favorite candies from his stash) to convince kix to let him walk to the medbay with him, the medic still on shaky legs after being sedated.

everyone with a lick of sense knew to steer clear of kix until he was able to see you again. they made a path for him and fives without hesitation, knowing that all hell would be let loose if any of them tried to stop their advancing to the medbay.

“special delivery for gotabor’ika!” fives shouts as he enters, promptly getting shushed by coric and morticus.

you laugh from your cot when you hear your second favorite trooper before you see him. “over here, fives!” he follows your voice and soon, kix is being deposited on the foot of your bed with a smile.

fives grins and pokes his cheek, signaling for a small peck in return for his services. “now if you’ll just sign here-ow!” honestly he should expect the light slap you deliver to his face instead. “you got him from here, gotabor. get better soon, i don’t trust those kriffing ships without ya!” he leaves with a smile and a wave, comforted to see that you’re truly okay.

kix still hasn’t laid down with you and you’re slightly worried. by now, he’d be wrapped all over you like a tooka to lothnip. you nudge him with your foot to get his attention and when he finally meets your gaze, his eyes are wet. it looks like he’s trying his best to not cry but it’s soon to be a losing battle.

“kix, baby what’s-“

“you’re pregnant.”

the datapad with the reports of your injuries and conditions is cradled in his palms. bloodwork has never lied to him before but every nerve is on edge, like this would all be pulled out from under him the moment he let himself indulge in the what-if’s.

you weren’t sure how he would react to the news and he isn’t exactly giving you any hints as to how he feels about this which slightly worries you; kix has never been one too shy away from telling you his thoughts and the fact he’s doing it now has your stomach in a knot. “honey, what-“

your question can’t even leave your lips before the datapad is tossed on the bed and he’s wrapping his arms around you, face buried into your shoulder and failing to hold back the tears. at least he doesn’t seem to be angry, that’s a plus. “i love you so much, ner gotabor,” he raises his head to meet your eyes, one hand resting on your stomach with a teary smile. “i love both of you.”

kix taglist: @blue-space-porgs @leias-left-hair-bun @likeshootingstarsinthenightsky @olluea @catsnkooks @simping-for-fives @captainrexstan @mackstrut @battletales @stardustsunrisekisses @darthadeline @artemis61003 @majorshiraharu @getdookuedon @capricornrabies @jedi-mando @whovianwar @hornystarwarsbisexual @bo-kryze

#kix x reader #kix #clone medic kix #star wars the clone wars #star wars #star wars imagines #star wars reader insert #star wars fanfic #swtcw #clone trooper imagine #captain rex #kix x you #tw pregnancy #pregnant!reader #afab!reader

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rodentiae · 2 years ago

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I NEED to know more abt your thoughts on Inside Job. /pos

Ok so take this with a huge grain of salt because i quite literally just woke up but i feel so disappointed with this new season !! Also maaaaajor major spoilers ahead.

Season one was really compelling. It had its moments where it was a bit silly or goofy or just tropey but i felt like that was just part of the show honestly. I didn’t mind the moments where there were forced one-liners because overall the show was good! I loooooved Reagan’s character because i have literally never seen an adult show that had a woman like that who was openly autistic and antisocial and just flawed. She felt like a real character with real, human issues which only got deeper and more interesting with the final two episodes of the season.

Compare that to season two where she does a COMPLEEEETE 180. The first few minutes were fine! They made sense! Yeah she is falling deeper into substance abuse she lost everything and all the people she cared about didn’t support her. She’s becoming the thing she hates most and losing her grip on herself in the process. Then that stupid fucking bland Ron dude shows up and his entire character halts all the progress they were going to make with her character and makes her feel like a total self-insert to me.

When their relationship begins it feels almost like the show becomes a trope on a trope on a trope on a poorly-written YA novel. Reagan stops being a multi-faceted, flawed human being. She becomes a quirky Y/N girlfriend to this guy who i cannot even bring myself to give a shit about like he’s just so unlikable! Not only does she lose oh I don’t know her debilitating substance abuse problems but the entire thing that compelled me to her character in the first place! She just becomes well-adjusted so fast with no explanation! Just because she is dating some random fucking guy she just met.

That’s not even mentioning the problems I have with the second season as a whole. There were moments that were genuinely funny, sure. But for the most part it just felt like something drastic happened with the writing team or the production that changed the show into what could have happened if Rick and Morty was written by centrists. There were also a lot of jokes that were just written in insanely poor taste for me, especially the ableist ones and oh I don’t know showing literal clones of hitler. Jarring and unfunny to me honestly. Oh yeah and what the fuck was that about Reagan and Brett’s arcs with their abusive parents kind of resulting in them just. Forgiving them???????? Idk it felt as if the narrative wanted us to forgive Rand for being just an alcoholic and a bad dad without recognizing that, even though he had his reasons and motivations, he still traumatized Reagan throughout her entire life and is an abusive piece of shit.

tldr: This is my killing eve s4. I’m rly sad about what they did to Reagan’s character and sad that they decided to make her straight with someone that wasn’t Brett lmfaooo. I feel like the show was written and produced by a totally different team than it was last season and everything feels out of place. Season two had so much potential :((

#inside job #inside job spoilers #anyways part 2 isn’t canon its not real it can’t hurt you #asks

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smhalltheurlsaretaken · 4 years ago

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First I gotta say that I love you and your work, it's incredible and I enjoy every post✨

My brother said that Qui-Gon and Luke are grey jedi and that Luke has a red lightsaber as backup or something like that. And I'm looking at him with mad side eye and just wanted to ask your opinion on it?

❤️❤️❤️ Aaaaaw, so sweet!!!!

... Wait, Luke has a red lightsaber? *furious typing* Ah, yes. It’s in like three Legends books, and therefore worthless.

Just kidding - but here lies the first problem. What continuity is your brother even working with? Because you cannot - and I will die on this hill even though it’s just basic common sense, cannot - attempt to reconcile the Legends EU and Lucas’ vision for Star Wars into one cohesive universe. The characters don’t work, the themes don’t work, the timelines don’t work, the ideas don’t work.

Here is a bit of an explanation on why I believe that to be the case, and the quotes backing it up, but basically, Lucas, Filoni and LucasFilms all confirmed that the extended universe was not to be considered on par with the movies and TCW in any way. I’m not saying this to criticize the EU itself, or to say people don’t have a right to find it immensely entertaining/meaningful. I’m saying this to explain why you cannot take pieces of the EU (yes, even the old EU) to try and contextualize the movies - unless Lucas/somebody on the creative team of a piece of ‘higher’ canon expressly admitted to having taken something directly out of Legends.

Now, is there such a thing as a “Grey Jedi” in the movies, or TCW? No, there isn’t, but we’ll come back to that.

The second problem is the very definition of Grey Jedi. Depending on who you ask, what decades-old Legends book you go on from, Grey Jedi are either individuals capable of using both the Dark and the Light, or simply rogue Jedi.

Breaking it down case by case: I - Are Luke or Qui-Gon rogue Jedi? II - Do Luke or Qui-Gon use both the Light and the Dark?

I (A) - Qui-Gon is characterized as a bit of maverick, but he is by no means a complete outlier to the Jedi. I’ll just drop these two very interesting posts here and here that are a bit off-topic but make some great points about Qui-Gon loving the Order and definitely identifying as part of it. We get many, many instances of the Council itself approving of him. They overrule Yoda’s vote to not have Anakin trained, they still assign Qui-Gon very important missions like the one to Naboo, and they don’t pull him out of said missions when Qui-Gon shows up with a random kid he claims to be the incarnation of the Force itself. That is indicative of a high degree of trust, to say the least - so you can say that he is ‘rogue’ in the sense that he used to eff off to wherever to do his own stuff, but he never claimed to be anything other than a Jedi, he never left the Jedi, and he never criticized the Order in the movies or TCW (yes, you can check - he never once directly says anything about them being wrong for not doing things his way; just that he will do what he feels he must.)

"Tu-Anh was something of a maverick. Much like my own master, Qui-Gon Jinn. She would disappear for long periods, conducting rogue investigations. Her activities often unknown to even the Council." ―Obi-Wan Kenobi, to Jen June on Tu-Ahn[src]

So yeah, rogue somewhat, but still a Jedi Master, trusted to the point that they would have had him on the Council had he chilled a bit.

He also never does anything in the movies that sets him apart as oh-so-different from his fellow Jedi. Arguing with the Council? Everybody does that. Anakin does, Obi-Wan does, Yoda does, Ahsoka does, the younglings do - they argue with Obi-Wan in the Ilum arc. Being compassionate/nice to people? Check out the Disappeared, two entire episodes that have Mace befriending Jar Jar Binks. Here’s a list of instances of the Council being incredibly nice. Here, here and here is Mace being kind and compassionate. Qui-Gon liking Anakin? Here’s the Council and Anakin bantering. Here’s Yoda caring about Anakin.

Again, Qui-Gon wanted Anakin trained as a Jedi, and trusted his straight(er)-laced Jedi Padawan with it in the end. There is nothing in the movies or the show saying Qui-Gon was completely separate from the Order, or in radical opposition to them.

I (B) - Luke is the Order reborn, so he cannot be rogue, as the only thing he can measure himself against is himself. There is no longer a standard to be rogue in comparison to. Considering the state of the galaxy when he becomes a Jedi, Luke simply cannot function in the same way the Jedi who came before him did, but that doesn’t say anything about a rejection of the values of the PT Order. What it means to be a Jedi - being kind and compassionate, being in control of yourself, seeking peace before violence - is embodied by Luke. Furthermore, Luke loves Yoda and Obi-Wan - the quintessential Jedi characters - deeply, and finds much of his identity in being a Jedi.

“I am a Jedi, like my father before me” would be a really weird line if Luke actually meant “but like, not a Jedi like those Jedi. I’m a me-Jedi. A not-like-them-Jedi.”

I can’t make this into a Luke meta, because it’d be too long, but I don’t get the idea that Luke could represent a rogue Jedi when, at the time of his creation, he was the one and only embodiment of an active Jedi Knight we got to see. Like, what were we supposed to compare him to to determine he was rogue/doing things ‘better’?

Luke’s story is about becoming a Jedi and getting his father to become a Jedi again as well. That story makes little narrative sense if he’s supposed to be defined in opposition to the rest of the Jedi (that, at this point in time, we didn’t know) as instead of being defined as one.

And again, the Jedi of old display just as much compassion and kindness as Qui-Gon or Luke.

II - No, Luke and Qui-Gon don’t use both the Dark Side and the Light, because that’s literally not how the Force works - and don’t take my word for it: here’s Lucas explaining it in details. You don’t get to do both. The Dark is selfishness. You can’t be selfish and selfless and the same time. You can’t crave power and holding innocent people’s lives as more important than even your own.

The words “light side” were never uttered in the movies and only really appear in the Mortis arc, and I dare anyone to claim they truly understand everything about it beyond “it’s a microcosm of the Galaxy/the whole Star Wars saga.” The Jedi never claim adherence to a “light side,” they say they seek balance. The idea that balance is 50% evil and 50% good is baffling to me and I blame the SWTOR video games and their in-game mechanics. (Look, if I pour 50% poison into my sugar when I’m making a cake, everybody is still dead in the end. And if I slaughter only half of the people I’ve got it for and forgive the other half, I’m still creating that many circles of hatred and revenge.)

Finally - if Luke or Qui-Gon were meant to be “Grey Jedi” Lucas would have called them that. It’s not the case. It’s not anywhere in the movies or TCW, hence, it’s not what he intended. They can be interpreted this way, but it’s still not what the movies where trying to say.

#ask #heckadopelady #qui-gon jinn #luke skywalker #grey jedi #meta #my meta #long post

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twilightofthe · 4 years ago

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What was your opinion of the Clovis arc? People I know either love it or hate it, no in between. I generally liked it but found it waayyy ooc.

Hey anon, thanks for the ask!!!!

AHSJFLSLALK OK SO UH. Wow. Clovis arc. Yiiiiiiikes ok so. I totally agree with you on the fandom divide and I also totally agree that everyone involved in it is rather OOC for my taste. That being said, that case of OOC is exactly why I personally do not like the arc that much at all.

