#tcw season 7 finale of course
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I was wondering if you could share your thoughts and feelings on Felonys takes over the years overall? I know a lot of people see him as this grand savior of star wars without much more to it so I wanted to hear your take on how he handles the pre-established world he writes for and the dissonance with what George Lucas established/said before
Honestly, I think a lot of Felony's appeal is that he writes a very polished story and that's appealing to audiences (no shade, I'm part of that audience!) and that he has at least given some thought to what the Force means.
There are a lot of takes he has that I agree with, I still quote what he says about the characters at times, but I think he has a big central problem and that's characterization drift-slash-the inability to let go.
Well, two big central problems: He also can't write/finish a narrative arc to a satisfying conclusion.
I have such a hard time getting into the Mandalorian storyline because it's been told in snippets for like 10+ years now and it's never really coherently come together, it still has huge gaps in it, it doesn't have a strong narrative central theme that he sticks to, but instead told through cameos and mini-arcs in separate shows. And when you examine a lot of his work, it often doesn't hold up to scrutiny because I'm not sure he has a solid thematic throughline that's driving him--like, some of the choices he made in season 7 of TCW are baffling--Ahsoka walks right by people who need her help, then says, "In my life, when someone needs help, I help them."??? When she wants the Jedi to help Mandalore instead of Coruscant, she says the Jedi aren't helping the people who really need them, despite that Coruscant is under attack and that's where Trace and Rafa are, the characters we just spent an entire arc on?? Ahsoka and Bo-Katan want the Republic to literally invade Mandalore, this is brought up in the arc itself, and then never mentioned again because it's inconvenient and the author doesn't want to deal with the established worldbuilding??
I also don't think he knows how to end a story, like I love Ahsoka as a character, but he very much does favor her and a lot of her appearances are starting to feel like she's only there because Filoni can't resist. She just never ends, there's no conclusion to her, what's even her character arc over the course of her life after the Jedi genocide? She's obviously dealing with trauma about it and now she's looking for Ezra to find him again, but what's the character arc on a personal level? Is she still dealing with letting go of Anakin, ~30 years after it happened? Did she not put that to rest in Rebels finally?
@david-talks-sw has a great post about the differences between George Lucas and Dave Filoni here, illustrating that I do think Dave misses some really key points about characters that he has personal biases against. And, you know, I'm not getting after him for that, I disagree with him and I think he's wrong about a lot of stuff that Lucas directly established, but I also think a lot of people dismiss criticism of him because, oh, he worked with George and therefore he's an extension of George! No, he's a different writer with his own strengths and weaknesses, one I think who makes very popular (often for a reason) Star Wars, but I think misses the heart a lot of times.
But I also often think of that he doesn't try to see himself as the grand lord of Star Wars, either, even he himself says:
He's not the ultimate authority on Star Wars, he's just as fallible as anyone else is, and always should be. I think he made Star Wars shows that a lot of people loved, he has a very polished style, and he has given thought to the characters he loves.
He just also has biases and directly conflicts with George Lucas' established story and I think that's fair to point out. Maybe you like those better, I'm not trying to talk anyone out of that, but it's still fair game for me to point out that I think he's wrong about Star Wars just as often as he's right.
(And that, as time goes on and The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett became more and more of a hot mess, I grew less charitable. This is a major overview, I don't want to get too into the weeds on this, I've gone over a lot it in past meta, and it would be exhausting to dig it all up again, but basically this is why I'm on the fence about Felony. He has a lot of weaknesses as a writer and I don't find I like his strengths more than I dislike his weaknesses sometimes.)
#dave filoni#lumi.txt#i realize you probably want more detail than this#but i cannot stress enough how unproductive that seems to me#because i would spend hours combing through my posts about his arcs#or commentary he's said#and be annoyed all over again#because it's not fun to dig into things that frustrate me#and i don't think i'm going to convince anyone to change their mind
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Bad Batch Season 3 Episode 5 (scattered) thoughts and first impressions (ramblings)
Major spoilers under the cut
This one is also very long because mannnnnnn did I love this episode and omg do I have big feelings about it
Also yes I do love each member of tbb but in case it’s not obvious I’m a crosshair girlie. Have been since I first heard his voice in season 7 of tcw so this is gonna be very crosshair centric (because he finally has screen time and more than like 2 speaking lines this season!!)
Lula! 🥰🥰
Is Omega in a supply closet? Whatever better than her barren room at the lab
Ah nope her old “room” the gun turret 🥰🥰
A glimpse of mornings on board the marauder: peaceful boys and caf 🥹 probably only peaceful again now that omega is home
This is Omega’s best look omg the the crocheted vest??? I wanna cosplay her now or actually just wear this outfit fr
At first I was so annoyed they kept crosshair in this ugly ass outfit but I honestly think it’s because even though it’s warm on Pabu he’s always cold because he’s so skinny now (well he always was lean but this is a testament to how much weight he lost as a prisoner) They keep trying to feed him fruit and my man keeps using it as target practice 🤦♀️🤦♀️🤦♀️🤦♀️
I honestly love when they show scenes through like either a scope or helmet visor. Like I really love seeing what they’re seeing. In this case AZI (so happy they took him from Cids bar- sorry “parlor”….it was a dive bar)
He’s so mad at his hand 😭 my poor baby he really should let AZI look at it. What do we think it is? Nerve damage? I imagine it feels tingly like when your foot falls asleep.
I love that Batcher loves him!! Animals know good people. He’s a good man Savannah! 😭😭😭 and he likes Batcher too and anyone that’s kind to animals is ok by me.
Ugh Crosshair teaching Omega about being a sniper 🥰🥰😭🥰😭🥰 one day she’s just gonna pop out with a sick trick shot lmao
Shouldn’t have given him his rifle??? Sir it’s an extension of him, it’s like you gave him back one of his body parts
“Omega trusts him and that’s good enough for me” Wrecker!!! My sweet boy!! Big man and even bigger heart. He’s now kinda caught in the middle he wants to be cool with Crosshair again but doesn’t want to betray Hunter they’ve been through a lot just the 2 of them these past several months. Crosshair and Hunter are like parents in the middle of a divorce 😭
53%???? Fuckkkkkkk way worse than we thought
Echo!!!!! Yay mom came home!
“No hug for me” screaming crying throwing up! 😭😭😭😭😭😭 💔💔💔💔he’s disguising it as sarcasm but he wants it, he wants a hug! SOMEBODY HUG HIM DAMMIT! I volunteer!!! Please
Omega between her 2 dads 🥰 (Though is Crosshair more wine aunt vibes sometimes?) And batcher by Crosshair’s feet of course
Yummmmm I bet Pabu has banging sushi 🍣 Love Wrecker being an unbothered king enjoying his sush🥰
😭😭😭😭😭 Crosshair’s face when Echo mentioned Tech. He knows. He knows he fell or perished (shh no 🤡) trying to save him. They’re twins and he lost his other half and I’m devastated!! 😭
Haaaaa welcome to parenting a teenager Hunter!!!
Are Hunter’s eyes green all of a sudden?
Crosshair being the voice of reason?? I love seeing this side of him. I HC that since he is silent and highly observant he was a voice reason often for the batch. (Can we please get a series of TBB during the clone wars?? Or like when they were cadets or something. We only see them in 4 episodes in tcw and they were just an insane suicide squad who hated regs and didn’t follow orders or have anyone in charge of them like I wanna see their adventures and their dynamic and how they are when they have downtime! Please lucasfilmmmmmm 🙇♀️🧎🏼♀️)
“I’m older than you are, little brother” 😂😂😂 and she got crosshair to chuckle lol ugh I love their dynamic so much. They are really feeding us rn (please don’t take it away)
Omg he’s so brave bringing them back there! To that freaking ice planet where nothing but trauma happened for Crosshair. I know he probably wished he would never have to go back there again but he knows this will help so he goes anyway
The old armor!!!! Helllllll frickinnnn yeaaaaaa (he’s so hot in armor omg I have a headache)
“Take a guesssssss” 🥵
“He started it” 😂😂 major youngest sibling energy
Mayday’s helmet! 💔💔💔💔 somebody sedate me!! 😭
Why can’t Hunter sense the Wyrm?
