Hello! I just recently joined the Star Wars fandom and I adore your writing and cannot thank you enough for creating and sharing such lovely worlds with us! As someone who just recently watched the prequels, I wanted to ask your opinion on something. The clones were essentially slaves, created to serve as disposable soldiers, with no autonomy, and, to make it worse than that, were CHILD soldiers with shortened life spans. How did the Jedi and the Republic justify feeding them through the meat grinder of war? I feel like there isn’t much discussion on the ethical implications of this in canon (unless I’m missing it!). For the Jedi and Republic to use child slaves as canon fodder really makes me question how just their claim of moral superiority was. Just wanted to hear your thoughts!

This is a difficult question, and I have a few thoughts!

The issue of the moral value of the use of clones is considered at length several times in the Clone Wars tv show, if you have only seen the prequels, I think you will enjoy and get value from the tv show. I think that there simply isn’t time inside the three prequel movies that are dedicated to telling the story of how Anakin fell to simultaneously focus on the plight of the clones at the same time. You can see that Obi-Wan is disturbed by them when he arrives and we are shown that the Council did not know about them or order them. The issue is perhaps with their use, how instead of refusing on principle to use the troopers (who the Republic military would use with or without the Jedi’s permission), Yoda brought them to save the lives of the handful of Jedi out of the hundreds that went to save Obi-Wan on Geonosis. If he hadn’t, Obi-Wan, Anakin, Padmé, Mace Windu, etc. would all be dead, and the story would be over. In a choice between using troopers grown for war, betraying your ideals about an ethical military, or losing your friends and family, betraying your ideals of saving and protecting the galaxy at large, what would you do?

The Republic is run by the Sith and has been for decades. Every time you see the word “Republic” replace it with “Proto-Empire” and it becomes easier to understand why they would have an army of clones. The Republic and the Senate as a governmental structure has no moral authority whatsoever. It was corrupted long before the war by the presence of non-state actors like the commerce guilds and the trade federation seizing the machine of government and using it to enrich themselves. Senators like Padmé and Bail are exceptions to the rule, and their courage is in short supply. The majority of the senate was presented with an easy answer to a difficult question (“how do we stop a flood of murderous machines led by a rival government from sweeping from planet to planet, killing civilians and conquering their governments?”). The clones are the easy answer because they require nobody to make sacrifices.

George Lucas is making a commentary about how expendable we (usamericans at least) consider our soldiers to be, how dehumanized they are, how we are content letting them die and suffer while we laugh and shop and keep living a normal life. Many soldiers at least in the US are barely 18, coerced by financial incentives into joining the military, and without those incentives would never choose to put themselves in a situation where they need to participate in the war machine. Grinding poverty and lack of opportunity funnels many young people into the military in real life, so they are not as free in their choice as it might seem.

If you watch the very first episode of the Clone Wars tv show with Yoda and the clones, it is very clear that he treats them unique individual people, worthy of dignity and respect, and tries to save their lives, valuing them higher than they did themselves. The clones would be under their command, or under the command of people who cared much less about their value. Jedi like Krell who use the clones as canon fodder are the exception that prove the rule, the Jedi are there to save as many lives as they can while fulfilling the objectives given to them by the Senate and the Chancellor. They are morally compromised by being a part of the war, but the alternative is to walk away and refuse to use their skills and effort to protect people. That’s not a choice they are willing to make.

It’s really important to remember the genre of the films, and to listen to what they show and tell about who is moral within the framework of the story. In his space adventure storytelling movies, Lucas has said explicitly that the Jedi are the moral authority for the galaxy, they are the good guys. He is showing How the Jedi fell, despite consistently trying their best to protect people and sacrifice themselves in service of civilization. It's just important to note that How they fell is not an explanation of Why their fall was morally justified and valid. The fact that they have been trapped into a no-win scenario by their adversaries that forces them to make a choice between two non-optimal choices, is not their fault. In order for the story of Anakin’s fall to happen, narratively there has to be a war. They are doomed to fight that war and die, all of them, by the opening of A New Hope. If you think of them as being morally compromised by fighting alongside the clones, then you can feel grief at the consequences of being morally compromised despite their commitment to the good. It’s just important to not say that this choice to fight made them “deserve” being exterminated like many do on here.