(Please note that my following words are MY PERSONAL OPINIONS, and that anyone is free to disagree, in fact I welcome the discussion, and even if this is your favorite arc, please consider yourself welcome on my blog I hold nothing against those who might like it)

Part of me was gonna make a short and sweet point about how I don’t like that TCW has had both of its main female characters have unwanted kisses forced on them, and instead of teaching young girls watching to tell those kinds of people to fuck off and respect their bodies, we get: 1. Just let it happen, you both must kinda like each other anyway or 2. Stay still then sit back while your boyfriend beats him half to death

But actually turns out I wanted to spend all day writing an essay so now you get this. So far I’m gonna hit four points:

the show’s constant need for Vader foreshadowing sometimes tending to completely override Anakin’s current mindset and personality he should have at this point in the timeline as well as his preestablished characterization

the way TCW gave Anakin a giant dosage of toxic masculinity to try and please the pissy movie critics who didn’t like that he cried

the role of Padmé and how TCW tries to portray her as a “strong woman” by just having her constantly be irritated by and sometimes even look like she actively dislikes her husband while simultaneously have her act OOC so they can blame HER and her actions for Anakin’s reactions and anger and overall Fall

How I think this arc is not irredeemable and that with some fixes it could be done decently— decently, not well, because a lot of this arc’s problems are also due to preexisting writing choices throughout the show

(Ok whoops this turned into a half Clovis arc rant half entire TCW Anidala commentary)

So firstly I wanna start that yes, I am fully aware that TCW is meant to fill in the gaps between AOTC and ROTS and help explain why Anakin’s mindset in the final movie is what it is and justify his Fall. Of course we need to show some Vader foreshadowing throughout the series, and in some places it is executed very well, notably the Mortis arc, the Bad Batch arc, the Wrong Jedi arc, as well as others that I can’t cite off the top of my head currently because I might have a mild touch of heat exhaustion wooo I need to get off the beach.

But it also has some rather hamfisted Vader foreshadowing stuff too. Like, y’all know the fandom joke where it’s like “Anakin: *Accidentally Leaves The Toilet Seat Up*. The Background Music: *BLASTS the Imperial March*” but like, they actually really do that. Like the time where they have Anakin take out a terrorist about to blow up an entire ship full of people and then play the Imperial March afterwards and imply he’s a “cold-blooded killer” just to defend the moral purity of the two people who were gonna stand there and let the ship blow in the name of idealism.

I’m getting off topic but yeah, sometimes the show’s Vader foreshadowing makes sense, sometimes it’s pretty forced, and the Clovis arc DEFINITELY leans towards the forced side, and when they try to force more of Darth Vader into Anakin at a point where he shouldn’t quite be there yet, it screws with his entire character.

This is particularly shown in the majority of the show’s takes on Anakin’s relationship with Padmé. Namely, they tend to forget nearly the entirety of AOTC with the exception of the Tusken murder scene, then forget even more of ROTS up until the point where Anakin strangles her on Mustafar. Basically, they take the truth that it was Anakin’s unhealthy attachment to Padmé that sparked his Fall, but then they decide to run with it where almost every single interaction he has with her in the damn show is him being a toxic overbearing dick to her and her acting like she mildly tolerates him at most and definitely doesnt respect him as like, I guess a way of showing what happened on Mustafar is in character for them???? Ugh, I’ll explain further.

So with Anakin’s aggressive possessiveness towards her. We know Anakin has possession and attachment issues. We know he’s a clingy needy whiny anxious mess who’s constantly afraid of losing or driving away the few people he has pinned his entire happiness on. We know he leans unhealthily on Padmé to provide the majority of his emotional support. We know he’s convinced himself he can’t live without her. But never, NEVER is it seen in the movies where his possessiveness turns into outward aggression towards her or this douchey pushiness. Never does he treat her like his property, like she belongs to him.

Not until Mustafar.

Not until he’s raving, half out of his mind with the warring emotions over the atrocities he’s just committed, until he’s begging her to understand where he was coming from, begging her and the child to stay with him and justify his decision, until he sees Obi Wan and sees her backing away from him, leaving him, and he PANICS because oh no no no you can’t abandon me, I need you, doN’T YOU WALK AWAY FROM ME. And he lashes out and tries to force her to stay, punish her for leaving and doubting him, and he puts that hand around her throat.

And that is supposed to be when we know he’s crossed the line, when we’re supposed to be horrified, where we know he’s lost himself, because he has NEVER ACTED LIKE THAT BEFORE.

Now how does Anakin act before? In the movies? He’s deferential to Padmé in almost every other scene they’re in together.

In AOTC, yeah he stares at her a bit creepily from a distance, he says awkward things and does goofy stuff to impress her, but he does Not get in her face. The few times he does invade her space, she flat out tells him: stand back. Don’t look at me like that. Don’t say that. Don’t interrupt me. And Anakin always, always backs off, respects her wishes. He follows her lead and lets her call the shots both on Naboo when he’s supposed to be protecting her and when she organizes the Geonosis rescue and once they arrive where she flat out tells him “I’m a Senator, I’ll handle this, just back me up”, and he’s all but just “ok yes queen”.

But they aren’t married then. Fine, take ROTS. It’s a movie all about Anakin’s issues but even then, when he’s worried about Padmé dying, he tells her he’s worried and that he can’t lose her, but he still keeps a distance. He doesn’t constantly hover and loom over her. If anything, Padmé, both in ROTS and AOTC is always the one to approach Anakin and close the distance when there’s conflict. When Anakin is upset, he averts his eyes and distances himself, tries to draw in on himself and brood silently, and we’ve seen it in Palpatine sometimes (of course with bad motives but he still does), but Obi Wan and Padmé both especially needing to be the ones to come over, turn his face to them and be like “hey, look at me, I care about you, what’s wrong”. Padmé SAYS in ROTS when he’s feeling specifically conflicted about losing Padmé, “don’t shut me out” and has to come over to him because he’s retreated into a corner of the room to scowl angstily out the window. Anakin does NOT get overbearing and possessive of her or get in her face, not once in the films.

In the fucking show? The Clovis arc, while perhaps the worst offender, isn’t even close to being the first time Anakin has been overly pushy and aggressive with Padmé, or acting like she’s something he owns, From that time in the Senate Hostage ep where he’s bugging her about ditching work and all but acting like incels texting like “awww but babe my dick hurts :(”, from the FIRST Clovis disaster ep where he’s childishly trying to screw up Padmé’s mission, to the Clovis arc in season 6

And this is where they just roll right in with their “oh so Anakin’s an overbearing, entitled douche” bit with the interaction he has with Pads and he’s trying to talk her out of taking the Clovis assignment and he says something along the lines of “as your husband, I demand you don’t do this”.

Hwat. The Fuck.

What kind of caveman-esque, 1800’s-ass man of the house whom my wife must obediently serve kinda entitled-ass BULLSHIT?!?!?!?

Like, I’m sorry, I really am, but that is just completely out of left field and not like Anakin at all. I mean to the point that when he’s an evil Sith Lord trying to talk her into taking over the galaxy with him, EVEN THEN he does not include “Padmé you must join me because I’m your husband and you do as I say” sort of domineering assholerly.

Anakin does not push Padmé around. He does not TRY to assert authority over her or try and force her to do shit. Not only because she doesn’t put up with that kinda shit for a second, but because Anakin respects Padmé; he will treat her with respect. He always has, and sometimes like in this arc it really doesn’t feel like he does.

Now of course Padmé’s response to the “I own you” declaration is “fuck you, asshole, I do what I want” and doubling down on her decision, and then decides to go even harder on the mission if only to spite her douche husband (and we’ll get to Padmé’s characterization in a bit) which is a very different kind of Anidala conversation we see in the show as opposed to the movies (also discussed later).

Now, the reason for Anakin’s overbearing douchery ties directly into an overarching problem in TCW— honestly, one of the very few issues I have with this show, but the problem is that it touches nearly the entire thing —and that is they almost completely reworked Anakin’s personality to be more hyper-masculine alpha male.

This is a topic I’ve discussed on my blog before, but the gist is that in the movies, Anakin was not the typical male heroic protagonist and DEFINITELY not what people expected from Future Darth Vader The Masked Brutish Male Power Fantasy. He was awkward, he was shy, he was soft spoken, he was clumsy around the girl he liked, he was very openly romantic, he liked frolicking in fields and candlelit dinners and snuggling. Two of the most important people in his life were soft, feminine women and he openly loved them very dearly and very gently— and he deferred to them when he felt it was right, as I’ve mentioned before. He CRIED when he was upset and was messy and emotional. And fanboys hated this with a burning passion. They couldn’t project their power fantasy onto this!!!! The Anakin critics were a HUGE part of the mob who crucified the prequels to the point of chasing both Anakin actors practically out of the movie industry in general.

The Clone Wars writers were obviously petrified of this happening again. So their solution, as has always been Star Wars’s solution to hateful fans being upset about an innocent character, is to completely rework them, hide or retcon all the undesirable qualities, and act like everything was all fixed. Now don’t get me wrong, there are aspects of TCW Anakin that I adore. As I’ve also mentioned before, they got his humor, his cleverness, his eagerness to do the right thing, to help people, his relationship with Obi Wan and Ahsoka and his men, they got that all perfectly. But the rest??? TCW’s solution to the criticism of Movie!Anakin was to turn him into an agressive, dominant, violent shadow of everything “soft” he was in the movie

Now, he speaks loudly and more deeply. Now, he’s cocky and overconfident and while yes he was arrogant in the movies, now it’s dialed up to like an 11. He never cries, never even THINKS to show a negative emotion that’s not Manly Rage And Aggression(TM). And then there’s the way he is around the women in his life. No more awkwardness or shyness, now he makes jokes about being a “ladies man” and does whatever the fuck flirting he does with Miraj Scintel even though the Anakin from the movies would have needed like every scrap of his self control just to look at her without insta-murdering her face. And then there’s how he is with Ahsoka and Padmé. He is muuuuch more of a loud brash dudebro around them who pushes his weight and is kind of controlling and their solution is just to have the both of them be Strong Women(TM) who Fight Back whenever he tries it too hard with them.

With Ahsoka, it’s not too bad because it’s a brand new dynamic and she’s a rather agressive firecracker personality herself when we first meet her, so the constant Snips n’ Skyguy snipefest works for them. For Padmé? It just means that in far too many episodes they’re in there’s a point where Anakin says something Eh and Padmé gets mildly irritated to actually annoyed with him for it and she’ll talk down to him and then there’s an argument between them because he’s bullheaded and she’s a Strong Woman. Why do I consider these out of character?

In the movies, despite the flaws, Anidala is a couple who actually tries to communicate. Anakin feels open to speak about his troubles to Padmé and her to him (for the most part, she definitely has a savior complex and a tendency to squash her own shit so she can help deal with both Anakin’s and the galaxy’s at large) when they’re worried or concerned about something and they want to talk it out, so they’ll talk it out!

The problem with Anidala isn’t that they don’t communicate, it’s that they try but also only do it by halves because they hate fighting. They’ll talk, Anakin will say something that Padmé might disagree with— the fascism discussion in the Naboo field in AOTC, the question of whether the Republic is just or not in TPM —and she’ll try and correct him if she feels he’ll listen, but if he doubles down, she’ll go “ok you know what, agree to disagree, let’s not fight” and she subtly changes the subject because she hates fighting with him. If Pads says something Ani doesn’t like— telling Obi Wan about them in ROTS, some emotional advice she tries to give in both movies —he’ll flat out shut down and be like “I don’t want to talk about this, let’s drop it” and then seek out cuddles or affection as a distraction.

And that brings us back to the Clovis arc. The scene where the “as your husband” line occurs. Anakin is trying to talk Padmé out of doing this not because he’s jealous. Maybe he was jealous the first time he met Clovis and saw Padmé being all cute n’ fond with her old flame, but this time it seems almost entirely because last time ended in catastrophe and he’s genuinely worried for Padmé and feels she’s not thinking wisely, that she’s putting herself in danger.

