Shorthands For Dumbassery That I Have Grown To Love Deeply

Sorry for infodumping about my special interest out of nowhere, you said a keyword and it activated my unskippable dialogue

I just know little Padawan Anakin would subconsciously speak in Obi-Wan’s accent when around him and Obi-Wan doesn’t talk about it, in fact he finds it endearing

It wasn’t until Mace was talking to Anakin and hear little Ani with Obi-Wan’s vocal cadence and slight Coruscanti accent and he is just “???” because Anakin has only been at the temple for a month? Why does he sound like baby Obi-Wan?

Even when Anakin is a full grown knight, he would slip in this habit when giving report to the council and they are just “yep yep that’s still Obi-Wan’s baby”

"Jedi must ignore their feelings." "That's quite a statement. Is it your own?" "Yes." Then the boy considered. "Well... Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan said much the same." "I think you misunderstood," Mace said. "Jedi do not ignore their feelings. They integrate them. Own them. They fear, but they are not afraid of fear. They grow angry, but they allow their anger to motivate only honorable action. Do you understand?" The boy nodded, but Mace knew he did not --yet. There was time. -Mace Windu: The Glass Abyss by Steven Barnes, pg 24

When it comes to Jedi discourse I think a lot depends on the amount of sympathy behind a statement there is. For example, "The Jedi have been corrupted by this war." is something Lucas has said, but it's in the context of how they were drawn into a trap, they were forced into roles that they were never meant to be, there's sympathy there for how the only choices here are shitty ones. "Do they compromise their morals (to fight in this war) or does everyone die and it's pointless anyway?" is basically what he said. I agree with that! But I have seen many people say, "The Jedi became corrupted by the war." and they mean it as the Jedi no longer cared about people, only themselves, they were only looking out for themselves, they were making selfish choices. There's no sympathy for the rock-and-a-hard-place situation the Jedi were in, and I disagree with that and I think that's what a lot of people are arguing back against. "They allied themselves with a corrupt government!" is another one--like, yeah, the Republic government wasn't great! But, when I say that the Separatists were worse, it's not because I'm refusing to admit the Republic had any fault, I'm saying it because that's basically the choice laid out in front of them--either you help the Republic or you let the Separatists take over, who were committing war crimes on screen. I do think the Jedi were hamstrung by their connection to the Republic! I just also think the alternative was worse, that the whole structure of Star Wars as a story was designed to hem them into this impossible choice (in as much as Star Wars is about the Jedi, when they're very much not the core of the story), that they couldn't find better options because the story wasn't set up to allow that. Could the Jedi have handled Anakin better? Ehhh, I think that's hard to say because the story itself doesn't present that, so making hard proclamations about what they did/didn't do wrong is reading into something the story didn't address. The story is about Anakin refusing to emotionally accept Jedi teachings--can we read beyond that and say there were ways the Jedi failed him? I think you can and some of them are fair (and some of them aren't), that it's a fun conversation to have, but that it's not what the narrative intention is, if we're talking about actual narrative intention. The narrative intention is that Anakin, though very human in his failings and Lucas clearly has so much affection for his Blorbo, failed to learn what he needed to learn. But there, too, I think a lot depends so much on how much sympathy comes across for the choices being made. I don't think we're meant to see Anakin as someone we can't relate to, Lucas even says that Anakin is a victim in TPM (of the Hutts and Watto, to be clear), I don't think criticism of Anakin can come without that he was trying, that he did genuinely love people. The ending of ROTJ doesn't work without us wanting for Anakin to find the good in himself! That we knew had to be there all along. So much comes down to how much sympathy there is in the criticism, how much sympathy there is for the reasons why any given character chooses the paths they do, and that's where a lot of disconnect comes from. So much Jedi criticism is done in the vein of saying, "They failed." and meaning it as an accusation of how a better choice was super obvious. But if you say, "They failed." in the sense that there was no way out of the trap that they could have possibly forseen, given the circumstances, that they did their best and they shouldn't have to be perfect to be good, then I'm all the way onboard! It's about how much sympathy there is for the context around a given character's choices and what the story allowed for them. I have no issue with saying the Jedi failed in the war, that they became corrupted by it, that their connection to the Republic led to their genocide, because I don't think the Jedi were bad for it, I think they made the best choices they could in the worst situation.

post battle rest

I'm back on my Echo and Crosshair bullshit and none of you can stop me.

I think Crosshair has never felt such an urge to yap at someone before Echo showed up. He is so confused by it, just as much as Hunter, Wrecker, and Tech are, but the moment Echo joins them and spends daily life with them all he wants to do is talk. He follows Echo around at night after missions, chatting, without even realizing it. He tells stories, updates him on their first ever missions, actually shares random thoughts that pass through his mind. The moment they're back on the Marauder and done for the day he just can't stop himself. He tries, oh boy he tries. He has to straight up cover his mouth with his hand sometimes because whatever is happening to him is unbelievably embarrassing. And Echo has no idea this is out of the ordinary. He just assumes this is how Crosshair is. He is near silent around anyone outside of the squad, only opening his mouth to say something snarky, and when they're alone he lets all of those pent up words out. Echo just lets it happen. And he's happy to have someone to distract him.