TOOTHPICK!!! Wrecker defo kept his toothpicks in the armor case 🥰
Frickin ice vulture always an omen. (Animals seem to really like Crosshair though even the scary ones)
“I know you” 😭 I know Hunter meant it in a “I know you’re sneaky and closed off and I’m expecting the worst from you right now ” but it just hit me harder than that. “I know you”- you’re my brother, the youngest I’ve known you since the day you were born. “I know you- I know there’s more to your silence I know your still waters run way deeper than you let on.” “I’m your brother- I know you talk to me I know you”❤️🩹
Oh shitttttt thems are fightin words yes let it out everyone
“I’ll do it! 😁” Wreckerrrr I love you
Hunter’s fast af boi!
Batcher is actually ripped af 💪
Ok petition that Cross doesn’t yell anymore it doesn’t suit him at all lmaoooo
Poor Wrecker yes it’s always ALWAYS a huge monster 😭
“Fantastic” 😂😂😂
Omg this is a roller coaster of emotions! Crosshair being soft with Batcher, the nodding! Ugh nothing like fending off a giant ice wyrm to bring bros back together
He’s so pretty shut up I know his head is shaped like a lightbulb
AAHH THERES THE HUG 🥰
progress 😌
“I thought I was being a good soldier 😔” * *pterodactyl screeching *
Welp Im deceased, fed and nurtured but dead at the same time.
Thank you thank you thank you for these past few episodes. Us Crosshair girlies were really in pain seasons 1 and 2
#star wars#the bad batch#tbb season 3#the bad batch spoilers#tbb crosshair#tbb omega#tbb season 3 spoilers#tbb#tbb spoilers#the bad batch season 3#season 3 spoilers#crosshair#omega#Hunter#wrecker#echo#tbb hunter#tbb wrecker#tbb echo#rambling#ramblings#episode recap#episode review#episode reaction
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So I actually have a Star Wars story to tell (it’s a core memory): Echo has always been my favorite clone trooper. My family, especially my brother and I, started watching The Clone Wars during season 1 and we became mega-fans (I was 9, he was 6, literally the target demo). Every Friday we’d watch the new episodes, then Saturday we’d go to star wars dot com and watch all the behind-the-scenes content. We missed the first time “Rookies” aired, but we saw the behind the scenes content for it, and caught it on reruns. We immediately knew Fives and Echo were our favorite clones, he picked Fives so I picked Echo. But we were so disappointed when they weren’t in the rest of Season 1 or 2. But we were absolutely stoked for the series 3 premiere when we heard Fives and Echo were in it. And then they were gonna be ARC troopers? We were losing our minds. Our favorite boys, ARC troopers‽ Unfortunately for me, the Citadel arc happened next. Don’t get me wrong, we loved seeing the Dominos in the phase 1.5 armor. But for some reason we missed the end of episode 2 of the arc (where Echo dies), and when the bts content said Echo died I was inconsolable. I refused to ever watch the ending of that episode for YEARS. When Fives kept showing up in seasons 4 and 5 (Umbara arc is like my favorite SW movie), I was always jealous that my brother’s fave was still around and mine wasn’t. Then TCW was cancelled and I thought that was the end of it.
About a year later, I heard they made half of a Season 6 but it was only on Netflix. It took me a while to figure out how to watch it (on the high seas, as my family didn’t have Netflix), but I was in high school now. The first arc having Fives discover order 66 and coming this close to exposing it? I’d been thinking about that kind of story for forever (my favorite Star Wars AUs are where order 66 didn’t happen or was disobeyed). I was so excited to tell my brother…until I saw s7e4 and Fives died. My brother was just as sad/mad as I was when Echo died. But I finished Season 6 and thought that was the end…until I went onto star wars dot com and saw that there were unfinished animations for some episodes called “the Bad Batch”. And then…my world became whole. ECHO WAS ALIVE!!!!! Sure it was janky af, felt dubiously canon, he had been thru hell and was now a cyborg, but MY BABY BOY! My brother was, of course, just as jealous that my clone was alive and his wasn’t.
Then 4 years later. TCW Season 7 was announced. The Bad Batch arc would be in glorious HD. Echo was firmly alive and hanging out with the Bad Batch. And he got me thru lockdown, as TCW was one of my comfort shows I’d watch and s7 was airing in April/May 2020. And the Bad Batch were gonna get their own show? Hell fucking yeah.
Here we are, 16 years after Echo first graced my small TV screen, and he’s still my fave. I see a lot of myself in him. How by-the-book he used to be and isn’t anymore, how his life fundamentally changed and now’s not exactly a man (I figured out my sexuality, gender, and disabilities in 2019 right before TCW s7 remastered Echo’s return). I would almost certainly die inside again if he dies in the TBB finale. Anyway I’ve never shared anything this personal about Star Wars with anyone and TBB tumblr definitely seems like the kind of people who want to hear this.
#star wars#the clone wars#the bad batch#clone trooper echo#tbb echo#lgbtq#seriously corbett and rau if you hurt echo again i will find you
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Obitine Week 2023, Day 7 - The Situation
Prompt: Devotion; TCW Season 2
Rating: Gen
Word Count: 376
Read on AO3
“My…” He swallowed. His fingers just barely grazed against hers. “My feelings for you have never changed. It is the situation that differs.”
The guests had gone to their rooms, Anakin and the men to others. The Coronet was still and silent; only Obi-Wan and Satine were still awake, sat together on the dais, as close as they could be without touching.
No words had been spoken, the two of them content in each other’s company. But the artificial night would end soon, the ship lights would cycle towards dawn, and Satine could not leave everything unsaid.
“You would have left the Order. For me.”
It was not a question, yet Obi-Wan answered. “Yes. I would have.”
“Past tense?”
“My…” He swallowed. His fingers just barely grazed against hers. “My feelings for you have never changed. It is the situation that differs.”
“There is tension on Mandalore that I cannot disturb,” she agreed.
And the appearance of a (former) Jedi would certainly be a disturbance. New Mandalorians were peaceful, yes, but not so removed from tradition that they would tolerate a Jedi consort. Maybe immediately after the war, when things were fresh and new and exciting, they might have changed things. But now…
“And there are responsibilities I cannot leave behind.”
“Of course,” she said, even as her heart felt cold. “How could I forget? You are a General now.”
“I am,” he said, not pulling away. “And though I do not like it, and I am certainly not arrogant enough to believe the Republic depends upon my service, I cannot leave. I am sworn to do my duty to the Republic - and, quite besides that, I will not do that to my men. I will not abandon them.”
And, he thought, but did not say, I was a soldier long before I met you. Perhaps I was made for this the way I am made for sorrow, the way you were made to rule. What would we do then?
Satine sighed, and finally entwined her hand with his. “I don’t want to fight. It was your devotion to the Jedi Way that made me fall in the first place. I can hardly be upset by it now.”
“In another life,” he said, knowing it made nothing better, “it would have been entirely to you.”
She smiled as both their hearts lay breaking. “And I am content with that.”
Tagging: @weekofobitine
#Phoenix_Rose#Obitine Week 2023#satine kryze#obi wan kenobi#star wars#obitine#post-Voyage of Temptation#angst#(because even though they love one another#they know they can't be together#because they are devoted to duty </3)
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Separate of feelings on tcw and its unending array of spinoffs (though honestly, day by day I find myself sliding closer to your attitude about them) I do think filoni and favreau's treatment of the Star Wars/Disney brand is worthy of an academic paper. Specifically looking at how allergic to consistency it all (including the sequels) is. Because again, regardless of feeling, I think there are some really wacky choices being put to screen that often contradict itself in ways that actively antagonises and alienates its audience. Because say what you will about the prequels, but at least they had a clear vision throughout. Personally I think they were the last time SW had any sort of clear vision but that might just be me being bitter about Din's treatment in s3... :P
Yeah, anyway, stopping before I get rambly-er...It was just something that sorta stuck me as I was backreading some of your clone wars critical posts.
The underlying problem imo is that Disney wants money, not a consistent story. George Lucas of course wanted to make money, I'm sure, but he had a consistent story and he stuck to his guns throughout. People hated the prequels when they came out, but George Lucas stuck to his overall story even if he tweaked things (like reducing Jar Jar's screen time). The sequel trilogy makes it abundantly clear that Disney changed things as soon as there was any sort of backlash and they risked losing money - Finn CLEARLY being Force-sensitive but shafted by the story and never allowed to be a Jedi with Incel Poster Boy Kylo Ren given all the attention instead makes it very clear that's what happened.