However, Anakin is deciding to voice these concerns in Possessive Dudebro Pushing because of the aforementioned misguided Vader Foreshadowing and Toxic Masculinity. Padmé? Is not even CONSIDERING what he has to say, is just breezing on through and shutting him down at every turn and generally acting like he’s a dumbass who doesn’t have a clue about anything.

Now, it is very in character for Padmé Amidala to be all “I’m right, you’re wrong, fuck you don’t get in my way”. HOWEVER, they aren’t framing this as solely Padmé having a goal and bulldozing her way through the situation. That’s not how they frame this.

They frame this as: Padmé is embarrassed that she misjudged the situation wrong the last time and embarrassed even further that Anakin had to step in and get her out of trouble— which he brings up —and probably remembers that he made fun of her while he did it—

(Timing out to say that THAT scene was also OOC; they once more wanted a Vader parallel what with Anakin’s silhouette when he opens her cell door and the way Padmé’s sleeping pose is identical to Leia’s in ANH. But Anakin basically steps in and gives her this condescending-ass “awww the little wife’s gotten in over her head like I SAID she would, good thing I’m here to rescue her!” bit that’s really just MEAN. It’s not like him and Obi Wan’s/Ahsoka’s teasing snark whenever they have to pull each out of trouble, he’s just kicking her while she’s already down. Really, Anakin’s reaction should have been a lot less humorous and a lot more pissy; she didn’t listen to him, didn’t trust him, and ended up in danger because of it. It’d be a surly and upset “I told you so”, not an amused one.)

—and now it seems much more like Padmé is solely taking this assignment to spite Anakin for being a dick and to pettily prove that she knows what she’s doing rather than any sense or urge to do the right thing. And....... childish pettiness????? Is not Padmé. And yet, she has the entire immature “don’t tell me what to DO, Anakin” attitude this whole arc that amounts to WAY more than just the normal response she would have to his overcontrolling dickishness

And once again, it’s because she, like everyone else in the episode, seems to think the problem Anakin has is that he’s jealous of Clovis. He’s not, not really. He’s insecure, yes, but he also knows Clovis is a bag of dicks as well, and trusts that Padmé knows she’s better than that. His problem isn’t fears he’ll lose Padmé, it is entirely that Padmé isn’t listening to his concerns, doesn’t trust him, is going into a situation they both know is unwise, and he is frustrated he’s not in a position where he can look out for her since he feels she’s not looking out for herself. And, he’s not entirely wrong. Padmé IS being reckless and kind of irrational solely to prove a point. He just goes about it pretty much entirely the wrong way, which is what you can really say is the cause and effect formula for any problem Anakin Skywalker encounters and subsequently makes worse.

And then there’s That Scene. The one where Clovis tries to force a kiss on Padmé and Anakin freaks and almost kills him for it. I’ll start off by quoting another Tumblr user on that very scene by saying in regards to Clovis: “that bitch deserved that”. The almost murder? Maybe not that far, but the initial hitting for disrespecting someone’s “no”? Yep, that was deserved.

My first criticism is that Anakin shouldn’t have even had time to attack him because why the fuck wasn’t Padmé instantly kneeing him in the balls?!?! Like Padmé is not prone to violence immediately, no, but she can will and does defend herself immediately when she needs to— her right punch knocked someone tf out once when she was pissed —and she already gave him a warning that his advances were not welcomed.

Now, I am absolutely not victim blaming. I am NOT saying it is the fault of a woman (I’d be a hypocrite if I did and that’s all I’ll say on THAT), or of anyone when faced with sexual harassment, if they don’t fight back for whatever reason, no matter how capable of doing so they may be. What I’m saying is that considering her previous behavior and personality and the fact that the show NEVER goes deep enough into explaining heavy stuff like why victims might freeze or NOT fight back when faced with harassment, I feel like showing her not attempting to defend herself at all is kinda strange.

Now, Padmé’s utter passiveness to the situation aside, we’re going back into toxic masculinity and misunderstood interpretations of how Anakin displays possession. While I’ll repeat that Clovis deserved consequences for the forced kiss, Anakin going full caveman defending his property jealous rage just. Doesn’t feel right to me. Again, I think Anakin would probs hit him and put the fear of living god into him, maybe even I’d buy the attempted murder if they framed it as Anakin doing it because he hates those who force their will on others and disrespect women, but the whole that’s MY wife and you’re touching her shite just once more feels alpha male aggressive ridiculousness. Like again, I understand Anakin is possessive of Padmé, but not like this. I’m sorry, but I just cannot see that, him fighting over her like she’s a scrap of meat.

Like, I completely think she’s in the right tho to put them on a break after he does it though. That’s well within her right.

But then onto the FINAL part where after Clovis goofs and fucks them all over and then dies, she forgives him and blames herself for everything and apologizes. And like, that part I do see as in canon and character for her and for Anakin. He doesn’t like to admit his mistakes, her mistakes weigh on her and when she fails to fix or save someone, she falls into depression and upset and self-blame.

But the fact that Clovis died because Anakin dropped him? Anakin Skywalker, who scaled an entire elevator shaft carrying two people over his back who combined probs weighed more than Padmé and Clovis. Anakin Skywalker, who’s used the Force to lift tons of debris, who’s used it to hold back explosions, Anakin Skywalker, MOST POWERFUL FORCE USER IN HISTORY WHO TENDS TO RELY ON BRUTE STRENGTH FOR MOST SHIT ANYWAY. That Anakin couldn’t pull two people over a ledge?!?!?!?!? This has always bothered me.

Like to be honest; I feel this entire episode could have been so fixable too. Like keep Anakin’s obsessive worry over Padmé making a mistake, keep the best part of the arc which is his talk with Obi Wan where Obi Wan tries to connect with him and explain that he’s not alone, all Jedi have emotional struggles and have loved, if perhaps he wants to TALK to someone about it, Obi Wan is here for him, like that? That’s okay!

Just ugh ffs, get rid of the nasty Anakin treating Padmé like a naughty dog who won’t obey him and the Padmé purposely acting unwisely to spite Anakin plot. Have the entire conflict be both of them being upset that the other doesn’t trust them, doesn’t believe in their advice, keep Padmé’s speech about how marriages NEED trust and compromise to survive, take all of Anakin’s aggression towards Padmé and transfer it to aggression towards Clovis, like make the conflict him menacing the guy if he hurts Padmé again just because he’s being overprotective and “if you won’t look out for yourself I will” and Anakin getting constantly checked for not being able to control his emotions, Padmé can tell him off for being overprotective instead of overaggressive and his possessiveness can instead show through him arguing that he needs to keep her safe at all costs. THAT can be the argument.

And if they want the Vader foreshadowing? Like real, in-character Vader foreshadowing??? Tbh, drop the Clovis beatdown, drop the machoness towards Padmé, and just have Anakin blatantly DROP the douchebag at the end of the episode instead of his hand slipping. Make him choose to ACTIVELY kill Clovis. Like THAT, Anakin taking the law into his own hands and deciding that he knows best and this guy is dangerous and has fucked up one too many times, there being an opportunity where there’s an chance to save Clovis when they’re alone without Pads, “be a Jedi, Padmé wouldn’t want this, do the right thing” Clovis might say, and we can see Anakin’s face considering, and then he just “Long Live The King”s him and lets him fall and die, THAT is an in-character Vader foreshadowing.

Then at the end of the episode, we can have Anakin lie to her, say Clovis slipped, say it was too late, and Padmé can believe him, thank him for trying. Then there’s the same thing where Padmé apologizes, and we can have a callback to the convo about trust and she adds that she’s sorry that she didn’t trust him, and when she says that, we zoom in on Anakin’s guilty face.

There. That’s how I’d fix these episodes

And THERE, I think I’ve complained about everything, I am SO sorry for the gigantic ass post and response, I’ll add a read more once I’m on my laptop and not on the beach on mobile.

But yeah anon, I hope that satisfies your question xD

Once again, I welcome discussion if y’all either agree with me or if you have any differing opinions, I know my takes are far from hot for several people and I’m curious to see what others think!

#i’m SO sorry i got carried away but yeah this arc and one or two others (one in particular) are the only arcs that kiiinda set me off tbh #long post #ask #anon #one (1) hot mess #queen of my heart #star-crossed lovers #sw the clone wars #anidala #the clone wars

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giggles-and-freckles · 4 years ago

Note

uhhmm ⭐ for the longer version of all too young just in case you need an excuse that I'm more than willing to give...yk the one you mentioned in the tags

Ann, you always know exactly what excuses I need :) This is basically just going to turn into a log of my love for Obi-Wan and Ahsoka but........

I watched tcw for the first time this spring and was immediately drawn to the way these two characters revolve in and around Anakin’s life. Obviously, in the end, tcw is so much more Soka’s story than it is Anakin’s or Obi’s, but as a whole...the entire prequels era...its the Skywalker saga and he’s the grande fromage. So I was just very interested in the intricacies of his relationships with Ahsoka and Obi-Wan.

From there, I started to notice the tiny moments they interact with each other and would totally over-analyse and exaggerate every conversation between the two of them. Oh, Obi-Wan is asking Ahsoka to keep an eye on Anakin during the Kadavo arc? That’s obviously because they talk all the time and have this incredibly strong and established relationship of trust and understanding and she definitely spends every night Anakin is with Padmé at Obi-Wan’s pestering and worshipping him and making faces at his taste in tea. Didn’t even hesitate to attach all of these headcanons and far-fetched assumptions to the relationship between these two characters that we see painfully little of.

Then, we get to see an actual bit of team-up with them during the Mortis arc. Once again, it’s born (in my opinion) out of that mutual care and concern for Ani. And that just...really sold me on them being an unstoppably soft and dynamic duo. Which then blossomed into the absolute feral mess I have become concerning them HAHA.

For all too young, I knew I needed to write something with them but I thought that would be it. I didn’t think I had enough in my head to do more than that, honestly. And then I just...couldn’t stop. I could legitimately only write about the two of them for the rest of my life and be perfectly content. I think what I love so much about their relationship is how unexplored it is, canonically. It gives me a lot more freedom. Not that I’m necessarily that worried about veering from canon (bc I have many times!), but it just feels nice to write something and step back and look at it and think, ‘hmm, yeah, this could have happened!’

When I found my way to sw tumblr and realised there were.....others...like...me......I was so freaking elated. If there is an Obi & Soka centric fic that I don’t reblog, just assume I haven’t seen it. I’m literally so ridiculous when it comes to them and I don’t care. She is his daughter and I dare you to try and take that away from me.

Last thing about this one, I promise!!!! The ending image of this is really visceral to me. Not because I necessarily wrote it well, but just because of how it kind of imprinted itself in my mind. Honestly not sure why this one decided to stick in my head, but it just did. Leaning against a log in the middle of the night. Ahsoka, feeling small and a little overwhelmed, watching her Grand Master’s sad yet serene face be illuminated by the stars and realising there are a lot less years between them than she’d always thought. And, of course, her little scoot toward him and his pulling her into his robes. I want it framed on my wall and I just really wish I was an artist capable of this, gosh dang it.

(send a ⭐or a title, line, section of one of my fics for the director’s cut/commentary)

#I did a cut bc this one got REALLY LONG hahaha #long post #directors cut #obi & soka

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danurso · 5 years ago

Text

That's pretty D.U.M.B

Part 0 - Part 1 - Part 2

After the explosion occurred, the room was filled with a light blue mist.

Ruby: *cough* *cough* what was that!?

Yang: i can't see anything! Can someone open *cough* *cough* the window!?

Pyrrha: found it! *open window allowing the smoke to leave the classroom.

Jaune: what the hell was that?

Oobleck: no idea mr.arc *looking around the room, which is still intact, just filled with smoke* but apparently the explosion didn't damaged anything.

Weiss: *gets up, massaging her head* oww, tell that to my head. I said this was stupid, and apparently it didn't give any results.

Jaune: what the hell are you already whining about princess?

