#they need a universe name so I don't have to write both drama titles every time

[scarefox]

I need the Anti Reset and Eternal Butler universe to get an AI-Robot that only speaks nonsense because it scraped too many false google results and troll posts.

[askmerriauthor]

Star Wars: Visions thoughts and discussion

Been on a bit of a Star Wars binge lately. Getting ready for the Book of Fett and the return of The Mandalorian soon, just finished playing the Jedi: Fallen Order game, and recently "Star Wars: Visions" dropped on Disney+ (not to be confused with the, like, half-dozen other Star Wars properties that use "Visions" as their title). If you've got the streaming service and haven't watched the series yet, I can honestly suggest you should do so. The whole thing is a series of very short episodes and is entirely non-canon to the setting, so you don't even need a hard understanding of Star Wars to enjoy it.

In fact, it's actually better if you don't know anything about Star Wars going in. Spoilers and brief episode discussion after the jump.

Episode 1: The Duel As soon as I saw a lightsaber umbrella and a R2 droid in a hat, I knew this one was going to be a must-watch.

I REPEAT. LIGHTSABER. UMBRELLA.

Solid kick-off for the short series. Dig the aesthetic, dig the classic samurai vibe (even if it's more of an homage than a direct application of the style), dig the simple story. The particular animation style they chose here was a little wonky but I quickly got used to the visuals and loved a bunch of the design choices too much to care. This one was very action/style-focused and clearly chosen as the leading episode for that reason, which I don't fault them at all for.

Episode 2: Tatooine Rhapsody I'm sorry, I don't recall giving Star Wars permission to be this fucking adorable, how dare you.

The tale of a Padawan survivor of Order 66 who makes a new life for himself not with the power of the Force, but with the power of Rock and Roll and Friendship. Bitchin'. Super adorable, semi-chibi art style that's honestly ringing, like, a dozen different bells in my head for trying to figure out all the different styles it's drawing from. Good fun, if a bit bland in the end. The biggest problem is the music. The story relies on "using music to save the day", which is fine. But when you use that trope you need an absolutely face-melting banger of a performance, which this just doesn't have. An enjoyable entry all the same though. Not bad, not great, cute designs; the quirky story of how Jabba the Hutt got a new slave band to play at his den.

Episode 3: The Twins This entire episode is animated by the team who brought us Kill la Kill and that should really tell you everything you need to know.

You know how if you get a bunch of little kids together, they'll start playing make-believe games where they just invent stories and plot twists and super powers like "I have whatever you can do, but infinity plus 1 better!" shit like that? That's what this short is. It has only the vaguest allusions to the setting proper and immediately hurls every semblance of consistency, logic, and sense out the window with both hands. It is 1,000,000% style over substance.

Okay, y'know what, no, that's not enough to describe the utter insanity this episode is. All I can find online is pictures of the main villain character pulling a General Grievous impression or the protag snaring lightsaber whips on his lightsaber, but that is fucking tiddlywinks compared to where this episode goes.

There is a scene in this short where the protag, who is ghost-riding the hood of his X-Wing upside down in space without a space suit, super-charges his lightsaber into a giant rainbow of FUCK YOU GEORGE LUCAS with the power of familial love and fabulousness, using said rainbow super saber to CUT AN ENTIRE STAR DESTROYER IN HALF WHILE ACCELERATING TO HYPERSPEED, all to save his twin sister's life by making her explode in a somehow non-harmful manner.

This short is utterly nonsensical drivel and yes I would like more right the fuck now, please and thank you.

Episode 4: The Village Bride Wait, we're actually trying to tell a reasonable story in this series? Sorry, I was still on a sugar high from the previous episode. Lemme sit down.

The Village Bride is great. Excellent short that's just dripping with atmosphere and a slow, purposeful pace to its writing. It's short and sweet with little focus on the Force-using characters themselves, which actually serves to its credit. Even in the Star Wars universe, the Ainu people can't catch a fucking break. Easily one of my favorites in the whole run.

Episode 5: The Ninth Jedi The fact that two characters in this short have Sasuke's haircut was extremely distracting. But I actually really enjoyed this entry overall.