It's more than that with Filoni - at this point I think some of my students have more consistent storylines in their play than he does in his paid work! He drops anything like a hot potato when something more interesting to him comes along. I've been saying this since Rebels season 2 finale - half of your ensemble cast doesn't even feature in the season finale and the rest are shoved aside so your OC and Darth Vader can have a rematch that's meaningless to anyone that hasn't seen TCW instead?? That's fucking bad writing. It's a pattern that continued. TCW had a message of just because the clones look the same doesn't mean they aren't individuals with value - wait, no, we have the individualistic, specialier (whiter) Bad Batch butt in during season 7. Din and Grogu have a heartfelt separation that's for Grogu's benefit? Nope, he's back with Din in the next show. Boba Fett getting some good character development and becoming a leader? Nah, back to the Mandalorian. (I love Din, but again: fucking bad writing. Temuera Morrison has every right to be salty as fuck.) Din having the potential to be come the leader the Mandalorians need and can respect and follow? Nah, just hand the sword to Girlboss Barbie Bo even though she's lost it and we've done this arc already what, three times? Actually no, never mind the Darksaber, let's break it! Anyone wanna take a bet that it's gonna be reforged in Season 4?
#he's like a seven year old playing with barbies i s2g#i can't believe i write stuff i work hard on for FREE and he gets paid probably way more than my teachers salary to write complete schlock#anti filoni#anti tcw#asks#just prime
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Tagging: @weekofobitine
Day 7 prompts used: Jedi, devotion, garden
Bonus prompts used: TCW Season 5 (on epilogue)
One step later, Obi-Wan was back in her way.
“Satine,” her name, which flew from his lips with such extraordinary affection, only made her slightly calmed heart beat faster again. “I understand that Korkie and his safety are the most important things right now. And, of course, I will help you in any way I can. But… Could we return this conversation later?”
“Later?” asked she, not understanding what he was driving at.
“Later,” his palm squeezed hers decisively. “After this war is over.”
The pounding of blood in her temples reminded her of the roar of ritual drums.
“Obi-Wan,” as soon as she said his name, she immediately felt her legs begin to tremble. “Obi-Wan, I don’t think you… I don’t want you to…”
“I want it. With all my heart,” in contrast to her, he spoke incredibly confidently. “Are you?”
She wanted. She wanted it so badly, she craved it so much… But could she?..
“You don’t need to look so scared, my dear,” Obi-Wan smiled widely. “It's just a conversation.”
It wasn't "just" a conversation. She knew it. He knew it. They both knew that the other knew. But the firmness with which he offered it to her lit a flame of hope that she… that he… that they both had the right to be more than just a collection of important matters and duty to the Galaxy. It reminded her that they were also just a people - just a man, just a woman with all this heap of feelings and desires and needs. The need for another person whom you can love without hiding and be loved in return.
“Me too,” Satine finally responded in a whisper, fearing to frighten off this sudden gift of fate. “I would also like to have this conversation later.”
Continue read on ao3
#Obitine Week 2023#Obitine Week#Star Wars#The Clone Wars#Obi Wan Kenobi#Satine Kryze#Duchess Satine#Korkie Kryze#Obitine#Obi Wan x Satine#Obi x Satine#Obi Wan/Satine#Star Wars fanfiction#Obitine fanfiction#Obitine fanfic#Russian fanfiction#ao3 fanfic
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Oh! New Lego Skywalker Saga character packs! Kenobi, Andor, BoBF, Summer Vacation legos(I think I get summer tank top Vader!), and my two excitements, Clone Wars and Rebels!!!!
I'm so so so excited to finally have the Rebels crew in my game and go exploring with them <3 I love sending Tarkin and TK-421(What I call the normal stormtrooper) on adventures or taking romantic screenshots of them in the hidden creek on Yavin(Which I love, that location is SUCH a hidden gem) but sending Ezra and Sabine kyber brick hunting is so... Accurate.
I'm just scared we're not going to get Kallus. Like for real, that's my fear. I know we're getting Hera, Kanan, Sabine, Ezra, Zeb. Hopefully Chopper. That's the size of a "normal" character pack. I could see them throwing in Thrawn as he's the big bad.
And then... Kal? Please? With a Ysalamir on top? Like the character packs were like Show Season 1 but we're forcing 4 seasons of a beloved show into 1 pack so :/
TCW is 100% Rex for sure. I want Ventress too for sure. TCW Ahsoka(Please S3 and beyond model). I want Hondo too. Maybe Satine(Unlikely tbh). Again, we're going to suffer from the 7 character limit for seven seasons. Cad Bane I'm expecting in BoBF and Quizzy in Kenobi.
Just theorizing. (I'm salty they're advertising Cassian and Reva. Cassian because we already have a Cassian and Reva because she's a duh of course she's in the Kenobi pack and I'm not sure if I'm buying it cause of her. It's obvious. Rex half gets a pass because he's Rex and my childhood. But give me Rebels character confirmation. Give me what TCW characters we're getting. Don't be so obvious.)
November 1st cannot come soon enough. Well, October 21st, because the last 10 or so days will be spent with the new Taylor Swift album.
#My priorities is seriously like ... Kal?#Please a Kal#I will trade on inquisitor with a tragic backstory for a white guy who has done horrific stuff#My family is not complete without him#Also a thrawn please#Cause I can find an Eli stand in on the imperial officer roster lol#lego star wars the skywalker saga#i cannot wait for this#I had given up hope for them
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Having some thoughts about the references and inspirations used for the Bad Batch’s designs.
So Boba Fett is my absolute favorite character and Temeura Morrison was perfect casting. I went to see the 2008 TCW movie in theaters because I was so excited to see him again, even if he was animated. You can imagine my disappointment. Whoever was on screen was not Temeura Morrison. You could sort of see a resemblance if you squinted and didn’t think too hard about it. They replaced Temeura with Racially Ambiguous G.I. Joe. If I didn’t know better and someone told me the animated clones are space Italians from the moon of New Jersey I would buy it. One Million Brothers Pizzeria and Italian Bistro. Not that there’s something wrong with being space Italian, I just don’t think it’s the right choice for the Fetts. The design got slightly improved by season 7 but it still bugs the hell out of me.
I did eventually get into the show later and (of course) got invested in the clones. Unfortunately, they were largely sidelined by the Jedi storylines. Out of the two new main characters created for TCW, Ahsoka definitely got more development and focus than Rex. When they announced The Bad Batch, I was excited to see a show specifically devoted to the clones… at least that’s what it said on the tin. We have all seen what lurks beneath those stylish helmets.
Jango Fett, you are NOT the father.
So who is?
Based on interviews with Filoni, it sounds like the Bad Batch was a George Lucas idea. And like all his ideas, it’s super derivative. The original trilogy directly lifted elements from sci fi serials, westerns, and samurai movies, more specifically Kurosawa films like The Hidden Fortress. For The Bad Batch character designs, the influence is obviously American action and adventure movies.
Now let’s get specific. Bad Batch, who’s your daddy?
Hunter
Sylvester Stallone as Rambo in First Blood 1982. That bandana has become an integral part of the iconic action hero look. You see a character wearing one and it’s a visual shorthand for either “this character is a tough guy” like Billy played by Sonny Landham in Predator 1987, or “this character thinks he is/wants to be a tough guy” like Brand played by Josh Brolin in The Goonies 1985 or Edward Frog played by Corey Feldman in The Lost Boys 1987.
Hunter’s model is closest to the original clone base. If you look closely you will see the eyebrows are straighter with a much lower angle to the arch. His nose is also not the same shape as a standard clone like Rex, including a narrower bridge. It’s certainly not Temeura Morrison’s nose. Remember what I said about space Italians? It didn’t take much to push the existing clone design to resemble an specific Italian man instead of a specific Māori man. The 23&Me came back, and Hunter inherited more than the bandana from Sylvester.
Crosshair
The long narrow nose, the sharp cheekbones, the scowl. That’s no clone, that’s just animated Clint Eastwood. Not even Young and Hot Clint Eastwood from Rawhide 1959-1965. With that hair, I’m talking Gran Torino 2008. The man of few words schtick and family friendly toothpick in lieu of cigar are pure Eastwood as The Man With No Name from Sergio Leone’s spaghetti westerns A Fist Full of Dollars 1964, For a Few Dollars More 1965, and The Good the Bad and the Ugly 1966.
In a way, this is full circle because the actor Jeremy Bulloch took inspiration from Clint Eastwood for his performance as Boba Fett in ESB.