RWBY/Pyrrha: *freezes*

Ruby: jaune?

Jaune: *leaving the smoke, with a different armor on and a scar on his left eye* what do you want now reddish? I'm not in the mood to- *freezes and looks at weiss, walking her way and holding her face*

Weiss: *blushes* w-what are you-

Jaune: *with a shocked expression* what happened to your eye? What is this scar?

Weiss: *breaks free* what? Shouldn't we be asking you this? besides, don't ever touch me without my permission again!

Jaune: *confused* . . .what bite your rich ass today princess? *looks back at oobleck with a scowl* was it you with your crazy inventions again?

Oobleck: *confused* mr.arc? Is this really you?

Jaune: and who else could i be? Did you broke your glasses or all that coffee finally fucked up your brain?

Ruby: jaune. . .what happened to you?

Jaune: the hell are you talking about reddi-

Jaune: *normal jaune, leaving the smoke massaging his head* oww, was that thing supposed to throw me away like that?

Weiss: *leaving the smoke too, this weiss however doesn't have a scar and her ponytail isn't to the side like usual* *whining* oww, my head hurts.

RWBY/Pyrrha: *speechless*

Oobleck: IT WORKED!!!

Jaune: what work- *stops, staring at the other version of himself and to weiss before looking at the weiss on his side* w-wait, what? Why is there other me here!?

Alternative Weiss: *looking between the jaunes* *gasp* jaune! There's two of you!

(A)Jaune: *with crossed arms* don't tell me princess, i'm not fucking blind.

(A)Weiss: *taking a closer look at jaune, with a large smile and stars in her eyes* he's just like you! Just scraggly and without the scar!

(A)Jaune: i can see that.

(A)Weiss: *bolts to her normal version* look! This me has a scar just like yours! I look kinda cool with it.

(A)Jaune: two princesses, this probably the worst day of my life.

(A)Weiss: or the best one, imagine having two me's around.

(A)Jaune: *deadpans* it would be twice as annoying.

(A)Weiss: yeah, but you would get twice the affection. *gives him a sweet smile*

(A)Jaune: . . . *looks away with a pink on his cheeks* shut up, will you?

(A)Weiss: *grinning happily*

Yang: . . .okay, that's kinda disturbing. Why is that ice queen so nice and that vomit boy so mean?

Oobleck: it's simple miss xiao long, these versions of mister arc and miss schnee are from a world different from ours, and if you think about the infinite possibilities of the multiverse, there are probably many other versions of them besides those.

Jaune: w-wait, so he's me from another universe?

Oobleck: Precisely! The D.U.M.B worked perfectly! And thanks to it we can meet these alternative versions of you two.

(A)Jaune: what the hell are you talking about? And what is going on?

Oobleck: *ahem* i'm sorry for disturbing you two with this experiment, but this place is a dimension different from your original one.

(A)Jaune: . . .*raises eyebrow* did someone put vodka on your coffee or have you always been crazy like that?

Oobleck: i can assure you mister arc that i'm very sober and sane. *points at D.U.M.B* you see this device here? It's a dimensional and universal magical bridge, but you can call it D.U.M.B to shorten.

(A)Weiss: *snort* dumb.

(A)Jaune: *rolls his eyes* it had to be.

Oobleck: this is the device that allowed us to bring you two to our universe.

(A)Jaune: so let me get this straight, you used this weird machine to bring us here, a world different from ours.

(A)Weiss: that's so cool! it's just like that show rick and morty!

Weiss: what?

(A)Weiss: you don't have rick and morty here?

Ruby: we do! And it's such a cool show!

(A)Weiss: i know! It's one of my favorites!

(A)Weiss/Ruby: *start blabbering*

Weiss: this is. . .very disturbing.

Yang: i don't know, i kinda like nice weiss, she's just like you but probably doesn't have a log stuck up on her ass.

Weiss: who are you calling stuck up you idiot!?

(A)Jaune: i don't know which one is worse, the one who keeps shrieking all the time or the one who has way too much energy. *sighs, looking back to oobleck* when are we going back to our world?

Oobleck: you'll be back in a few moments mr. Arc, D.U.M.B has a time limit of half an hour. Meanwhile, i just wanted to know if you and ms.schnee could answer a few questions before going back to your world?

(A)Jaune: not interested.

(A)Weiss: sure thing!

Oobleck: Stupendous! So, i wanted to know if there's a glaring difference from your world compared to this one?

(A)Weiss: *looking around* hmm. . .no, everything looks the same.

Oobleck: *writing on a notebook* i see.

(A)Weiss: *looks to the group and raises an eyebrow* why is blake wearing a bow though?

Blake: *flinches and starts sweating*

Yang: she always wears that bow, even to sleep. Why? Your blake doesn't use a bow?

(A)Weiss: wait, so they don't know about. . .

Blake: *shakes head*

(A)Weiss: o-oh, *sheepishly* sorry.

Yang: wait, do you know something we don't?

(A)Weiss: err. . .no, nothing! Blake will tell everyone when she's ready.

Yang: what is she hiding? *looks at blake* now i'm curious.

Blake: n-nothing.

(A)Weiss: blake is really quiet here.

(A)Jaune: she's always been quiet.

(A)Weiss: i know, she just looks more quiet then our blake.

Ruby: so your blake is different too?

(A)Weiss: not really, she's just a bit more. . . 'Open' about herself. Everyone looks the same aside from her, well, except me and jaune of course.

Ruby: but why are you two so different? Why are you so nice compared to our weiss?

Weiss: hey! I am nice!

Yang: *cough, cough* like a punch in the gut *cough, cough*

(A)Weiss: well. . .i don't really know, i just try to be myself, that's what my dad always told me.

Weiss: wait, your dad told you to be yourself?

(A)Weiss: *smiling* yup!

Weiss: and not to be something you don't want to be?

(A)Weiss: what? No! daddy would never do that, he hates people who control their children for their own benefit.

Weiss: *shocked* . . .is your father really jacques schnee?

(A)Weiss: that's his name.

Weiss: . . .can you tell me more about your- our family?

(A)Weiss: sure! My mom is always helping my dad with his business at the emprise, my older sister winter is one of the biggest designers of atlas, my little brother whitley is studying most of the time to be a good business man like dad but he always takes some time to have fun with us, and even helps me by playing piano in my concerts, and dad is the head of the SDC, the biggest and most controversial emprise in remnant.

Weiss: controversial?

(A)Weiss: unfortunately, yes. People in atlas are selfish and try to maintain a certain 'status-quo', humans rule and faunus suffer, but my dad's emprise treats everyone the same and helps faunus that suffer to rise and have a good life, but unfortunately for us, the rest of atlas doesn't share his vision and treats him and my family terribly, this lack of respect with my family's name is one of the main reasons why i decided to be a huntress.

Blake: *eyes wide* w-wait, so in your world, jacques schnee isn't a racist?

(A)Weiss: what!? No! My father dreams with the peace between humans and faunus, he even made an alliance with the leader of the white fang, ghira bell- i mean, with their leader ghira to help them on their movement for equality, my father is their biggest supporter. Why are you asking that? Isn't dad like this here?

Weiss: no, our dad here unfortunately isn't so noble. He only cares for profits and hates faunus, probably just as much as he hates his family.

(A)Weiss: wait, what?

Weiss: he forced me to do everything he wanted ever since i was young, even used my voice to profit. My mom is a drunkard who never leaves her room, whitley is dad's puppet and is becoming just as rotten as he is and winter is a specialist at atlas military.

(A)Weiss: w-what!? dad can't be bad like that, i-it doesn't make sense.

Weiss: he is, i guess that's why you and me are so different, you had an way easier life.

(A)Weiss: wow, this sounds so sad. . .wait, does that means your version of jaune had an easier life too?

Everyone: *looks at jaune*

Jaune: err. . .yeah, i mean, my life was pretty easy if you don't count the annoying sisters and how my parents didn't wanted me to be a huntsman.

(A)Jaune: *raises eyebrow* your parents didn't wanted you to be a huntsman?

Jaune: not really, i tried to convince dad to train me when i was younger but he never let me, so i just had a normal life until my seventeen years.

(A)Jaune: lucky you, looks like you at least had a happy life.

Jaune: so. . .what happened in my life that made my like this?

(A)Jaune: i don't wanna talk about it.

Jaune: but-

(A)Jaune: *glaring at him* no buts, just zip it.

Jaune: *terrified* o-okay.

(A)Jaune: . . . *looks to the side* what do you want?

(A)Weiss: *holding his hand* come on, tell him.

(A)Jaune: i don't want to.

(A)Weiss: come on, pleeease.

(A)Jaune: i said no already.

(A)Weiss: *hugs his arm* pleeease. . .for me? *gives him a puppy look*

(A)Jaune: . . . *sigh* i fucking hate you princess.

(A)Weiss: *with a victorious smile* no, you love me.

(A)Jaune: keep dreaming. well. . .where do i start, my mom died when i was five because of a disease and since then my asshole sperm-donor raised me, he trained me to be a champion and forced me into several tournaments to make me stronger, he locked me away from my sisters so i wouldn't have any distractions during my training, said training that pushed me to my absolute agonizing limits. When i was fourteen i had enough and fought him off, but he defeated me and gave me this scar as a reminder of how weak i am compared to him, then when i turned seventeen i joined beacon where i became partners with an annoying ball of unlimited joy.

(A)Weiss: that's me!

Yang: wow. . .that's really dark.

Jaune: is dad really that bad in your world? He was always so soft with everyone that is kind of hard imagining him like that.

(A)Jaune: take a wild guess dumbass. *points at the scar in his eye* what kind of good father would do this to his kid?

Jaune: yeah. . .guess you got a point.

Pyrrha: wait, did you say that weiss was your partner at beacon?

(A)Jaune: unfortunately, yes. This idiot who never even trained before and didn't even had aura had the great idea to buy some transcripts and join beacon, i didn't wanted her as my partner but since she was aimlessly flying into her death during initiation, i had to save her ass and become her partner.

Weiss: . . .by any chance, am i retarded on your dimension?

(A)Weiss: HEY!

(A)Jaune: probably. What kind of sane person would be stupid enough to do that?

Pyrrha: this story sounds. . .very familiar.

Jaune: *sheepishly* i-it does.

(A)Jaune: who did i got partnered with here?

Jaune: pyrrha.

(A)Jaune: lucky you, different from princess here, pyrrha knows her limits.

(A)Weiss: you talk like me being your partner is the worst thing in the world.

(A)Jaune: because it is. you're reckless, annoying, stupid, ignorant, selfish, suicidal and-

(A)Weiss: and you still love me regardless.

(A)Jaune: . . . *looks away* i don't know what you're talking about.

(A)Weiss: yes you do, im talking about this. *tiptoes and kisses his cheek*

(A)Jaune: *recoils and blushes* what the hell are you doing!?

(A)Weiss: i'm giving you a kiss. Why? you wanted it to be on the lips?

(A)Jaune: like hell i would want that, princess.

(A)Weiss: hmm. . .

(A)Jaune: what are you doing?

(A)Weiss: *tiptoeing, reaching out her lips for him* waiting for you to kiss me.

(A)Jaune: i don't want to kiss you.

(A)Weiss: hmm. . .

(A)Jaune: stop it already dumbass, you're just embarrassing yourself.

(A)Weiss: hmm. . .

(A)Jaune: *looks back to her*

(A)Weiss: *still waiting for him*

(A)Jaune: *pink* . . .i fucking hate you. *leans down and kisses her.*

(A)Weiss: *returning the kiss*

(A)Jaune: *wraps hands on her waist and pulls her closer*

(A)Weiss: *deepening the kiss*

Yang: well. . .that's a scene i never thought i would see.

Ruby/Blake: *nods*

Pyrrha: *nods as well but with an way more forced and scary smile*

Jaune: *blushing*

Weiss: *red and mortified* w-what are you two doing!?

(A)Weiss: *giggles* sorry, sometimes we get lost in the mood.

(A)Jaune: 'we'? You're the one always dragging me into this stuff.

(A)Weiss: i'm not the one who drags you away after a hard day just so we can make out on a empty classroom.