Despite playing extremely loose with the established lore around how lightsabers work, this episode over all others really embraces the original setting and tells a slow-burn story about the potential revival of the Jedi Order. A little meandering at times, but it's a solid piece and well worth exploring. Of all the shorts in the series, this one has the greatest potential to actually continue on as a standalone series or be folded into the canon franchise. Main protag is an adorable bean and I love her.

Episode 6: T0-B1 This episode is simultaneously a love letter to Astro Boy and a giant middle finger to Star Wars lore purists.

The tale of an imaginative Droid named T0-B1 who dreams of becoming a hero like the Jedi he's heard so many stories of. This short gets extra credit for being so unyieldingly stylish and charming. On the surface of its presentation and story choices it seems like it doesn't know anything about Star Wars lore, but it's actually packed full of some pretty deep cuts that show the folk behind it do know what they're talking about and just don't fucking care what purists have to say. The entire thing is just "Yeah, I'm ignoring your lore, but I'm doing it in a fun way that makes the setting more interesting, and I'm so genuine about it that you can't be mad at me". I can respect that. Plus the old dude in that screenshot is an armless Jedi who's retired to be a botanist and that's just fucking cool.

Episode 7: The Elder I'm Episode 1, but better.

This one. This shit right here. This is the good shit.

I'm sure y'all have heard before that Star Wars is directly inspired by Kurosawa and samurai films in general, but The Elder really digs into that hard. Where Episode 1 styles itself after a samurai tale, Episode 7 is a samurai tale. Subdued, methodical storytelling, slow-burn pace, charming dialogue amid believable characters, and a truly intimidating villain who provokes a brief but striking duel. This is my vibe. I crave more of this. Far and away the best short of the entire series.

Episode 8: Lop and Ocho Oh for fuck's sake, there's going to be so much porn of this bunny girl character, isn't there?

This entry is another that kind of meanders with the story it's trying to tell and plays very loose with the lore. It reimagines a lot of what we know of the Jedi/The Rebels and Sith/The Empire into a feudal faction-based conflict akin to what you'd see in a period samurai drama. Modernization and callous industry crushing the spirit of the people and breaking apart families. A decent work overall, but nothing really all that impressive in the end. It takes too long to get going and then peters out halfway through its pay-off for some reason.

Episode 9: Akakiri The fact that I had to look up this episode's name and scenes online and still could not remember anything about it should tell you a lot.

The series ends on a downer with the dramatic tale of a fallen Jedi who sacrifices himself and succumbs to the Dark Side. Turning evil for... the greater good? Wha? Had some pretty neat visuals, but I genuinely cannot remember a damn thing about this episode or its characters. Big swing and a miss in terms of impact.

[shawnjacksonsbs]