Wrecker
In an interview Filoni lists the Hulk as an (obvious) inspiration for Wrecker. Ever seen the old Hulk tv show from 1978? Well take a look at the actor who played him, Lou Ferrigno. Would you look at that. Even has his papa’s nose.
You could make the argument that Wrecker was influenced by The Rock, an appropriately buff ‘n bald Polynesian (Samoan, not Maori) man. But look at him next his Fast and Furious costar Vin Diesel and tell me which one resembles Wrecker’s character model more.
Tech
Tech is a little trickier for me to place. If he has a more direct inspiration it must be something I haven’t seen. That said, his hairline is very Bruce Willis as John McClane in Die Hard 1988. His quippiness and large glasses remind me of Shane Black as Hawkins from Predator 1987. In terms of his face, he looks a but like the result of McClane and Hawkins deciding to settle down and start a family. Although, Tech’s biggest contributors are probably just everyone on TV Trope’s list for Smart People Wear Glasses.
And finally,
Echo
Oh Echo. Considering he wasn’t created for the Bad Batch, he probably wasn’t based on a particular character or movie. But if I had to guess, his situation and appearance remind me a lot of Alex Murphy played by Peter Weller in Robocop 1987. However, Robocop explored the Man or Machine Identity Crisis with more nuance, depth, and dignity. Yikes.
The exact tropes and references used in The Bad Batch have been done successfully with characters who aren’t even human. Gizmo from Gremlins 2: The New Batch 1990 had a brief stint with the Rambo bandana. I could have picked any number of characters for Defining Feature Is Glasses but here is the most cursed version of Simon of Alvin and the Chipmunks. Suffer as I have. Marc Antony with his beloved Pussyfoot from Looney Tunes has the same tough guy with a soft center vibe as Wrecker and his Lula (also a kind of cat). Hell, in the same show we have Cad Bane sharing Cowboy Clint Eastwood with Crosshair. I actually think Bane makes a better Eastwood which is wild considering Crosshair has Eastwood’s entire face and Bane is blue.
So we’ve established you don’t need your characters to look exactly like their inspirations to match their vibe. So why go through the trouble and cost of creating completely new character designs instead of recycling and altering assets they already had on hand? Just slap on a bandana, toothpick, goggles, and make Wrecker bigger than the others while he does a Hulk pose and you’re done. Based on the general reaction to Howzer it would have been a low effort slam dunk crowd pleaser.
But they didn’t do that.
So here’s the thing. I like the tropes used in The Bad Batch. I am a fan of action adventure movies from the 80s-90s, the sillier the better. I am part of the Bad Batch’s target audience. Considering what I know about Disney and Lucasfilm, I went in with low expectations. I genuinely don’t hate the idea of seeing references to these actors and media in The Bad Batch. I don’t think basing these characters on tropes was a bad idea. If anything it’s a solid starting point for building the characters.
The trouble is nothing got built on the foundation. The plot is directionless, the pacing is wacky, and the characters have nearly no emotional depth or defining character arcs. They just sort of exist without reacting much while the story happens around them. But I can excuse all of that. You don’t stay a fan of Star Wars as long as I have not being able to cherrypick and fill in the gaps. This show has a deeper issue that shouldn’t be ignored.
Why do the animated clones bear at best only a passing resemblance to their live action actor? In interviews, Filoni wouldn’t shut up but the technological advancements in the animation for season 7. So if they are updating things, why not try to make the clones a closer match to their source material? Why did they have to look like completely different people in The Bad Batch to be “unique”? Looking like Temeura Morrison would have no bearing on their special abilities and TCW proved you can have identical looking characters and still have them be distinct. In fact, that’s a powerful theme and the source of tragedy for the clones’ narrative overall.
Here’s Filoni’s early concept art of Crosshair, Wrecker, Tech, and Hunter. (Interesting but irrelevant: Wrecker seems to have a cog tattoo similar to Jesse’s instead of a scar. Wouldn’t it have been funny if they kept that so when they met in season 7 one if them could say something like “Hey we’re twins!” That’s a little clone humor. Just for you guys 😘)
None of these drawings look like the clones in TCW, much less Temeura Morrison. Let’s be generous. Maybe Filoni struggles with drawing a real person’s likeness, as many people do. But he had to hand this off to other artists down the line whose job specifically involves making a stylized character resemble their actor. Yet the final designs missed the mark almost as much as this initial concept. Starting to seem as if the clones looking more like Temeura Morrison was never even on the table. It wasn’t a lack of creativity, skill or technical limitations on the part of the creative team. I don’t think there is an innocent explanation. They went out of their way to make the final product exactly how we got it.
This goes beyond homage. They could have made the same pop culture references and character tropes without completely stripping Temeura Morrison from the role he originated. It was a very purposeful choice to replace him with more immediately familiar actors from established franchises and films. It wouldn’t shock me if Filoni, Lucas, and anyone else calling the shots didn’t even think hard or care enough about the decision to immediately recognize a problem. And I don’t think they believed anyone else would either. At least no one whose opinion they cared about. Those faces are comfortingly familiar and proven bankable. They are what we’re all used to seeing after all. They’re white.
Lack of imagination, bad intentions, or simple ignorance doesn’t really matter in the end. The result is the same. Call it what it is. They replaced a man of color with a bunch of white guys. That’s by the book garden variety run of the mill whitewashing. There’s no debate worth having about it. For a fanbase that loves to nitpick things like whether or not it’s in character for Han to shoot first or Jeans Guy in the Mandalorian, we sure are quick to find excuses for clones who look nothing like their template. Why is that? If you don’t see the problem, congratulations. Your ass is showing. Pull your jeans up.
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The difference between how Maul is treated and how Cinder is treated because Maul's screentime is utilized far more effectively than Cinder's.
Maul, after being a personality-less blob for 5 minutes in Phantom Menace, gets re-introduced in the Season 4 finale of Clone Wars. Then in Season 5 he gets instantly cured of his insanity and goes on his revenge quest against Obi, leading to the kill of a Jedi, Deathwatch's takeover of Mandalore, Maul killing Pre-Vizla and taking over Mandalore himself, then he kills Satine in front of Obi before being removed from the game by Palpatine (all in the span of one season). Then he shows up for one arc in Clone Wars and Rebels before Obi-Wan finally kills him off.
Cinder, similarly, starts out with very little to her character (except this time it's for 2 whole volumes). Then Volume 4 hits, which focuses on her recovery and training to get better. Volume 5 finishes that up, and then we learn that Cinder... hasn't actually learned anything or developed at all (or at least, not in any really meaningful way). Volume 6 and 7 are then her getting back on her feet (and then losing to Penny and Winter) and back in Salem's good graces. Then Volume 8 finally gives us her backstory, several parallels saying her new situation is no different than her old one, her looking all sad and shit when Watts calls her a useless headache, and then seemingly finally changing her tactics and how she operates. Only to turn out that, Nope! Cinder hasn't actually learned anything, and just tricked everyone into thinking she had before killing them.
Totaling up Darth Maul's appearances in Clone Wars and Rebels, you come out with a grand total of... 14 episodes (10 in TCW, 4 in Rebels). I haven't counted how many episodes of RWBY Cinder's in, but I think we can both confidently agree that she's in far more than Maul. Cinder's arc may be observationally 'the same' as Maul's, but Cinder's arc is like a car doing donuts; fun at first, but by now it's run it's course for me and just become annoying to watch.
Clone Wars knew how to utilize it's screentime effectively, and if Maul showed up more than he had, he'd have absolutely gotten annoying just like Grievous did. RWBY still struggles with screentime issues, and plenty of plot-points and characters suffer for it (*cough*happy*cough*huntresses*cough*), Cinder included.
Then you should have been paying more attention, because while everyone was saying "give us her backstory!" over and over again, Cinder has been going on quite the arc.
She was the same during Volumes 2 and 3, with only the last half of season 3 giving us hints of the anger and hunger beneath the mask of control and poise. She was consciously imitating Salem, because Salem is her version of power, and thus her characterization fell flat because it was a performance rather than a full person. Then Volume 4 hit and we got to see Cinder as she was. Within Salem's castle, she can't imitate her for power, so she's keeping her head down, exposing her vulnerabilities.
Volume 5 Cinder is Cinder trying to be what she was in Volume 3, but failing. She's too unstable, too angry. She can't put on a Salem mask and have that be enough any more. ("Working with bandits? What's the point? We're strong enough to take what we want by force!") She needs to be strong. Feared. Powerful. She can't sit in the shadows laughing while they all fail, knowing she's the smart one, she needs them to see that she's the smart one. Volume 3 Cinder would never have reacting to someone chipping her mask by stomping them into the ground for daring to defy her and then impaling someone nearby to establish control. "Cinder hasn't learned anything or developed at all" my ass. Character development isn't always a character getting better. Often they get worse (let Maul did).