(A)Jaune: *red* can't you just stay shut for five seconds princess!?

(A)Weiss: *smiling brightly* nope.

Yang: wait, wait, wait, are you two like, dating?

(A)Jaune/(A)Weiss: no/yes.

Weiss: h-how is that possible!? What do you even see on this idiot!?

(A)Jaune: *glaring at her* i made my mind, you're the one i hate the most.

(A)Weiss: what's there not to see on him? I mean, yeah, he is always being mean to other peoples but thats cause he had a rough life, the real jaune buried under all that anger is really kind and sweet. He was the first person that believed that i could be a huntress, he teached me how to fight and picked me up whenever i thought about giving up. *hugs his arm* he was the first guy that loved me for who i am and that's why i love him so much. *looks at him* Right?

(A)Jaune: *looks away, face totally red* speak for yourself, i don't know what you're talking about.

Weiss: i can't believe you. . .how did that even happened!?

(A)Weiss: you mean how we got together? Well it was during the ball at beacon, neptune invited me to go but i refused.

Weiss: YOU WHAT!?

(A)Weiss: i refused. *pink* i was hoping that a certain someone would invite me.

(A)Jaune: hmph.

(A)Weiss: but well, things didn't went like i wanted and i went to the ball alone. I stayed there for some time but gave up and went to the rooftop to take a breather, that's where i found jaune.

(A)Jaune: yeah, i was enjoying the peace and the silence until you showed up.

(A)Weiss: *chuckles* He was being grumpy because he heard neptune inviting me and thought i had accepted.

(A)Jaune: i wasn't being grumpy because he invited you, i just hate that guy's guts.

(A)Weiss: we cleared some things up and i invited him to dance a bit, we danced on our own for some time and talked a bit, he complimented me for the first time ever since i met him and even admitted that i was someone important in his life *with a wide smile and rosy cheeks* i was so happy that i gave him my first kiss without even thinking about it.

Yang: aww, that's so cute.

(A)Jaune/Weiss: *red* SHUT IT!

Weiss: that's enough, we don't wanna hear anything else about this!

Yang: speak for yourself ice queen, keep going nice queen!

(A)Weiss: well. . .i was a bit scared at first but when he kissed me back i got a lot calmer, we kept kissing for some time and things got. . .a bit out of control.

Blake: *very interested* what do you mean with 'out of control?'

(A)Weiss: *red* err. . .well, w-we got a bit carried away and kept kissing until we were back to our room, and when we got there we did. . .*ten times redder* couple stuff.

Weiss: wait, so you just went and slept with him like that!?

(A)Weiss: yeah. *sheepishly* i know someone's first time should be something we think about carefully, but on that day all i could think of was how happy i was that jaune was my first. *hugs his arm* and until this day, i never once regretted that decision. *smiles at him*

(A)Jaune: *red* t-that's enough! *turns to oobleck* how the hell do we go back to our world!?

Oobleck: all you need to do is place your hands on the D.U.M.B or wait for the thirty minute mark. But before you leave, i still have some que-

(A)Jaune: fuck your questions, we're leaving princess.

(A)Weiss: sure. Just give me a moment. *goes to weiss* can i talk to you for a second?

Weiss: what do you want to talk about!?

(A)Weiss: wait. *holds her and drags her to the farthest corner, away from the group*

Weiss: what do you want?

(A)Weiss: i just needed to know, are you and jaune dating?

Weiss: W-what!? No! And we never will!

(A)Weiss: i see, i think i understand now.

Weiss: good thing that you understand, now please leave.

(A)Weiss: you like him.

Weiss: *blushes* i don't like him! I hate him!

(A)Weiss: *chuckles* you're just like jaune when i first met him. He was closed, distant and very cold with everyone, and he said he hated me all the time, but that was just him trying to keep his guard up, trying to protect his damaged heart from even more damage.

Weiss: what are you talking about?

(A)Weiss: what i'm talking is that just like my jaune, you're putting up barriers and keeping people away to avoid getting hurt, but maybe you don't need these barriers to be up all the time, maybe all you need is to let in someone who can help you heal.

Weiss: let me guess, someone like arc.

(A)Weiss: maybe. I'm dating jaune for awhile now and despite he still being much like his older self, i can't see myself being more happy with anyone else that isn't him. I know i might be biased but seeing that the only difference between us is that our roles were inverted, i think you wouldn't regret being with someone like jaune. Just think about it, didn't you ever noticed anything that jaune may have done just to see you happy?

Weiss: well. . . *gets a small flashback about the ball and neptune telling her everything jaune said*

(A)Weiss: sooo?

Weiss: i-i don't know, nothing comes to my mind. And look, i don't care what your reasoning is, i am not going to date arc.

(A)Weiss: well, i can't force you to do anything really, but if you can, just give him a chance *with a sincere smile* i know you won't regret.

Weiss: *sighs, rubbing her temples* if i tell you i'll think about it, will you go away?

(A)Weiss: sure thing!

Weiss: then i'll think about it, just please leave me alone.

(A)Weiss: okay, see'ya then me! *goes back to the group, joining jaune and hugging his chest* missed me?

(A)Jaune: no.

(A)Weiss: i missed you too my archangel.

(A)Jaune: *pink* didn't i told you to stop using this stupid nickname?

(A)Weiss: *chuckles* oops, sorry.

(A)Jaune: *sigh* let's just leave for god's sake. *places hand on the D.U.M.B*

(A)Weiss: *also places her hand on the D.U.M.B*

They both slowly start to get surrounded by a light blue aura, just like when jaune and weiss first used it.

(A)Weiss: bye everyone, It was really nice to meet you.

Yang: same, it was really good to see how weiss would be if she wasn't always on her period.

Weiss: YANG!!!

(A)Weiss: and weiss!

Weiss: *looks back at her* what?

(A)Weiss: just one chance, i promise you won't regret.

Weiss: i already said i'll think about it, i'm not going to make any promises.

(A)Weiss: that's already good enough, bye me!

Weiss: goodbye.

(A)Jaune/(A)Weiss: *vanishes*

Blake: well. . .that was something.

Jaune: i-it really was.

Ruby: weiss?

Weiss: yes?

Ruby: what did you and the other you talked about?

Weiss: well. . . *glances at jaune for a moment before looking away slightly* i-it was nothing okay? just something stupid.

Ruby: oh, okay.

Pyrrha: so, what do we do now professor?

Oobleck: we continue with the experiment of course! Meeting these alternative versions of mr.arc and ms.schnee was interesting but there are a lot of questions that need answers!

Weiss: i-i'm not going to use that machine again!

Oobleck: you wouldn't be able to use it even if you wanted ms.schnee. The D.U.M.B can't be used by the same person twice in a row, that rule goes for everyone except mr.arc of course!

Jaune: okay, but why does this machine needs me so much to work? You said i'm some kind of axis but why-

Oobleck: I DON'T KNOW AND AT THE MOMENT I DON'T CARE MR.ARC!!! RIGHT NOW THERE'S ONLY ONE QUESTION YOU SHOULD BE ASKING!!!

Jaune: a-and it is?

Oobleck: *grins and looks at the girls* which one of you is going next!?

#rwby #jaune arc #yang xiao long #white knight #whiteknight #rwby white knight #weiss x jaune #weiss schnee #ruby rose #blake belladona #pyrrha nikos #bartholomew oobleck #jaune x harem #colorguard #That's pretty D.U.M.B

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evilmortys · 4 years ago

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Rick hate blogs for the win tbh. But I was just curious— do you still rp with rick blogs? And do ppl who know rick is toxic and don’t approve of his actions but still like him as a character get on your nerves? I’m just curious! Have a good day!!

hiya hiya! you have a lovely day too! i’m saying it before i address the other stuff just so i don’t forget to wish it to you! <3

yeah of course i still rp with rick blogs (on my roleplay blog)! my friend val writes several ricks and c-136 talks with a few of them ‘online’ sporadically and thinks they’re Neat. rick interactions nourish me and i am very open to them although people who rp him are few and far between to my knowledge.

people who know rick is toxic and disapprove of his actions but still enjoy him as a character are fine with me! i’m one of them, to an extent?

ALTHOUGH. uhhhh. i suppose it depends on how exactly you ‘enjoy’ him as to whether it’d “get on my nerves.” but even if it did, i wouldn’t ever comment on it or be mean about it?? sjdfkjsdfkl idk! i’d just... let you do your thing and continue doing mine! different strokes different folks!

i think i’m a bad person to look to for much sympathy if you relate to or connect with rick, because ... god. he’s such a bad person. he’s an awful, shitty, destructive, abusive person, and i loathe him for it! and i’m right i think!

yes, he’s capable of being good, and caring, and has been several times over the course of the show. i acknowledge it often and the collar scene with morty, him shooting mr. jellybean really resonated with me, for example.

but for the most part, his love is so conditional, and feels so impossibly out of reach for the people that adore him (his own daughter, summer, morty to an extent) because he deliberately makes it feel that way. keeps them at arm’s length with beth, for example, or verbally puts them down and degrades them instead of being emotionally vulnerable and conducting himself in a way that would imply he gave a shit if they died in the case of morty.

he has zero issue with grievously traumatizing his grandson and abandoning families he’s gotten to know for years, up and leaving when the going gets tough instead of sticking around to help them or keep trying because it’s easier for him not to bother and just move on.

tbh, just about any post that expresses fondness for rick or ‘uwu-ifys’ him with no criticism at all makes me grimace. i’m so repelled by how he withholds love, treats everyone around him poorly, and is such an inherently dickheaded character that i can’t bring myself to interact much with people who are apologetic for him at all, because he hasn’t redeemed himself enough for me to want to see that very often? if at all.

i just think some people hold too much forgiveness for rick in their hearts. like, you can demand redemption arcs for him all you want, but ... i think the sheer volume of unforgivable things he’s done makes it so that sort of thing will just never sit well with me regardless.

rick hasn’t done anything as of right now that makes him worth forgiving, and apologizing for, and justifying, and babying. quite the opposite, in fact. so i find it strange that people can pluck all this adoration for a character who’s so objectively bad out of, like, nowhere --- or homing in on the bare minimum of kindness he performs each season and building him up in their head to be largely those traits. he gets a mopey scene every season where he’s self pitying, and people twist it to be something that makes him redeemable instead.

people will see things like rick flinching away from beth raising her fist and trip over themselves to escalate the valid theory of ‘oh my god! he’s a physical abuse survivor!’ to the far more vexing ‘HE’S BABY! HE’S DONE NOTHING WRONG EVER�� IN HIS LIFE! HOW DARE BETH DO THAT TO HIM!’

like, what the fuck? how dare beth raise a hand to him and not even act upon it? lmao?

first of all, he’d deserve to have been actually smacked the fuck out in that moment. “how dare beth do that to him?” how dare RICK treat her poorly for her entire childhood, neglect her, do the bare minimum when it came to raising her, waltz back into her life, traumatize her son, destroy her marriage, have the gall to insult her parenting capability, manipulate her emotionally, clone her instead of asking her to stay and be a part of her life like she so desperately needed to hear: the list goes on! second of all, HE HIT MORTY IN THE FACE, ON PURPOSE, SOLELY TO BE CRUEL, AND GAVE HIM A BLACK EYE. it’s called getting his just desserts, as far as i’m concerned.

i kind of went off a bit there, sorry, but --- i’m just trying to exemplify / explain what sort of behavior tends to rub me the wrong way when it comes to people who enjoy rick’s character.

i myself think he’s very interesting, and complex, and it’s enjoyable to consume his arcs and watch his character development unfold. he can be fun, and it’s definitely intriguing to see his intelligence at work. he’s even capable of being sweet and wholesome, having fun with his grandkids. but for me, his negative traits are so glaring, so volatile, that the positives aren’t something i can bring myself to be invested in unless he starts trying to better himself as a person. like, he’s just a drunken bag of dicks.

idk this went a little off the rails and i’m sorry! again, this is just how i feel about things.