You do realize that we don't live forever, right? 9-29-19

"As human beings, our job in life is to help people realize how rare and valuable each one of us really is, that each of us has something that no one else has- or ever will have- something inside that is unique to all time. It's our job to encourage each other to discover that uniqueness and to provide ways of developing its expression.' 'All of us, at some time or other, need help. Whether we're giving or receiving help, each one of us has something valuable to bring to this world. That's one of the things that connects us as neighbors--in our own way, each one of us is a giver and a receiver." - Mr. Fred Rogers We'd all be better off to remember and live by these wise words than not. On my mind this week; I've had conversations with a variety of people over the last several years that have gotten clean and out of the life, in which a lot of them have said the whole "I don't miss being high". Now, although I don't miss everything that comes with getting high, like broken relationships, street living, drama, stress, etc. I'd be remiss and delusional if I said I don't miss the actual being high part. I mean c'mon, I tried to stay high everyday for damn near 20 years. I really, really liked being high and how it felt. No question about it. It's a good thing I'm a place in my life where those thoughts are easily dismissible right? I can continue to say that if I ever relapse it'll be a conscious decision and not because I'm going through withdrawal and/or the being drawn back in without any self-control. I have gained way too much to lose, to include relationships, and the feelings I have about my life now. They completely supersede any old feelings of the "high". Believe that. It's almost like how every now and then, and only sometimes, the smell of someone else smoking a cigarette makes me fantasize about taking that drag myself, thinking it would taste like heaven, probably building it up to taste way better than it would actually turn out, but nowadays, I can just . . not . . do . . it! Just like that, I can turn my thoughts off and in another direction. It's actually so easy to do now that it's hard to believe that it was such a struggle before. It's a pretty great feeling. Something else I think is not very accurate, at least not for all of us recovered or recovering, is that we continued to use because we were chasing that 1st high we had. Not true. Hell, I had way better highs 15 years into my active addiction than I ever did early on. Some highs were better than others and granted, none of the shit that comes with it was ever ok, but the being high part was always good enough to keep me coming back for more. It might sound sick, which is more on point than I give credit, but that's the god damned truth, for me anyway. Some feelings were bad but not all. Most were just normal/average feelings, albeit for me, not-so manageable, but I imagine most people dealt with them just fine. But being high just felt better than those feelings. So to get right, I had to find things that felt better than wanting to be high anymore, or ever again. I didn't know this until after I escaped the life though. It was so hard all of those times before, because of how much I loved being high. I still remember how good it felt. When people say they don't miss it (I envy them if it's true). Well I don't miss the life at all and I've gained so much that I don't want to lose but the being high . . . was a whole other thing I had to overcome. Just saying. Anyway. . . Hoping harder than hard as I watch my two adult boys that recently started getting things straight in their lives, finally, that what they need seriously sticks with them this time. So far so good, and no pressure Mr. Universe, but they need this win. Keep up with us this time. Ok? I'm just so grateful that I had the opportunity to mend most of my relationships. So we are actually in each other's lives again. I can be there for them, like right now, as they do better I can help them save themselves while there is still something left in them to save. And that's right, I said they are to save themselves. That's key. They are responsible for getting and staying out of the life just like they are accountable for when they were in it. One of them took a little nudge from some legal actions hanging over him and some trouble meant to push him in the right direction, but that doesn't mean it won't hit home. Their other brother turned his life around after a legal bout and a prison scare, so . . . We have a plan set up for him to get himself through, and I'll walk beside him, especially with an uncomfortable walk he has to do after the holidays. I might share more on this later, but it is kind of his, so. . . And my other son is straight and finally working too, (they both have jobs!!). Some struggles he has, which are not nearly as severe, are tough nonetheless. And I will do what I can for him as well, as long as they walk the walk, I will walk with them and help them hold their heads up, and hold 'em high through it. Changing gears real quick. I have given a tremendous amount of thought to writing a book, more specifically an autobiography, and have decided that is not going to be possible and why. It's pretty hard to just change the names of some people and places. Way too many key characters and their story arcs which are important to the "how" and "why" I ended up where I am in my own story, would have to be changed to keep identities safe and uncompromised. Little changes might work for the unknowing public, but not those hiding from their role in their real lives now. The changes would need to be pretty extreme. Whether or not they are still currently active in my story, or their addiction, is irrelevant. Too many people would catch on to who I'm talking about with minor changes. So to change them enough to not be recognized would mean too many changes to the story itself and it would no longer be the autobiography of Shawn Jackson, but instead a complete work of fiction. Setting people out will never be my place or my intent. So writing an "autobiography" probably isn't going to work for me. I'm okay with that too, but I imagine that if I could have, the title would be just that. . ."You do realize that we don't live forever, right?" And the last thing for this week is this, I stay so very lost as to why my writings even have haters really. They (my writings) are usually more about self-care, and the benefits I have gained from living in it, so I try to pay that message forward. Oh and . . . that whole being a dick to, or even about, other people says a whole hell of a lot more about your character than it ever will theirs. Remember to always try to be kind to one another when and where you can, and when and where you can't then at least be civil, and forever share the love and the laughter with the world around you. As often as humanly possible just do it! Until next week; "By simply living in gratitude today, we can help others to live in hope for tomorrow. Be the fucking change and try to understand why." - Shawn Jackson