Onto Atlas. Cinder starts to claw her way back. She seeks an ally. She takes Miss Malachite's advice. She finds a way around Salem's order. She knows she can't brute force it, so she's going to what used to give her satisfaction: manipulation. But then she goes back to Atlas, and all her trauma starts resurfacing. She needs power. She can't stand that she's back here, can't stand the idea that she's in the same position she once was. She knows it would be better to manipulate and hide...but she needs to feel different now. It's why her trauma resurfaces, why she starts acting subservient to Salem when her failures start piling up. Salem gives her approval and tells her she's special, but Watts undercuts that. She's stupid, she's useless, she's nothing at all. And Cinder sits and cries because she's terrified that it's true. For one, clarifying moment, she’s the girl in the basement again.
And then Ironwood hands her victory on a silver platter, and that thought is washed away. Suddenly, all of Salem's training, everything Salem whispered to her about using people to destroy themselves, how good she felt when she manipulated Beacon into falling, comes flooding back. She can beat these people at their own game. She sets everything up, uses everyone against each other as she did before, and winds up getting everything she wanted included those she hated dead and Atlas destroyed. It's her ultimate triumph. She's finally learned how to be powerful through doing what she's good at, how to utilize Salem's lessons to make herself into what she wants to be. She has what she’s wanted the whole series, and it’s not enough, and it will never be enough.
Because it cost her her freedom, and the only person that ever truly loved her.
But no. Cinder did nothing, learned nothing, and definitely hasn't been evolving this whole time, changing bit by bit by every cycle she goes through. Compare to Maul, where the entire point of his character is that he never truly learns.
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Why do people seem to hate Dave Filoni all of a sudden? I mean I'll confess I don't really like the way some characters were changed in the The Clone Wars series, but Filoni and Lucas did do a LOT of things right in that series. Its actually really deep and explores some very important moral and social issues like the impact of war especially on young people.
Is it because Filoni has been critical of the Jedi at times? Honestly, I don't see anything inflamatory in what he says, and I don't think he's just randomly pulling stuff out of the air. Some of what he says is supported in old canon materials.
The Jedi aren't perfect, I fail to see why legitimate criticism is such a big deal.
Before anything else, this ask was sent before the bad batch premiered so I won’t get into *that* right now.
That being said, this fandom has had a very interesting love-hate relationship with Filoni, so allow me to provide some context before we get into the heart of the issue.
Before The Clone Wars (2008) premiered the anti-prequel movement was still strong. A lot of people still accused George Lucas for ‘ruining’ star wars forever, so when the show premiered filled with action scenes, jedi, sith, badass moments and humor, Filoni was hailed as the savior of the franchise. Finally someone who understood what star wars was *really* about had come and saved us all from the prequels boring issues.
That mentality last for quite some time. sure, there were voices of dissent but the general vibe was that Filoni had truly fixed star wars and the prequels.
It was very similar from what happened to Game of Thrones. When the show premiered HBO and D&D were hailed as these god-like superwriters who could do no wrong. As the show progressed fans started noticing the cracks but most people still believed the show and its creators above criticism. only now that some time has passed that people are becoming more objective about the content and realizing the signs that something was off were always there.
Of course, Filoni didn’t have a fiasco similar to Got’s Season 7 and 8 but the long waiting period between TCW’s season 6 and 7 gave people a lot of time to think objectively about the show, which made them realizing Filoni was, after all, just a man. And TCW was not an ‘alternative’ to the prequels, it was just an extension of it.
The themes people hated in the prequels were deeply imbued into the clone wars because a show about war must be, by definition, a show about politics. Whether people are ready to admit it or not, star wars was always about politics. I mean, the OT was about reestablishing a democratic government. It doesn’t get more political than that lol
And we can speak of PT-politics without talking of the Jedi Order. And here lies the core of the issue: people’s sudden realization of this truth. Somehow, for a very long time, some fans didn’t realize the clone wars (and sw in general) was all about poltical (anti-war) allegories.
Here’s a Filoni interview from 2013 that discusses the fandom reaction to the jedi:
StarWars.com: I was at the Lucasfilm fan screening of the finale, and I was keeping an ear on the crowd’s reaction to certain scenes. I was kind of surprised at the reaction when Ahsoka doesn’t take her Padawan braid back.
Dave Filoni: Right.
StarWars.com: Because people gasped at first, and then a lot of people started cheering.
Dave Filoni: Yeah! Fantastic, huh?
StarWars.com: What did you make of that?
Dave Filoni: I was really, really surprised by that. Really surprised. I didn’t think people would be against it. But I certainly didn’t think that people would applaud it, necessarily. I think that there’s a certain element there… I mean, we weren’t trying to paint the Jedi in a bad light, but certainly you understand her reasons for wanting to leave. We’ve kind of taken a generation of Star Wars fans and really made them reassess that whole time period to the point where at the end of it, they’re on the side of this young girl who’s like, “Yeah, this isn’t gonna work for me.” And I think people feel that right now. They are often in a situation that they’d rather not be in and they wish they could just walk away, and maybe she embodies that. Maybe there’s something going on there that we’re not aware of. But I don’t know, I was pretty fascinated by that. It was a pretty surprising reaction.
George and I went over those final scenes quite a bit. One of the big things was, the whole scene with the Council at the end used to take place outside where Anakin and Ahsoka talk. And it was definitely George, when we watched the first cut of it, who said, “I want to split this so that it’s half-inside, half-outside. And the outside is just Anakin and Ahsoka.” It was very important to him to separate the two of them out and just have this conversation between them. He wanted kids to know that she didn’t blame Anakin for it and that she wasn’t upset with Anakin. And I thought it was a great call. When I re-shot the scene it was pretty phenomenal.
There was a debate about Ahsoka at the end, and her just going back to the Jedi at the end of it, and that was the initial impulse. But I kind of argued, “Well, wait. We have an opportunity here with her out to change her story dramatically.” And I’m always looking for those opportunities, because you’re not sure when they’re gonna come, to just grab something and change it dramatically for her. I thought, to do that whole storyline and then have her come back would almost be expected, so why not challenge that.[x]
Unlike what the narrative sold on tumblr says, Filoni and George talked about what was going on in the show (he was reason for Maul and Mandalore, two fan favorites, being on the show). But because accepting Filoni knew what he was doing means accepting George also knew what he was doing when drawing political and social parallels between real life and star wars, it’s much easier to just hate on Filoni and/or George (depending on what they are saying).
It’s kind of like selective hate. When Anakin is being abusive or when Padmé is being assaulted Filoni is a fucking mastermind. But when he’s criticizing the Jedi Order he’s a dumbass who doesn’t know shit about star wars. Or at least don’t know as much as people who have never talked to George Lucas, talked to anyone linked to star wars or has explored the full contents of the star wars lore know.
Look, I’m not defending Filoni here. He’s made plenty of decisions I don’t agree with it, but I find quite surprising how people can’t be rational about it. or, at the very least, be critical of the things that truly matter and have an affect on people in real life like racism, sexism and abuse. Idk, I just find interesting how the fans hating on him for being slightly ‘critical’ of the jedi Order seem to have no problem with the racism, whitewashing and sexism in the show. It really shows what people’s priorities are.
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Hey, dearie!
It's me @nimata-beroya Not much of a HC, but to tell you that I've finally finished watching TCW and all its 7 seasons! The last one hit even harder (even if it was a rewatch) now that I knew all the characters and everything that had happened before 😭😭😭😭😭
Next, I'm going to rewatch Rebels, which of course will hit me wholly different now too 🥺
Enough of me 😆 how are you, my friend? Besides being bored with training, I mean. 😊
Ahhhh @nimata-beroya I'm so glad you finished! I know, it all hits so differently when you go back and watch things again, knowing the things you know now. I've gone back to the BB arc in season 7 and I'm just like, "Man...we didn't know what we had until it was gone!" Their whole dynamic together was amazing and then they took away Crosshair in TBB...it's so sad!
I haven't really watched Rebels. I've seen a few episodes and have a general idea of what goes on. But I know it'll definitely hit different for you now!