#alex answers!#i just think he's such a rancid character #that being apologetic for him on such a massive scale is.... :/#so many people don't love rick. they love this idealized image of him they have in their head #where he's uwu soft (n almost always sexy) grandpa who's going to get better and stop being a shitheel #and it's like... IS he though.#i'll believe it when i see it!#and when i see it i'll eat these words and let people be apologetic for him all they want #but until then it's just.... ugh.......#idk. i'm a morty stan so obviously i'm VERY biased #and highly sensitive/attuned to the feelings of others as a person in general #so me seeing what he puts the family through is always going to skew me to perceive him negatively #and fail to understand why people can pick out what little positive attributes he has and make out like they're his whole thing #JHSDFKJSF I DONT KNOW. SORRY.#Anonymous

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miss-musings · 5 years ago

Text

TROS Review - after second viewing

I’m glad I knew all the spoilers going into my first viewing. If I hadn’t known Ben died, I would’ve screamed. Although I’m pretty sure I heard someone at my second viewing go “What?!” when he fell over and vanished into the Force.

OK, let’s break this down.

THE GOOD

The movie looks great.

Daisy, Adam and John Williams all FUCKING brought it for this movie.

I actually liked some of the fan-service-y bits like Wedge getting a cameo, Han having a memory chat with Kylo/Ben, and Luke motivating Rey. I also noticed on the second go-around that Kylo flies an old Imperial TIE fighter (one from the Death Star ruins) to Exegol. And I like that shot of the old X-Wing of the Rebellion and the old TIE fighter of the Empire there alongside each other.

Most of all, I loved ALL the Reylo scenes we got in this movie. About 70 percent of the runtime seems to be dedicated to Rey, Kylo/Ben or both. I mean, it’s basically Reylo: The Movie, and I’m totally here for it. (But more on that below.)

I actually liked seeing Kylo in the mask again. I think it makes him look... sexy? Idk what I feel, y’all.

Some of the new creatures and characters were cool, even if we didn’t spend much time with them. (Again, more on that below.)

Loved Leia’s moments and how she had a big part to play in the story even if Carrie is gone. 😢

Those are all the big things; there might be a few small things that I’d remember if I were watching the movie in real time, but I can’t remember them now.

So, let’s get into it:

THE BAD

Oh, boy where do I start?

The pacing in both the very beginning (first 20-30 minutes?) and the very end (last 10) was ridiculous. My dad even agreed that the beginning felt rushed and disjointed.

While I love Kylo/Ben and Rey, the movie spends so much time focusing on them that no one else really gets an arc. Say what you will about TLJ, but Finn and Poe both had arcs in that movie, even if they were small. I felt like Poe did in this movie what he did in that last one: took to heart the words of wisdom of others around him (or at least, regurgitate their lines). He did it with Leia and Holdo in TLJ, and he did it with Zorri and Lando in this one. Finn doesn’t get any arc in this and the fact that he’s supposed to be Force-sensitive is like ... ??? What? I don’t even have time to unpack all that.

Also, Rose and Hux were sidelined majorly. I don’t even like Hux but even I felt his character and end were poorly done in this movie.

Something about both Finn and Rey’s Force abilities that bugged me was that I thought all Force sensitives can intuit or understand what others are saying in any alien/droid language. Remember how Rey could understand Chewie when she first met him but Finn couldn’t? It makes sense why Rey could understand a droid like BB-8 but why a Wookiee? Are there a lot of Wookiees on Jakku? No, she could understand him bc she’s Force sensitive and it’s an ability she has. But, in this one, neither she nor Finn could understand Babu Frick. I know it’s a small detail, and I could be misremembering canon, but it just bugged me both times.

So, Rey being a Palpatine... makes no sense. How and when did Palpatine have a kid? Was Rey’s dad a cloning experiment, or a naturally conceived and born child? This is something I’m morbidly curious about. I liked it better in TLJ when we thought she was no one, and this seems like a GIANT retcon and slap in the face to Rian Johnson. They even had to write a line about how Kylo supposedly never lied to her. Part of me wonders whether the Emperor was lying??? Maybe making Rey think she was his granddaughter would trick her into being obligated to come and end his life herself? But then, why was that Jedi Hunter looking for her parents? Oh well. Anyway, I did want her to be Rey of Jakku and no one else. But I also appreciate the thematic parallels and the yin/yang thing going with her and Kylo/Ben. He’s the embodiment of the Dark Side even though he’s descended from the Light, and Rey is the embodiment of the Light Side even though she’s descended from the Dark. So I’m a bit conflicted, but I hate it more than I love it.

I also HATE that Ben died. BUT, at least he didn’t die from falling into the pit, and at least there’s still a possibility that he’s coming back. The worst of it is that after he disappears, he��s never addressed again at all. Wouldn’t Poe or Finn ask about him? They don’t necessarily know he’s dead, and he would be a major threat if he were still alive. And why wasn’t he a Force-Ghost at the end? I HOPE it’s bc they’re leaving it open for him to come back. Or maybe his energy is living on in Rey whether spiritually (the dyad thing) or physically (maybe pregnant???).

But here’s the deal: in some ways this movie felt like the series finale of beloved TV show. All your favorites come back for little cameos, your main characters go out on a high note, and everything is resolved to a greater extent. Sure, there are more stories to tell, probably, but the Main Conflict has now been resolved. Think Avatar: The Last Airbender TV show or Star Trek: Voyager as examples.

BUT, in other ways, it DOESN’T feel like a finale. It feels like they’ve left doors to open and questions to explore in future properties. Is Finn Force-Sensitive? Is Jannah Lando’s relative? Is Ben Solo really dead? What’s gonna happen to Rey? Etc.

So, the movie needed to pick a lane. Either be The End of an era, or not. You can’t wrap up a story but then tease us with more stories. That’s not how this works. Fuck, even Harry Potter — as much as everyone hates JKR — got this right. Big Bad Guy is dead and instigating conflict is now resolved. Palpatine was the one who started this whole thing, so now that he’s dead, all is well???

Well, here’s my other big complaint about the movie. JJ & Co don’t seem to know how the Force works.

The Force is about a balance between the Light and the Dark. When one side becomes too strong, the other side grows stronger to compensate. When one side wipes out the other, the other responds. There must always be balance. Snoke even pointed this out in TLJ that Rey was Kylo’s Equal in the Light bc he was growing stronger.

And the Sith and the Jedi are religions on their respective sides. Not all Dark side users are Sith; not all Light side users are Jedi. And there are some Force users who use both freely and some who stay in balance.

The Mortis arc of TCW demonstrates this very well.

This is why so many people were pissed that Ben died. Not only are you losing a great character but you’re also losing the potential of what Ben and Rey could’ve been together as Force-users.

Palpatine and all the Sith are dead. Luke, Leia and all the Jedi are dead.

Except for Rey, who is descended of the Sith but trained by Jedi. So, she (and Ben) would have to figure out exactly how to keep the Force in balance. If the last Jedi just destroyed the last Sith, then the Dark Side is going to have to respond. But, if Rey could find other Force-users and teach them how to be in balance and use both Light and Dark in harmony then balance could be restored. There would be no need for these extremes if everyone stays in the middle.

This means Rey would have to end the Jedi. Which is what Luke wanted in the last movie. But then we find out that Leia received Jedi training??? So was Leia a Jedi? Is Rey? I’m so confused.

I like the fact that Rey’s saber has a darker hilt but it’s a yellow/orange blade. It kinda hints that maybe she will stay in balance — using both light and dark, being neither Sith nor Jedi, but something in between — a Skywalker, if you will.

So I guess, that’s a tiny win. The theory that the Skywalker(s) could be a new religion of Force-users in balance with the Force could still happen after that scene of Rey on Tatooine.

But, still, I hate all these retcons and the idea that the Jedi are the end-all, be-all. The Sith definitely aren’t good; but the Jedi weren’t always great either. And I hate that Rey had to fight Palpatine alone when it should’ve been her AND Ben — the balance between the Dark and Light should’ve been stronger than him, but whatever.

Also, one last thing, but why did Rey have BB-8 on Tatooine? Didn’t Poe make a big deal about Rey hurting BB-8 at the beginning? Why wasn’t BB-8 with Poe? Why wasn’t Chewie with Rey on the Falcon? (I guess he might’ve been and just never got off the ship.) Wouldn’t R2 and C3PO have been more appropriate in that final shot? They were in all 9 films. They’re more iconic and thematically appropriate than BB-8 to close out the saga, but oh well.

😪

TL;DR: I have really mixed feelings about this movie. At the end of both showings, I was smiling, so that’s something. I had fun... I think?? But yeah, it’s definitely bittersweet.

#reylo #rey x kylo ren #tros #tros spoilers #the rise of skywalker #rise of skywalker #kylo ren #ben solo #rey palpatine #star wars #force dyad #dyad #adam driver #daisy ridley #john williams

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pandora15 · 1 year ago

Text

so yeah I still feel the same way I felt at the beginning of the ahsoka series

there are things I really REALLY liked about it. but there are also things that I find frustrating and like. not really fleshed out at all?

like.

ezra's whole arc was amazing. his dynamic with sabine? him getting to make a new lightsaber that looks like kanan's? him finally getting to go home and reuniting with hera? i was almost CRYING at that part and I literally screamed when it cut away before we could see them hug. all of it was AMAZING.

but I'm also like. frustrated with the way that they didn't really explain sabine's past? or like, the things that connected her from the end of rebels to now. like I feel like I still don't understand what happened between her and ahsoka before the events of this show. there was that moment where huyang talked about it to ezra a bit but it's like. so quick and just like "oh ahsoka was worried about sabine turning to the dark side" and then it's never mentioned again???? it's just like how baylan mentioned mandalore's destruction in ep4 and how it drove sabine and ahsoka apart as like a throwaway line and then it's never brought up again? i'm??????

but I also really REALLY liked baylan and shin, and the fact that the mortis gods are referenced at the very end of this season INTRIGUES me. i need to know where this is going.

every time hayden showed up in this series he was INCREDIBLE. probably definitely my favorite part of the series. episode 5 is definitely my favorite episode.

but I'm also like. not feeling great about how ahsoka seems to think about the jedi at the time of the clone wars. she says this line about how anakin was the only one to stand by her, even when no one else would, when homeboy literally turned to the dark side and later tried to kill her in rebels? did she forget about that?

did she forget about all the jedi who mentored her during tcw? about plo koon, luminara unduli, tera sinube, aayla secura? about obi-wan? we haven't seen her even mention any other jedi from that time other than anakin (and kanan, in today's episode, but that's literally because of ezra).

i'm just hnggggggggggg so conflicted. the show does some things so WELL and I'm in awe of those things but then it also just. completely misses the point or confuses me or just makes me vaguely upset and it just leaves me in this state of being frustrated

anyways.

overall I did enjoy the show, even if it sounds like I didn't. It's just. I think it would've been better if the ahsoka series and the rebels sequel were two different things, y'know? it would've given more time for both of these storylines to be fleshed out more properly.

but here we are, I'm accepting that this is the show that we got, and I think it was good. I'm intrigued to see what happens next.

#ahsoka spoilers #ahsoka show #ahsoka tano #ahsoka finale spoilers #also the whole sabine suddenly becoming force sensitive thing is something i just have to accept now #i was really hoping they'd like. make her someone who believes in the jedi way and the force but isn't necessarily someone who can wield it #i would've loved to see her find balance #the show kinda hints at it a bit i guess? like she has the opportunity to jump after ezra #which is something she probably WOULD have done before the whole ''giving baylan the map'' thing #but she realizes that she has to stay for ahsoka #and she DOES #which is like. baby steps #i'm gonna shut up and go to sleep now #i will think on this a bit more to gather my thoughts about this show #and maybe post something more coherent tomorrow

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slimesgeneratorfics · 4 years ago

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I’m in a Discord server with @onemoontorulethemall , and they shared a whump idea that held me at gunpoint until I wrote a fic. Thank you for the inspiration for one of the longest fics I’ve ever written!