i just think lois lane should put tim drake in her purse like a little dog. a scrunkly little companion who's even better at picking locks than she is, which is saying something. a nosy little freak after her own heart. the rubber duck she uses when talking her thoughts out loud to put clues together. her coffee gofer. her purse ferret.

this is all i got

Wait. Hold on. I just finished my second watch of season two and I have a theory…

I think Aziraphale knew he fucked up before he ever got on that elevator.

HEAR ME OUT!

I think the moment that he heard that his big project would be the Second Coming, he instantly realized Crowley was right. As soon as the Metatron mentions the Second Coming, Aziraphale looks directly to Crowley with what I think is very-well-concealed panic. I don’t think that was a wistful gaze at what-might’ve-been. I think that was an instinctive entreaty for help from the person he trusts most in the world, followed by the immediate realization that he can’t ask for Crowley for help without letting the Metatron know something’s wrong.

Because Aziraphale KNOWS that the Second Coming is just a different flavor of Armageddon, it’s literally the rapture. There’s no planet where our boy has changed so much that he’d be willing to bring about the end of humanity, and the fact that he didn’t object to the idea instantly is important. To me, it means that Aziraphale must’ve made a split-second decision to play along. He didn’t have time to tell Crowley what was wrong, and even if he could’ve, he didn’t have enough information to put a stop to it.

Basically, I think that in the moments after the Metatron mentioned the Second Coming Aziraphale realized several things in quick succession

Crowley was right.

He and Crowley were going to have to save the world again.

If they were going to stop another apocalypse, they needed to know what they were up against.

The only way to know was to have a man on the inside.

There wasn’t time to tell Crowley any of it.

Now the question is, how does Aziraphale let Crowley know what’s going on?? Because he can’t stop Armageddon 2 (Electric Bugaloo) by himself.

I think Star Trek should have grocery stores, delis and bodegas despite being able to replicate any food because a world where I can't pop down to the corner store for a bagel or a bag of candy or just to have somewhere to walk on a nice day is not a utopia

I'm still thinking about that post about how female characters and especially wlw and f/f ships are treated in fandoms because I got a reply that I deleted on my post about how all the Nein were big shippers on deck for Beau and Yasha that boiled down to "haha Caleb making a tower so the useless lesbians would admit they liked each other!" and it's like. He made the tower to Beau's orders. She had already asked out Yasha, who in turn had of her own volition written Beau a phenomenal, beautiful letter instead of a poem as recommended by Jester. This is factually incorrect and obnoxiously dismissive of a genuinely great dynamic and attributes all agency to a man. When you say shit like this you sound like you are Chat GPT. No new thoughts no time actually spent analyzing a relationship dynamic just "ooh i see a woman in fiction what is the phrase most associated with this ok done onto the next task".

On my walk home from the cafe I was thinking about Sanji (as one does) and how every influence in his life for 19 years screamed at him to hunker down, stay silent, and never appear weak.

As much as I love Zeff and know he loved Sanji, it's clear he has such a straight-laced and unflinching view of masculinity and what it means to be a man. The environment on the Baratie was an extension of that.

It was a machismo world where affection was hidden behind kicks to the head and insults. The kind of environment where cutting your hand or something gets a response of "what? You call that an injury? Don't cry over nothing". Where outright kindness has to be dragged out of people, and then immediately covered up with a half-baked insult.

Throw into that environmemt a little boy who is desperate to prove he's not the failure he was told he was, and out pops a man who wears his heart on his sleeve for "acceptable manly emotions" but who hides real emotions behind anger, and hides pain (physical or emotional) altogether so as not to seem weak.

Tack onto that the idea that the only surefire way to show love is through self sacrifice (his mom + Zeff), then of course Sanji will be all sorts of jacked up.

We see throughout the series how Sanji is so unwilling to be vulnerable or to even admit he's feeling hurt at all. Plaster a smile on, make some comment about loving women, and voila! He's the man's man everyone expects. No need to worry about him. After all: he's strong.