In answer to your question, I'm doing well! 😊 Yeah, bored, like you said 😝 but otherwise, I'm hanging in there!
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2020 fanfic review meme
tagged by the ever-wonderful @sidewaystime and since we’re in day 60,235 of 2020... why not?
What fic did I disgorge from my brain maw this year?
like... a lot, for me. i wrote 70k of codywan after falling headfirst into it during season 7 of tcw, in two bursts of 30k and then 40k while on break from classes. i wrote hear me through the hum in reaction to s7 but in our hearts straight up possessed me. i wrote that fic at an absolutely ludicrous pace (again, for me, since i’m not usually that prolific). and, of course, last lariat (9k), and the approx 50k half of early kamino au i wrote in 2020. so... more than 120k which is WAY more than i typically write in a year.
Takeaways from reflecting on your kick-ass writing, or kick-ass lack of writing, during a year more focused on survival than perhaps any other:
hmmm well it turns out that i have a lot more words stored up in my brain than i thought i did, especially when i’ve got extra rage as fuel. i think if i hadn’t had the writing to occupy my suddenly rather bountiful spare time, i would be coping much worse with, you know. All This.
Most surprising fic you wrote this year:
lmao absolutely 100% last lariat, because i don’t even write anything rated above M typically..... but something about the idea of “din djarin and the helmet [academic voice] as allegory for societal expectations around virginity” really got to me so. also it was my finals week so who can blame me
How you’ve grown as a writer this year:
i think i’ve gotten much better at plotting and actually executing longer fics, since in 2020 i finished or worked on 3/5 of the longest things i’ve ever written. also, i got pretty good at using a fictional language that will never be useful for me in any fandom but star wars, but i’m not sure that qualifies as “growth.” (yes, i mean mando’a.)
What’s coming in 2021:
oh man. @adiduck and i are gonna start posting [actual title decided but not yet revealed] aka early kamino au aka crashlanders aka The Absurdly Long Jango Fett Fic once we finish it, which will hopefully be in the next couple months, because uhhh it’s over 130k right now and there’s at least another 60k to go. oops, and also, get excited! we are!
tagging: @adiduck, @marnz, @tessiete and whoever wishes to participate!
#you know what else is coming in 2021?#damn i really hope a freaking vaccine!#fic meme#my fic#also lmao all of this is sw fic so#star wars#maybe one day i will write for another fandom#some people write star wars fanfic to cope?
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I watched this vid on what if Anakin and Padmé never fell in love by SW theory. He defended the prequels and made the Vader fanfilm so some of his stuff are pretty good but he talks about how Anidala was mostly physical attraction n that he n Ahsoka have better bond and also less age difference? Not only is master/student relationship creepy but he’s 20 in AOTC so in TCW he’s at least 20/21 n she’s 14 so 6/7 years is fine when the guy is older but 4 years is huge if woman older? The prejudice!!
Hi!
Oh I didn't know of this. It seems like an annoying situation. But dear, don't worry! It doesn't matter who this so called "fan" is, he sounds like he's on some drugs...
Star Wars without Anidala romance just feels not Star Wars at all hah. Plus, I mean... where would Luke and Leia come from??? All their especial traits, personality and back story. Or what would be the point of Padmé's character if not having one of the biggest roles in SW and what about Anakin's arc, what? I can't think of something else then this dude being on drugs.
Padmé being 4-5years older than Anakin isn't a big deal. She is a FINE LADY that CARED for him. Their relationship was emotional and both felt attraction for each other. If their bond wasn't that especial... Idk what Padmé keeping little Anakin's japor snippet gift for her to remember him, listening to Anakin's nightmares, help him try to save his mother and be in his most dark moments like confessing he killed in vengance means??
In my opinion, these kind of fanboys like to reverse the situation to try to deny that it is more common that older men prey on younger girls. Example: You never see them complain the fact that Han is 15 years older than Leia (even if Disney reduced it to 10 years). Or why would Leia a Senator-Princess-Spy-feminist icon of her time would run after a womanizer-slave employer?. It just not benefit their ideals.
Just to clarify I'm not against Han and Leia or that I completely dislike Ahsoka. But I'm using these examples to shut this kind of weird views against Anakin and Padmé relationship.
Anyway, about the Ahsoka situation. She actually serves as a Leia recipient in Anakin's life. She is a mirror of what Anakin would've been with Leia if he had the chance to be a father (the skyguy nicks and her bratty behaviour sometimes... does it remind you to a certain dynamic? Yep, Vader and Leia). He is a mentor to her and he learns responsability by her being his padawan (part of George's take). Adding that Ahsoka it's a character of her own so... this cliché of the school girl with a teacher it's just dumb and wouldn't benefit Ahsoka's character at all or Anakin's or the story. Just feels out of place.
Finally, Filoni obviously gave Ahsoka more screen time than Padmé (or any other female character in TCW). So it wouldn't be very strange some viewers (like this one) think there was a thing between Anakin and Ahsoka because you see just most about them, all that development (in a 30 min series of 7 seasons lol). But it's a whole development of master-padawan interaction, even a friendship. Still It doesn't lessen the actual relationship of Anakin and Padmé which it's the main focus of the saga.
But well, you know fandoms. Personally I would encourage to write about the situation. If you feel like doing it of course. I think it's important to respond to such videos or do your own videos too exposing the true with facts.
#messages#replays#these kind of fanboys are so annoying#we fans should try to unite and create an anidala account in YT or FB groups to promote the great aspects of anidala!#fight these weirdos with facts
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author interview tag game
thank you for the tag, @pandora15! <3
Name: caroline
Fandoms: mostly the clone wars, but i also have some marvel stuff, and waaay back in the day, i wrote some doctor who and merlin stuff!
Where you post: primarily on ao3! i mostly just write on tumblr when i’m accepting prompts from like...ask games or something.
Most Popular Oneshot: real
Most Popular Multichap: to these memories (this fic only recently hit 1k kudos, and my heart?? w h a t)
Favorite Story You’ve Written: def. to these memories because a) longest fic i’ve ever written, and b) oh, the hours i logged into writing this fic, and c) oh, the outlining that went into this fic...i’m very proud of myself for completing the fic, and of course, i credit this to everyone who showed their lovely support for the story. :’)
Fic You Were Nervous to Post: uhhh definitely too far just because it’s...rather personal. i sometimes say that there’ll be a scene or two or just straight up a line or two that’s plucked out of my real life, and i think it’s inevitable for writers of any kind, including fic writers, to isolate their real lives completely from whatever they’re writing, and?? this fic is probably the most personal for me because of that. i remember kinda hem-hawwing about posting it, because i was like whoa, maybe this is a little too personal? but then i steeled myself and was like, “okay, well, would this have lifted my spirits when i needed a story like this??” and then decided to post it.
How you choose your titles: i def. toss and turn between titles! there’s a few fics of mine that are straight-up song lyrics (no surprise there), but to my surprise (as i was looking through my catalogue of fics just now), i realize that a lot of my fics are usually just words or two about what i think might have been extremely important to the story. (or captures the overall tone/theme of the story, anyways.)
Do you outline? for multi-chapter fics and relatively long one-shots with lots of moving parts, i’ll outline. but for shorter one-shots and prompts, i’ll usually just stick with the image that compelled me to write the prompt/one-shot in the first place! (and then kinda write around that.)
Complete: uhhhhh, i’m gonna answer relatively for all my clone wars fics, because in total, i have 74 completed fics. (make that...75, hopefully in a few minutes or hours!) but out of clone wars fics, i have 46 completed fics! (and again, hopefully 47 in a little while.) a part of me is lowkey hoping that i’ll get up to 100 total fics by the end of this year. a part of me highly doubts it, but given how much i was able to write over summer break, i’m...intruiged if i wind up somehow writing another twenty or so fics by the end of this year. (asfsf my wip list is long enough to fill in for another twenty fics. caroline finish all your wips challenge.)
In Progress: okay, so officially, time, wondrous time is in progress and online. but in terms of the works in progress on my laptop...i have...*mutters, counting* fourteen official wips. (ten of them are one-shots, and the other four are longform fics. one of them, i’m hoping to release next week (!!!), and another, i’m hoping to release hopefully around mid-december. uhhh so fingers crossed??)