Title: Of Monsters and Men

Fandom: Rick and Morty

Word Count: 1684

Warnings: whump, serious injuries, uncensored swearing, canon-typical familial dysfunction (Seriously. If you’re not familiar with the show, this means quite a bit of dysfunction.)

Description: Based on the first arc (Issues 1-3) of the Rick and Morty comics, but the bug doesn’t escape the garage and... you’ll see. Read that if you want to catch cool references, but hopefully this works as a standalone too. But also, read the comic if you’re a fan of Rick and Morty. It deserves more love.

It had been three months since Morty had returned home without Rick: three full months without adventures, without purpose, and with one less person around to yell at him. Morty still didn’t understand why Rick had let him use the one-person portal out of that prison maze. Maybe Rick was done with this family and had finally decided to leave. Well, Morty was sick of living like this. He had to do something. Morty snuck into the garage, loaded some weapons into Rick’s car, and took off.

He barely made it past Mars when he was pulled over by space cops. The trial was much faster this time- he had already been found guilty, and this time Morty didn’t hesitate to make a mockery of the court system. It wasn’t that he wanted to go die in space prison, but he no longer had the energy to care about being good. If things went south, it was just one last hurrah for Morty, you know? No big deal.

They sent him to the same prison as before- Clackspire Labyrinth. Huge monsters and swarms of smaller monsters, none of which Morty recognized, attacked. Morty used Rick’s hidden panels to find weapons that made it easy to slice through every threat. He didn’t feel tired. He was fueled by spite and the desire to not die pathetically.

Morty heard the sounds of monsters being slashed around the next corner. This was strange- none of the prisoners he’d seen survived more than a couple hours, and there hadn’t been any new drop offs. Suddenly, a voice:

“WUBBA LUBBA DUB DUB! EAT THAT!” followed by a blast. Rick? It couldn’t be. His mind must be playing tricks on him. Or worse, this could be just another part of the torture.

“Rick” killed the monster and ran around the corner, bumping right into Morty. “Morty? Wh-what are you doing here?” he asked.

“Oh don’t act so surprised. I know you’re just another monster.” Morty raised his gun, but despite himself, he hesitated.

“Says you, you’re probably the monster! Why the hell would Morty be here?” This image of Rick was pretty realistic. He looked human, not robotic at all, and he was clearly scuffed.

“Enough! I’m going to kill you.” Morty fired, and a ray blasted through Rick’s chest. Wow, this thing had blood? This prison did not half ass psychological torture.

The fake Rick coughed and sputtered as robotic needles stitched flesh back together from the inside. The real Rick had tech on every organ to make him essentially unkillable, and apparently this monster was the same. “Don’t… cross me, you piece of shit.”

“I’ll cross whoever I want! You- you think I'm going to give up?”

Just then, the Rick monster fired a ray gun at Morty. To Morty’s shock, the mortal wound began to heal itself in the same way the Rick’s had. He didn’t remember any loss of consciousness between the trial and being dropped into the maze, and why would they have put such modifications in a prisoner who was supposed to die? But to assume that Rick, the real Rick, had installed them made even less sense. Morty was always expendable, nothing more than a human shield.

Morty pushed the questions aside. He was not going to lose now. “Just because neither of us can die doesn’t mean I won’t try to kill you. How about I aim for where it really hurts?” Morty aimed for Rick’s skull.

The ray bounced off, but the impact knocked Rick into a wall. The Rick was shaken, but he stood up. “You really think I would leave my brain unprotected? Maybe you really are Morty, because I can’t think of anyone else who would be that stupid!”

“Of course I’m Morty! Who the hell are you?” Morty tackled Rick to the ground and grabbed his throat.

“Morty, don’t you get it? We’re both here. You- you gotta believe me. I’ve missed you so much. I let you through that portal because I knew the long way would be dangerous, and you- you deserved to go home. I may act above it all, and I am, but you’re my grandson, Morty. I didn’t want you to have to live the labyrinth life.”

Was Rick… crying? Damn, this was a shitty fake. “Y-you’re not fooling anyone, you know? The real Rick doesn’t care about anything or anybody. He had a coupon for a free replacement Morty from the Citadel of Ricks. I- I bet he’s escaped and gotten a new Morty, maybe even- maybe even a new dimension!” Or, Morty thought hopefully, maybe Rick was about to come rescue him and tell him what a piece of shit he was for ending up back in galactic prison.

Well, Morty was done waiting to be rescued. He let go of the Rick’s throat with one hand and grabbed his ray gun, shooting the impostor directly in the heart. The blast didn’t make it far, but Rick lost consciousness from the impact. Morty sat back, still holding the gun. Everything finally hit as Morty’s numbness dissipated. Morty never wanted to be a killer. He didn’t want to live “the labyrinth life.” All he’d ever wanted was to see cool shit in the multiverse and pretend that impressing his grandpa was an achievable goal. Part of him wished this monster Rick could kill him just so it would all be over.

As if on cue, the monster Rick woke up. Shit, now Morty looked vulnerable. Maybe he could think of a way to use that to his advantage if he mustered the ability to be heartless again.

“You alright, little buddy?” Rick asked, as if he wasn’t the one who had just been unconscious.

“What do you care?” Morty replied. “Either you’re a monster and you want to kill me, or you’re the real Rick and you’re waiting to laugh at me.”

“Okay, that’s pretty reasonable considering how I’ve presented myself for, uh… always. But what if it’s neither?” Rick looked at Morty gently - hadn’t this torture been cruel enough? - and waited for a reply. Morty just stared at him, daring this Rick to prove himself.

“What if, and I’m just spitballing here,” said RIck, “What if I’m your real grandpa and I’ve always cared about you? I’ve been thinking a lot over the past three months, and I think I leaned too heavily on the god complex. Just because I’m literally the smartest being in the universe doesn’t mean I have to be an asshole about it, right?”

Morty let out a snort of laughter despite himself, but he quickly redirected into a scowl.

“Yeah, I deserve that,” Rick continued. “You know, back in season 1- actually, I don’t know where the comic fits in the continuity, let alone the - alright, ignoring the fourth wall, one time I was kidnapped by another version of me who wanted to steal my memories because I was against the Citadel and because I was ‘the Rickest Rick.’ And while he was stealing my memories, they were playing on a screen he had. I saw you as a baby, Morty. He was playing my memories of you, and I actually teared up. I denied it, of course, but in that moment I was thinking about how I’d endangered you by bringing you on these crazy adventures and how all our fun might end in disaster. I don’t want that for you, Morty. That’s why I installed all that protective gear in you while you were sleeping. I never told you because I always had to keep up that god complex attitude. I felt like I’d be a better person without my attachments, and I thought that if anyone knew how I really felt, they’d just use it against us. Do you see what I’m saying, Morty?”

“That’s a good try at a sob story, Rick. I’m almost convinced.” Morty looked down at his hands. “But there’s absolutely nothing you could say to me that would convince me that the real you could be that vulnerable.”

“Maybe you’re right,” Rick said, and suddenly Morty heard a blast and everything went dark.

…

“Huh? Where am I? What did you-” Morty’s vision cleared as his consciousness came back. He seemed to be in his room. Was he dreaming? Dead?

Rick walked in. “If I was a monster, I wouldn’t have set the gun to stun.”

“Huh,” Morty considered, “I guess you’re right.” He paused. “Did you mean what you said back there? Do you really care?”

“Don’t talk so loud. This stays between us, alright?” Rick said in a mock-threatening tone.

Morty grinned. He got out of bed and hugged Rick. “I love you, Grandpa Rick.”

Rick returned the hug. “I love you too, Morty.”

Rick stepped out into the living room where Beth, Jerry, and Summer were sitting. “You heard nothing,” he announced.

“Okay, sure thing,” said Summer, not looking up from her phone.

“Is Morty okay?” asked Beth.

“He’s going to be fine. I want- I want to really drive the point home that you did not just overhear a tender moment of familial affection involving Rick Sanchez, smartest man in the universe.” Rick crossed his arms and glared at Jerry.

“Whatever you say, Rick,” said Jerry, clearly disappointed that Rick was back and taking charge again.

“Thanks for bringing him back, Dad,” Beth said. “We were so worried. And don’t worry, your secret is safe with us.”

“My secret is not safe with you,” Rick fumed, “because it’s not with you. You have no secret, capiche?”

“Grandpa, get off her case,” said Summer. “I’m sure you’re the same asshole you always were.”

“That’s right! Rick never learns a lesson!” Rick went out to the front door and seemed to shout at the universe in general. “Rick and Morty a thousand years, no emotional vulnerability! Okay maybe a little, sometimes, but only when lives are at stake! The word count on this thing got really out of hand, but you’re still listening! Fuck the fourth wall! Roll credits and theme music!”

#rick and morty #rick and morty fanfiction #i really hope people enjoy this because i put a lot of time and love into it

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crystalelemental · 3 years ago

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Aera, I have to keep this under a cut, there’s a lot.

“books-are-my-life-stuff: Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts about the story event! I had fun reading all of them! I'm surprised that you like A Golden Future, even though (if I remember correctly) you're rather indifferent towards Morty as a character. I agree with what you said about the event, though! To me, my favorite story events are:

#3. Midnight Spookfest (Halloween 2021) #2. Hearts United #1. A Golden Future

Hearts United is really great to showcase how far the character has come, how they have overcome so many difficulties to reach this point. It's really touching, especially during N and Lillie's side of the story.

Halloween 2021 is because I'm biased. Morty and Caitlin's outfits are amazing. Allister made his appearance. And best of all, the fact that everyone almost got killed just because Morty didn't want to hurt Pumpkaboo's feelings by rejecting its offer to escort them to afterlife. I literally laughed out loud at that part, that's so silly I love Morty so much.

A Golden Future is my favorite for...obvious reasons. I cried so much when reading the story, it's so good and I'm happy for Morty. Honorable mentions for the Ideal Formula, who used to be my #1 favorite until A Golden Future dethroned it. I still bawled when Hilbert and N talked about the end of BW games with Unwavering Emotions in harmonica played. It was such a great moment.”

All very solid picks. The 2021 Halloween one was close to the top as well, probably fifth favorite? It didn’t have quite enough for me to love it as much as the others, but Caitlin being one of my top favorites was a good bit of bias as well, and I loved how she’s super excited but trying to remain composed so only Darach really notices how into this she is. It’s just really cute, I love her. Hearts United was okay, but I felt like the anniversary events didn’t really do enough. They kinda just existed, and I wished they did more. Especially knowing that Shining Heart of Dragons was technically part of the 1.5 anniversary, and that one’s fantastic. I dunno. Sometimes they do amazing writing work, and sometimes it feels like they’re pressured to put something out just to have the characters do a thing.

“A Pasio Spectacle is definitely the best solo event period. Everything about the event is just really great.

It's funny that my favorite Legendary Events are almost the same as you, except Pure Heart and Rainbow Wings are at #2 while Dragon that Rules the Sky is at #3. I like Zinnia, and I'm glad that she got her happy ending with Rayquaza. Zinnia's storyline is kiiinda similar to Morty's in a way that both Morty and Zinnia wanted to be recognized by a Legendary Pokemon, but are considered unworthy and they chose the protagonists instead. Then they got their wanted Legendary at the end.

New World Dilemma would have been my top 3 if Sinnoh Villain Arc didn't ruin it, I still love it though. Give and Take is also great, it makes me like Sycamore, but yeah I agree with what you said.”

I think Zinnia’s just didn’t have the same level of impact for me, because...really, I just never connected with Zinnia? She’s kind of obnoxious to me? And to be honest, I find their circumstances different enough that I can appreciate Morty’s struggle, but not Zinnia’s. Morty wants to better himself to be worthy of the legendary Ho-oh, and his ultimate goal is fairly low-stakes. While Zinnia felt like she wanted to play the savior more than anything, but is at least willing to step aside to let someone else literally save the world. Her search for Rayquaza never felt as personal to me, I guess.

Sinnoh Villain Arc is the greatest tragedy of this game, and I wish we could get a mulligan. They somehow produced three of the coolest trainer/Pokemon pairs ever, and still made a bad story out of it. I can’t believe it.