Hunter, in particular, is perplexed. This simple, snarky, quiet man he's known forever is sitting on his bunk wide eyed telling Echo his like fifth fucking story and Echo is just nodding along, interjecting where it fits, and is none the wiser that this is not typical Crosshair behavior.

Hunter: what the fuck is happening? Tech: *looks where Hunter is staring* Ah, yes, I believe this is what they call 'making a new friend.' It makes sense that you'd have no idea what that's like since we do not have any other friends. *walks off* Hunter: >:(

The image of Crosshair being so pissed about wanting to yap is so funny to me. He has this battle inside himself like why do I want to talk to him so much this is so humiliating I can't believe this is happening to me what is going on and Echo is just like cool I am making new friends isn't this wonderful? All my new friends want to talk to me :)

Cross starts to mellow out after they get used to Echo being around all the time and soon they start switching off who is quietly sitting and listening while the other chats without pause or breaks.

soooo.... I was supposed to post more about my ocs. instead I went and got a wolverine obsession, but I've only watched the movies (so far!!). so here's a little something based on wolverine origins and that one star wars song.

i love sibling relationships especially when it's something like this. like, the way logan and victor had only each other for over a century (1845 to 1970s-ish) and logan seemed to be the rational one/moral compass for the most part (thinking about the scene in the plane with wade and how he left because he didn't wanna be involved in the killing of innocent people). and the pain that must've caused him to leave the only constant he's had since he was like, 13 years old or something.

and then the very Sibling way that victor joined that final battle against wade/project XI because "only I'm allowed to kill you."

Alpha-17 and Obi-Wan being friends (derogatory) on 17's part and friends (threatening) on Obi-Wan's part is such an underrated dynamic

They could be so funny and terrifying, like Obi-Wan went through a soul shredding experience with Alpha-17 as his only company. They're friends because what else are you gonna be after you witness each other at absolute rock bottom from torture.

It's like 'dog put in cage of cheetah who's threatening to go crazy', except the dog is a grizzly bear and also threatening to go crazy.

Emotional support trooper except the trooper in question has never done any sort of supporting in his life and is actively an emotional distress trooper to a great number of the CC batch.

I want them texting everyday, I want Obi-Wan mailing handmade BFF bracelets to Alpha and Alpha sending pics back of him flipping off the camera but still wearing them, I want Alpha using Obi-Wan to keep track of and occasionally terrorize his cadets, I want 17 ending problems in the GAR (like Krell) before they begin because Obi-Wan has him shipped out on a personal transport at the first opportunity, decked out with slug-throwers Obi-Wan got him for his decant-day.

Natborn officers think this is all just an odd indulgence of General Kenobi, the Vode, however, correctly identify it as a goddamn threat and their danger assessment of Obi-Wan ticks up significantly.

When Alpha arrives on Kamino, Shaak Ti presses a shiny new comm into his hand. It has the Jedi Order symbol painted onto it alongside a smiley face sticker, and it pings immediately with a new message: Hello! I hope you're settling in well!

Alpha stares at the message, stares at the singular contact named 'OWK' and then stares Shaak Ti in the eye as he pitches the comm straight into the ocean. Shaak Ti's serene smile only grows larger as she calmly reaches into her robes and pulls out an identical comm, only this one has a frowny face sticker, and presses it into his hand. It lights up: I'm afraid we've bonded, Alpha :). Alpha shuts it off and pockets it with resignation.

Cody arrives on Alpha-17's personal recommendation.

A-17: He's the most difficult little bastard I have. You're perfect for each other. OWK: Thank you, he's very handsome :3 A-17: No. Stop.

The first thing he asks once he gets comfortable is who his general is texting so much that has him swinging his legs and twirling his hair. Cody assumes it's Anakin, given they seem joint at the hip anyway, but little does he know Obi-Wan's ability to consistently have the Weirdest Relationships Ever.

"Oh, it's Alpha-17, I understand you're familiar with each other?" Hmm. OK. Cody.exe is experiencing a processing error, please hold. He exits the room instead of answering. The next day he peeks over the General's shoulder when he's texting and sees walls of rambling messages from Obi-Wan. Alpha-17 replies every hour with a single text: Lose this number. Obi-Wan giggles. "He's so funny." he says.

When Obi-Wan meets the rest of the CC batch, Cody makes sure to stand perfectly angled so that he can record the reactions when his general cuts off their introductions with "Oh, no need, Alpha-17's told me all about you." It's always immediate FEAR.JPG followed by a slow spiral of What The Fuck.

What do you mean by that General. What does that mean Cody. What do you mean they text. No. Cody. What the fuck is happening, Cody. Alpha-17 doesn't have friends he has enemies and enemies he tolerates enough not to shoot on sight.

OWK: Wolffe reached for his vambrace? when I mentioned you A-17: That's where he keeps his spare knife. OWK: Hm that does explain the way he eyed me up, ambitious. A-17: Clearly not enough, he should have followed through. I taught them better.

Having aesthetic attraction to a character without a trace of any romantic or sexual feelings attached is so strange

It's like there's a guy (gn) on my screen. I like how he looks and the way he moves. I don't want to have sex with him, I don't imagine myself dating him or something of that sort. There's no physical reaction at all.

But there's this ephemeral urge to, I don't know, simultaneously gnaw on him like a bone, study him under a microscope, encase him in chrome and put in my living room, and watch him do the same gesture that ticked me on a loop for approximately three million times?

Does that make sense??