Coming Soon/Not Yet Started: oops, i guess i kinda already answered that question, but eh, might as well! the one coming out next week (hopefully!! caroline get your shit together challenge!!) is titled most ardently, and it’s an obitine au based off pride & prejudice because i cannot and will not shut up about obitine being the period drama ship out of star wars okay--
and then the other longform fic that is very overdue is called getting lost in a big galaxy, which is a fix-it of sorts taking place after season 5. anakin’s gone missing, and obi-wan winds up going on a galaxy-ride road trip with ahsoka (who, remember, has left the order) to find their idiot. this is honestly my excuse to just write more obi-wan and ahsoka content. hopefully, that’ll be posted in december!! (despite the fact i...originally meant to post it in august oOps.)
and then there’s this other longform fic which...might be coming in early 2021 called red, underlined, which is essentially...uh. everyone’s a stressed out law-school student, and anakin might have accidentally murdered professor palpatine, and now anakin, obi-wan, ahsoka, padme, and rex are all trying to find out what the hell to do with themselves because they’re all in on it. (def. influenced by how to get away with murder except without the criminal justice professor to lead them through the ropes. so more chaos. kind of a dark comedy vibe, if anything else? anakin no is major theme in this one. uh, i mean, maybe anakin was justified in murdering creep palpatine because our gang’s gonna find out what was going on in the background, but either way! lots of “holy shit are we good people are we bad people what are we doing”. lots of questions about morality! ethics! law school student study nights with anakin sprawled out on the floor and obi-wan wearing glasses (which he pushes up the bridge of his nose whenever he’s about to lecture anakin that no, that’s not how that statute works, dumbass) and ahsoka just bringing snacks and rex catching paper airplanes and padme being the one to supply everyone with very neat flashcards. this fic is gonna be an absolute beheamoth, and i’m estimating about 45 chapters? like...130K+ words? help? yeah idk either this really blew up in my head
and then...this stupid, wonderful, boring, amazing job, which is...office x tcw au. only not? it’s very, very loosely based off the office, but not really. obi-wan moves in as a new manager of a company, and we’ve got anakin being like “lol new guy i’m gonna mess with him”, and ahsoka being the one who’s both like “please don’t mess with our new boss” but also being like “actually, wait, lemme help”, rex being in hr and being like “i don’t get paid enough for this”. (also there’s some parts that are written like actual interviews like you would find in the office, so there’s this one bit where uhhh
Obi-Wan flicks his eyes to the cameras in silent question before turning back to Ahsoka. “Well, if you need to call maintenance, then I hardly think you need my permission—”
“Thanks!” Ahsoka says quickly, and she’s about to disappear from the doorway when Obi-Wan stands up.
“Wait, Ahsoka, what exactly—”
Ahsoka re-appears at the doorway. “Oh, right,” she says. “Um—maybe just stay away from the men’s bathroom for a little bit.” She pauses.
“Actually, just stay away from them for the rest of the day.” She hovers by the door for a minute longer, and then she adds quickly, “And maybe also avoid the breakroom. Everything’s fine!”
And with a perfectly not-fine smile, Ahsoka disappears from the doorway.
Obi-Wan stares at where Ahsoka was just a moment ago, and the he turns to the cameras in disbelief. “Did she just—” Unable to finish his own sentence, Obi-Wan starts out the door. “Ahsoka?”
The camera follows Obi-Wan out of the conference room and into the breakroom. There are only muffled shouts—Anakin’s shouts, and then Rex’s, and then Ahsoka’s frantic “no, sorry, everything’s fine!”, and then Obi-Wan’s loud, “What is going on in here?”
surprise y’all just got a snippet i’m sorry can you tell i’m weirdly into this au?? i need to rewrite some scenes but uh there you go
Prompts: for the most part, yes! i have some stuff in my faq about prompts that i’ll probably turn down (mostly anything that’s...above a certain rating/really, realy heavy themes that i just don’t think i can tackle with justice or with enough education on my end). i can be a little slow with prompts, but i’ll get to all of them in time!
Upcoming Work You’re Most Excited About: uhhhh i have too many that i’m excited about. literally i can write a mini essay on every single one of the fics i’m working on? but uhhh i guess since i already talked about all my major longform fics above (asdfasdfsd didn’t mean to do that, i’m so sorry for everyone who had to scroll past that word-vomit), i guess the one i’m most excited about releasing is the post season 7 obi-wan-and-ahsoka-finally-talk-about-how-they-miss-each-other-also-sorry-for-fighting-with-you-i-know-you-were-just-trying-your-best fic. (not a whole ton of spoilers for this one, but uh. i’m looking at some of these scenes and making frustrated sounds because there’s this one particular instance where i’m like, ahsoka. ahsoka just talk to him just ta lk to him but then lol no talking :)) also maybe some h/c? lowkey sickfic might be involved in this somehow? might have accidentally served as a precursor to to these memories? help? this fic just ballooned. caroline keep your ideas contained challenge!)
No Pressure Tags: @lightasthesun @soplantyourownflowers @ohhellokenobiand anyone else who wants to join!
#tag game#thank you!!#caroline.....control your wips challenge#also i am so sorry this got sO long and SO OUT OF HAND#also....lol caroline stop writing so many longform fic challenge#i really love writing one-shots#i really really love writing one shots#but like also. also there's a part of me that's like 'im gonna hyperfixate on this au sO HARD'#thankfully tho i think those are all the longform wips#there's also that one time travel fix it longform fic i have in the back of my head....#but lol i still haven't outlined it yet
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THE ELEVATOR
Maul x Ahsoka
Please bear with me as this is quite literally my first ever fanfiction and on top of that it’s a rare pair! TCW season 7 has ignited a flame under my ass to be more active in this little niche corner of the internet. Let me know if you want more! I’m open to suggestions (for general audience or nsfw). Enjoy!
Please be gentle with me, I tried my best :(
Sorry if anything seems OOC or if I made mistakes.
SUMMARY
Rated G - 865 words
They watch in silence as Ezra and Kanan ascend along the side of the pyramid. It’s a long way to the top. Thankfully, Maul and Ahsoka have some catching up to do.
Part of a ‘series’ : The Elevator 01 - Embers 02 - Only When He’s Alone 03
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“You okay riding with grandpa?”
Kanan said, looking over to Maul before his eyes returned to Ahsoka. There was history between them, everyone who had survived the clone wars knew that. Still, he didn’t feel like leaving her alone with him. Especially not after his little display back there. Kanan couldn’t trust the former Sith as far as he could throw him.
“I’ll be fine.”
Ahsoka reassured him, giving him a pointed look. She could handle herself, handle him. She always had. She had never depended on anyone to protect her from Maul or anyone. Besides, he knew exactly what she had been capable of years ago. And she was stronger now.
Maul pressed his palm to the surface of the structure and they watched the other pair ascend in silence. It was going to take a while for them to get to the top and for Maul and Ahsoka to follow.
She could feel his glowing eyes on her like a lothcat ready to pounce. It wasn’t unsettling by any means but it took her focus away from other things. Ahsoka continued to watch the column of stone rise, refusing to make eye contact with Maul.
“Lady Tano--”, Maul began but she interjected.
“Don’t.”
There was a long pause and she closed her eyes. It had been so long since anyone had used her name like that. The last time she recalled hearing it... it was the same voice.
“Don’t call me that.”
Ahsoka continued, finally turning her head to look at him. Maul stared back, bowing his head lightly as his mouth curved into the shadow of a smirk. What she wouldn’t have given to wipe that smug expression of his face. Trust him, Ezra had said.
“Ahsoka then.”, Maul said, his voice close to a whisper. As the elevator began to descend to their level he stepped closer, his eyes still burning holes into the side of her head. How long it had been, how much she had grown. And so had he. He admired her poise but the fiery temper that she had inherited from her former master hadn’t changed. He could sense it lurking, simmering just at the surface, ready to burst.
“It’s been a while, has it not? We have much to discuss.”
This time, she turned her whole body towards him taking a step closer and almost entering his personal space. He was slightly taller than her, but she stared him down regardless.
“If you’re going to say ‘I told you so’, you’d best keep that to yourself.”
Maul seemed amused. Ah. It hadn’t been that difficult to get a rise out of her. Her emotional wounds weren’t fully healed yet and he was picking at the scabs.
“I’m sure you feel guilty enough as it is. Nevertheless, had you simply listened...”
“It would have been too late.”, she whispered.
Ahsoka said, taking the opportunity to step on the platform to get away from him as quickly as possible. Seeing Maul brought back memories. Unpleasant ones. The overwhelming sense of dread she had felt during the Siege of Mandalore, the desperation in his eyes when they had captured him, his plea to die rather than face what was to come... She hugged her arms to her chest, her eyes unfocused. He had been right, of course. She almost wondered if she should have spared him and let him plummet to the surface that night. Save one of them from the years of hiding and suffering.