“Again, thanks a lot for sharing your opinions! Sorry that I couldn't help myself but to share my favorites too, but it's rare to be able to discuss about the event's story considering a lot of Masters players don't read the event story like what you found out back then. Glad to share opinions regarding the story with you who also like to read the story!”

You’re welcome! I actually really like the story bits, and most of the events are at least decent. Very few tend to be ones I dislike. I think they do some great work with the source material, and I’m really looking forward to the Johto Villain Arc.

#books-are-my-life-stuff #pokemon masters

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recentanimenews · 4 years ago

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FEATURE SERIES: My Favorite One Piece Arc with Steve Yurko

I love One Piece and I love talking to people who love One Piece. And with the series going on 23 years now, there is a whole lot to talk about. As the series is about to publish its 1000th chapter, a true feat in and of itself, we thought we should reflect upon the high-seas adventure and sit down with some notable names in the One Piece fan community and chat about the arcs they found to be especially important, or just ones they really, really liked.

Welcome to the next article in the series "My Favorite One Piece Arc!"

My next guest in this series is Steve Yurko, co-host of The One Piece Podcast, a podcast with a subject you can probably guess. He's also a former storyboard artist for Rick & Morty and is currently working for Netflix Animation. As a ride-or-die Sanji fan, Steve chose the Baratie Arc, where Luffy and the gang run into an East Blue restaurant with a cool chef that loves to cook and kick.

A note on spoilers: If you haven't seen the Baratie arc yet, this interview does contain major plot points. Watch the Arlong Park arc starting RIGHT HERE if you'd like to catch up or rewatch!

Dan Dockery: So a friend tells you, "I'm done with the Syrup Village arc and I'm not sure if I want to watch this next one. I think I might be tapped out on this whole One Piece thing. In one sentence, how do you get them to stay and watch the Baratie arc?

Steve Yurko: The Baratie arc laid down the foundation and created the formula of the One Piece arc as we know it.

That's pretty good!

Yeah, I’d say that, when I first started it, One Piece was my third favorite. I was more of a fan of series like Shaman King and Naruto, but after Baratie, things shifted. It was a turning point for me. I would hope that it would do the same for anyone who’s, say, previously apathetic towards the series.

How old were you when you first read it? Or watched it?

It feels weird to say this, but my introduction to One Piece was Chapter 1. Like Dragon Ball Z, the first episode I can remember watching was, like, Yamcha training on King Kai’s planet, and I’d get Goku and Yamcha confused and stuff, because I had just dived in. So for me to start a story like One Piece from the beginning is kind of rare. I was 15, I think.

So, we're jumping into Baratie, and we first see the guy with the brass knuckles, Fullbody. He's trying to act cool on a date and he's being mean to everyone else. And then we have Sanji being typical Cool Sanji and Fullbody acts up and Sanji just tears through him. How did you react? Did you know immediately that you'd like this waiter?

Well, I don't want to alarm you here, but my first thought was “Sanji’s cool!” I’d seen images of him before, and I saw his black suit and blond hair and I figured, “Oh, another crew member, probably. Looks distinct enough.” So I often have to look back and wonder “Did I like him because of his edgy coolness?” but I think now it’s because there were more layers to him. Like, he definitely stands out from the other Straw Hats, but he also has this distinct fighting style with cool reasoning. He’s a cook and he doesn’t want to bust up his hands trying to punch people in the face, so he uses his feet. So, he does like these cool capoeira kicks, which only gets better as they go along because I feel like so many anime characters, the stronger they get, the more they start to fight the same with fast volleys of punches and laser blasts. So Sanji’s kicks are a great way to differentiate himself from the main cast and other anime heroes.

So, then we have Luffy, he shows up by damaging the Baratie. Enter: Zeff. Full disclosure: In my infinite naivete when I first watched One Piece, I thought Zeff was going to be the new crew member. And then I thought Gin was going to join the Straw Hat crew. And then when Sanji finally joined, I was like, "This guy? Really? Dark horse candidate over here."

You didn’t know yet?

I guess I hadn't watched the first ED yet — when the crew slowly shows up and stands beside one another.

You saw Usopp’s silhouette appear and thought, “Eh, I’ve seen enough.”

"That must be all of them."

It happens.

So, you meet Zeff, and you learn about Sanji and Zeff's relationship, and we get a big One Piece flashback. What do you think of that? Because it would become a staple of the series to kinda pause, see what happened to an important guy, and then come back.

Such an incredible story and so gruesome and terrifying. Sanji’s original flashback is so underrated because it could happen to anyone! Like, you’d have to go out of your way to get stranded on an island, but going days and weeks without food or any real comfort? I think people underestimate how traumatizing that would be. And then Zeff losing his leg because he hacked it off for food, it’s brutal. Just thinkin’ about that, I feel it in my shins. Because that almost happened to me with a minor injury. I let a minor injury get infected, and I could’ve been close to losing a leg.

Wait, what? Gahd.

I was doing box jumps at a gym, and my shin hit the corner of this wooden crate.

Yeah, those things have no give in them.

Absolutely. And at the time, I thought it was just this dark spot on my shin. And I figured it was, ya know a bruise. So I let it be. And then I picked at the scab and I realized “Wow, that’s a little deeper than I thought. I guess I’ll go to the doctor if it gets worse.” And I kept going to the gym, wearing pants over like this open wound. And my left leg is so swollen. So I went to two different doctors, as the first one did tests and then sent me to another one. And when this doctor saw me, the look on her face said “Oh, this is bad.” So I laughed out loud about how dumb I was and the doctor turned to me and said “This isn’t funny. This IS SERIOUS.” It had gotten infected with bacteria and it was spreading, and she just took a sharpie and drew around the infected area, and gave me antibiotics and was like “You have to keep this elevated, and if the redness goes outside of this line, go to the hospital.” But luckily, I recovered, even though the doctors were like “Honestly, we thought you’d go to the hospital.” So when Zeff severs his foot with a rock, how does anyone not feel that?

Do you think that's one of the reasons Luffy is fascinated by Sanji at first? His mentor, Shanks, lost his arm and was cool about it. Zeff lost his leg and was cool about it. Basically twins.

That’d be an interesting conversation that we never got to see. Just two dudes talking about how weird it is that both their father figures did that, with only Luffy thinking it’s cool.

Don Krieg's ship gets blown in half by an incomprehensibly cool character, Mihawk, the first Warlord to appear in the show. You see Mihawk arrive — what is your reaction to him? Because it's not a case of "The villain of the villain is my friend," but rather "Oh, he did that to the villain? I hope he does not do that to us, as that would suck."

It’s almost like the good guys meeting the bad guys, and then a tornado comes in. But here’s the thing: I missed the issue of Jump where Zoro fought Mihawk. So I assumed that Zoro had just won. The greatest swordsman in the world shows up and Zoro beats him. Boom. The climax of his character arc has been achieved. Nothing left for Zoro.

He just did it.

I didn’t find out until so much later that Zoro lost. I wasn’t quite aware of what made for a captivating story yet. At that time, an obstacle appears, an obstacle gets taken out, ya move on. I almost want to apologize to Mihawk.

I love how One Piece does this though. They do it with Smoker and Aokiji and the like. It reminds me of The Witcher III when you go off the path a little bit, and you're at a Level 4 and then a Level 39 Gryphon swoops down and decapitates you. It keeps the "power levels" interesting.

Luffy starts up Breath of the Wild and goes right for Calamity Ganon. But Mihawk is like the analogy for the Grand Line. He represents it, without revealing too much. Mihawk is like a Pizza Hut demo disc of danger.

I really like that. And no one knows, to this day, exactly how powerful he is. Over 20 years later, and we're still wondering how he matches up against Shanks or Blackbeard or whatever. One Piece has so many characters where Oda hasn't shown his full hand in regards to them, yet we're totally emotionally invested in them. That's good storytelling.

He’s doing something right. And I love that Mihawk has a little character arc here, too, where he shows up nonchalantly slicing up Krieg’s ships, probably doesn’t expect much, and then he’s taken aback by Zoro’s gusto, because he hasn’t seen anyone like that in a while. And he slices Zoro down. But he respects him, when in the beginning, he clearly didn’t respect anyone around. Mihawk wants to see him be better and try to take him down one day. For him to willingly build someone up like that is rare. Like Frieza wouldn’t do that.

So, Don Krieg — what were your opinions of him at the time? Because he's a really bad guy surrounded by more morally grey guys like Mihawk and Gin.

What I like about the East Blue saga is that every main villain is an antithesis of Luffy and what makes Luffy a truly great captain. Buggy is all about treasure. Kuro is about ambition and the fortitude to be a pirate. Krieg is about might and strength, and Krieg thinks he has both of those because of his weapons and armor. But Luffy has willpower and ambition and doesn’t let the world change his views. Luffy is incorruptible whereas Krieg is willing to poison his own crew when stuff starts going south. Krieg isn’t fondly remembered, but he really serves his purpose in the story.

So, after Krieg is defeated, Sanji turns down Luffy's offer to join the Straw Hat crew. Now, he knows this is a bad idea. He's not gonna find the All Blue floating around on the Baratie. Why doesn't he go immediately?

Well, he knows it’s a bad idea but he’s completely misinterpreting Zeff’s sacrifice. He feels that since Zeff sacrificed his leg, he has to repay him by working for him indefinitely. But the reason that Zeff did that was because he wants Sanji to live on and chase his dream. That’s why Zeff took pity on him in the first place. He’s an older, worn-down man now, and he stopped chasing his dream. And now he wants to see Sanji or someone get a win. It lifts his spirit to see Sanji and live kinda vicariously through him.

So, the second time I ever cried over One Piece was during Sanji's goodbye and Zeff's "Don't catch a cold." The first time was when that little dog was trying to protect his dead owner's shop in Orange Town, but that's a different story. But this shot of Sanji on his knees thanking Zeff with all the cooks surrounding them is so iconic, and Sanji's acting like it's a gift that Zeff gave him that Sanji could never repay, while as you said, Zeff just wants Sanji to be happy. What did you get out of that? I assume that you're a human with human emotions.

I cry every time I watch that. When I first saw it, I was like “How? How is a series this good?” And there’s so much to that ending sequence. Because the Baratie is built on this rough, angry masculinity. Just these dudes being mean and fighting each other and customers all the time. There’s never a time or a place for lending a shoulder to someone else. No emotional embraces of any kind. Just everyone berating everyone. No one can open up — just stupid man babies. And then you get to this moment where Sanji is leaving and they’re all trying to be cool while playing it off. Especially Zeff, who can’t give a legitimate goodbye, but rather a “Don’t catch a cold.” But there’s so much to that statement and the facade crumbles. All these grown men start bawling.

I've never thought about it that way. There's all these little hints of kindness, like feeding the bad guys, and it's a masculinity powder keg. And then Sanji, in an ultimate display of putting his heart out there, bows to the man who saved him and the keg explodes. That's really cool.

ONE PIECE LIGHTNING ROUND!

Favorite One Piece character?

Sanji

Favorite One Piece villain?

Enel

Favorite One Piece moment?

March to Arlong Park

Favorite Straw Hat Crew pairing?

Luffy and Zoro

Favorite moment of the new Wano anime arc?

Soba Mask’s debut

If you could eat one Devil Fruit, what would it be?

Whatever Kanjuro’s fruit is

Moment that made you cry the hardest?

Sanji leaving the Baratie

Moment that made you cheer the loudest?

Straw Hats at the Tower of Justice standing across from Robin

One Piece location that you'd like to live in?

Whole Cake Island. Ya eat well, ya know, you can survive Big Mom

Favorite fight scene?

Sanji vs Mr. 2, of course

Stay tuned for the next installment of "My Favorite One Piece Arc" as we speak with Botchamania creator Maffew about his favorite One Piece arc: Alabasta!!

Daniel Dockery is a Senior Staff Writer for Crunchyroll. Follow him on Twitter!

Do you love writing? Do you love anime? If you have an idea for a features story, pitch it to Crunchyroll Features.

By: Daniel Dockery

#Anime #News #Latest in Anime News by Crunchyroll!

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