...🥺

one day everything is beautiful the other day life has no meaning

I got those expensive ass cookies from that local vendor event yesterday and im going to be honest wit you...they were Good but not worth the price good, they were soft in the middle which i love but they really tasted like Dough and Ingredients... like i could Taste and Feel a Hint of Flour throughout eating them. Ykwim. BUT ALSO. im craving more of them so bad now.

Suddenly hysterical (in a bad way????) Okay???

I had to write about a freckled, red-headed teen model for school and anyways I kinda love her now

Explanation of what on earth is going on in this under the cut :D

She’s not looking very model-esque atm bc she’s had about 4 hours of sleep and has been taking care of her little brother who just got out of the hospital

she’s at the store buying skittles for him lol

and someone spilled milk all over her shoes

it’s a quite the story.

I FORGOT I STARTED SKETCHSING THIS ATUPID SHIT LAST NIGHT UGGSGHHHSG

ive decided that hot coffee is ok for me to have while menstruating as long as i only have one but cold coffee is not ok. why do i genuienly have the same mental logic as like a victorian asylum warder who believes in wandering wombs

Shitty Ai<3Hearne doodle. Because I can.

now that ABOM issue 1 is published, i can post my contribution :] please do not repost unless you clearly credit me!!

here’s an obnoxious explanation of all my choices that is probably way too much information :

I find the most interesting aspect of the monkees to be their era of deconstructing the image that TV & studio execs had so carefully crafted. in the process of preserving this image, these execs had created somewhat palatable characters, caricatur-izing (sorry.) elements of the casts’ real personalities. the artists themselves were given an illusion of control over their brand, rarely getting the opportunity to publish the art that they made themselves.

ANYWAY.. tying this all into my piece .. i wanted to make something dedicated to frustrations felt by all members of the monkees. Peter is in the front, making strides toward the edge of the chessboard; the monkeemobile flooring it to stand in his way. I wanted the image of a monkee crushing something that was a major symbol in the show itself. what’s more iconic than the monkee mobile itself ?! my hope is that this shows autonomy on peters part, his true self contradicting this false image created by execs-- no longer a pawn for them! of course peter was the first to quit, which is why he is taking the lead. Mike was next, buying himself out of his contract in order to publish his own music and take control of his artistic career. even throughout the brainstorming process for this, i knew i wanted to put mike in his flashy (but fabulous) nudie suit. to me its such a foreshadowing of what he would go on to do in his solo career and with the first national band. i had to CONTAIN MYSELF because i didnt want mike to have a whole bunch of detail and not fit in with the rest of the subjects.. Mike is looking straight toward the audience, realizing he would like to pursue creative projects that would not be possible working with the monkees™ and everything that they symbolize. Davy looks for the edge of the chessboard, contemplating whether or not he should leave. Micky, wearing his outfit from Head (1968), holds a remote control. This is all in reference to the imagery seen in the film; he finally has the option to change the channels for himself. I actually used a screenshot from the movie to get his face & hair right. I think in the 2 years filming the show micky started embracing his curls, but the only references from a upward angle were when he was straightening his hair !!!! I ended up using the scene where he blows up the Coke machine, a satisfied smirk on his face. what an appropriate scene. finally the chessboard, white rabbits & wind up toys. I don’t think I really need to explain that aside from mentioning that the image of the wind-ups is from 33 1/3 Revolutions Per Monkee (1969). I think this was the last official monkees thing Peter was in (outside of future reunion tours). The television special echos the themes already present in Head, so i felt like it would be a nice addition. And it shows the monkees as pawns versus having full autonomy. WHICH BRINGS ME TO MY LAST POINT ONE MORE THING ITS QUICK I PROMMY okay perpective ! I wanted to do an upward shot because First of all its fun but more importantly . it shows the cast themselves have outgrown their characters :] now who knows if ive succeeded in any of the things i attempted but at least i had fun :] and feeling like charlie iasip pepe silvia is healthy every once in a while...