Maul joined her on the elevator but she barely noticed him. She jumped when she felt his hand on her forearm.
“What is done it done, we must look to the future now.”, he said.
To his surprise, she didn’t recoil from his touch. In fact, she barely moved. Her eyes searched his for something. A semblance of answer to what he meant. What future? What kind of grand plan did he have this time? But he gave nothing away.
“I have to admit, you put on quite the show back there.”
Ahsoka said, hoping to lighten the mood and shake off the ghosts of the past clinging to the both of them as the platform continued to rise. Maul retrieved his hand from her arm, circling her to stand by the edge.
“And you are not the padawan you used to be.”
Maul commented, his head turned over his shoulder. Was that a smirk she had seen on his face, or was her mind playing tricks on her? Was she really hoping to see emotions other than rage and desperation on his face? It would certainly make him more... human. Then, she could maybe think of trusting him. She almost had before. Almost took his hand. Almost joined him. If she had, perhaps things would have been different.
“All I’m saying is... thank you.”
Ahsoka smiled, faintly but genuinely. Maul nodded in agreement. He hadn’t helped them out of the goodness of his heart. Still, there seemed to be more to gain from the temple than he had previously thought... A true ally.
Perhaps this time his offer would seem more tempting. Perhaps this time she would join him.
“You’re most welcome, lady Tano.”
#maulsoka#maul x ahsoka#ahsoka tano#maul#darth maul#sw: rebels#star wars#rare pair#fanfic#rebels#star wars rebels#ANTIS DONT INTERACT#fics
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Watching the Clone Wars, part 2
Another week, another batch of episodes watched. Some of these were (dare I say it) actually good, and some of these are rather bad. Read on for the details of my opinion on “Clone Cadets”, “Supply Lines”, “Ambush”, the three-episode “Malevolence” arc, and “Rookies”.
“Clone Cadets” (3x01)
This was very clearly a way to capitalize on the success of episode 1x06 “Rookies”, one of the top five episodes in the first season of TCW, providing background on the mostly-doomed Domino Squad. Unfortunately, I couldn’t really warm up to it, even though I liked all the characters, and was excited to see 99 and Shaak Ti. I think the core issue is that it was framed as a coming-of-age story, but coming-of-age stories imply agency. No clone has agency in this war - or if they do, it’s something they have to carve out themselves. Their entire existence is dependent on their martial performance, damn all their other qualities. Success throws them into the meatgrinder of the war; failure dooms them to an ignomious existence as janitorial staff. There is a lot a viewer can pick out regarding how physical disabilities are seen by the Kaminoans and the trainers, as well as how those values are transmitted to the clones, in 99′s story, as well as further hints of some kind of inter-clone caste system, but none of this is ever elaborated upon, at least in the episodes I recall.
Either way, Domino’s “success” left a sour taste in my mouth. TCW insists on portraying war as worthy and necessary, and in certain situations, that can be true. But the Clone Wars is not one of those situations.
“Supply Lines” (3x03)
Another day, another episode where we see some cool characters die! RIP Captain Keeli, you deserved better. TCW did not have a military advisor, as the tactics used as abominable. Like, I’m not asking for much, but hey, a little bit of mass fire wouldn’t go amiss, or even the use of an infantry square...
There is sort of an interesting theme in this episode about the duty of the government to it’s people. Cham Syndulla is right to be upset that his people are being hung out to dry, but on the other hand...it happened to Naboo ten years previously. It’s honestly surprising the Republic hasn’t fallen apart faster. I’m rather neutral on the mission to Toydaria. On one hand, it’s nice that Star Wars is trying their best to redeem Lucas’ very obvious and horrible stereotypes. On the other hand...idk, Bail Organa vs Viceroy Gunray wasn’t really a great showing for what either side believes in? I’ve already forgotten most of it
However, I feel like this is the first time I’ve ever seen Jar Jar Binks subvert his own reputation for good. If he was always like this, he would be much better as a character.
“Ambush” (1x01)
This episode is mostly a showcase for Yoda, an 874-year-old murder machine. This guy is basically a one-man army. I like all the clone companions, and it was nice of him to give them a pep talk, but they were sort of superfluous to his reign of destruction, you know? It would have been nice if we had seen the obvious end result of this natural-born killer fighting and beating Asajj Ventress. Not really sure he actually has any mercy in him in the heat of the moment.
Boy, the writers are trying so hard to make these battle droids personable! It’s should be funny, and it occasionally is, but it mostly leads to many questions about computer programming in the GFFA. I like to think that Dooku has pulled a Krennic (or did Krennic pull a Dooku?) and he has a whole team of unwilling computer programmers writing the code for the droids, which is why they are so badly programmed.
Of course, the real answer is that Star Wars is space fantasy, and the real answer to the droids is magic! Bad magic. One might even say...incompetent magic.
“Rising Malevolence” (1x02)
I really intensely enjoyed this episode. Finally, a superweapon that makes sense! A giant ion cannon to be used against capital ships! That’s actually brilliant. Now, I have my quibbles with the design: since the CIS is mostly staffed by droids and drones, it doesn’t really makes sense for there to be a missive ship superstructure around the cannon. It would make more sense for it to basically be like the old Legends Darksaber, which was basically the Death Star laser sans the battle station. The ion cannon, repulsors and a hyperdrive, turbolaser emplacements and attached hangar bays for starfighter drones, as well as a screen of protective cruisers to defend the cannon against more maneuverable ships - that would make more sense. But of course, it would have a much different silhouette in that case.
More truly graphic clone death. Seeing several men get spaced is not PG, idek how this managed to get past the censors. That is actually a real war crime, and I have no how parents explained this to Little Johnny and Sally (age six) when it aired on Cartoon Network. And although I do love the relationship between Ahsoka and Plo, the central emotional question of the episode was left unresolved. Who would come for a clone? As it happens, a Jedi, but only if they’re looking for another Jedi :(
“Shadow of Malevolence” (1x03)
This was an OK-but-not-great episode? Unfortunately, I read the X-wing novels multiple times as a pre-teen and teenager, so I have pretty high standards for starfighter combat and this didn’t really measure up to it. I did love the space manta ray scene, though, it was very pretty. Also a nice shout-out to the Y-wings, the perpetual butt of all the jokes in the X-wing series.
Again, I have no idea why “it’s a kid’s show!” was ever even tried as an excuse for the shoddy writing. This is the third episode ever released, and the CIS is deliberately targeting a hospital. Again, this is not appropriate for small children to watch!
On the bright side, a fun AU would be to play with the fact that this ion cannon apparently shorts out anything. It would be pretty funny to see a story where the 30,000 walking wounded (I think) who were being medically evacuated, as well as Wolffe, Boost, and Sinker (plus Shadow 7, 8 and 10) are spread throughout the GAR when Order 66 comes through - and it doesn’t work for them, because the cannon shorted out their chips and no one realized.
Just a thought, that’s all.
“Destroy Malevolence” (1x04)
This episode mostly exists to show that Anakin will definitely put the greater good aside for the purpose of rescuing his main squeeze. I think it could have been cut for that reason alone. Also to have some standard R2 and C-3PO hijinks, as well as Obi-Wan just being insufferable in general.
Honestly, I would like this episode better if Padme was a Sith apprentice that Palpatine was trying to kill, that would at least make it more interesting. Aside from that, it could have easily been cut.
“Rookies” (1x06)
This is definitely one of the better episodes of the first season. Finally, Filoni gives the people what they want: an episode mostly dedicated to clones! For a show about the clone wars, they’re in awfully short supply. This was a nice war story, artfully executed. I wouldn’t call it original, but honestly, originality is over-rated. Cody and Rex are delightful as always, and unlike “The Hidden Enemy” (or “Clone Cadets” for that matter) it portrays clone relationships in a more positive, wholesome light.
I also loved the droid commandos. Kudos to the animators, who gave them a unique, more menacing walk and style. However, I do dislike the continuing use of instantaneous communications through hyperspace even in star wars. It’s a shame that the writers are either unwilling or unable to use the tension of time in their stories so far.
Next Week: “Downfall of a Droid”, “Duel of the Droids”, “Bombad Jedi”, “Cloak of Darkness”, “Lair of Grievous”, “Dooku Captured”, and “The Gungan General”.
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