#expatiation

[fruityculture]

Like you may be wondering why im always so pernickety about people's heights (and general physical characteristics) in fanworks but its just the amount of times i have seen works that project weird homophobic stereotypes on people, making one character shorter and the other one taller to represent some made-up dichotomy bc people think sex positions are character traits..... its insanely pervasive in practically all fandoms i have ever consumed fanworks in.

And whats worse is that its almost always combined with some sort of racist trope in the case of characters of colour.

You read stuff about Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes and people change their heights depending on who they perceive as a "top", creating a height gap, despite the actors being the same height.

You put Obi-Wan next to any of the characters played by Temuera Morrison and suddenly Ewan Mcgregor is a feeble twink and Temuera Morrison towers over him, despite him being considerably shorter than the other man in real life.

Even in the case of Yusuf and Nicolò from The Old Guard. Like yes, Marwan Kenzari is indeed taller than Luca Marinelli - by three entire centimetres!! (I know, the difference is astonishing /s). But the way Nicky is sometimes described next to Joe is as if people have never even looked at a picture of the two of them standing next to each other - the power of racism and homophobia combined is amazingly blinding!

Anyway, stop projecting your weird stereotypes on people and look at what they actually look like for a change - I guarantee a much more rewarding experience.

[fruityculture]

I dont really wish to examine the "clones are slaves" aspect of star wars too closely on certain levels bc if you look at the original text, it just doesn't address the fact at all to the point that it makes you wonder whether George Lucas realised the implications of what he wrote when he created the concept of a clone army. Neither does The Clone Wars series actually ever properly address it or examine the clones' situation - it sometimes brings in aspects of it as they become relevant but that just highlights how it never actually delves into the problem at heart properly.

The existence of the clone army is depicted as a nail in the coffin of both the jedi and the republic. This is clear from the fact that the central plot of AotC revolves around Padmé and Bail, two characters that we are supposed to see as moral exemplars, fighting against the creation of the army. The Jedi are put between a rock and a hard place bc the initial proposal to create a republic army is raised due to the fact that the number of conflicts needing to be resolved in the galaxy has grown and the number of jedi has diminished - they can no longer handle the peacekeeping. But we are also shown that the Jedi are clearly against the creation of the army.

The central conflict of AotC finds its climax when Jar Jar Binks, due to Palpatine's manipulations, officially makes the proposal for the creation of the army in the Senate in Padmé's absence. Then, the clone troopers are deployed by Yoda to rescue the Jedi (and Padmé) on Geonosis. We get the confusing contrast of the Jedi first being against the creation of the army but then being the first to jump at the opportunity of using said army. The arm of the Jedi has been forced into this conflict that becomes their downfall - them becoming soldiers is textually clearly one of the red flags that indicate the imminent fall of the Jedi Order - but, again, the story doesn't seem to be aware that the problem is not only that the Jedi have been put in charge of an army but that they have been put in charge of an army of slaves.

When Obi-Wan is on Kamino, he is shocked by the clone army - and this revelation is meant to be shocking to the audience as well. But it is never clearly indicated whether we should find the sight shocking bc it creates awe (bc wow clones! that's awesome! look how they resemble stormtroopers!) or bc it's horrifying to see (bc this is slavery). It hinges on whether or not George Lucas actually viewed the clones as fully-fledged human beings when he wrote story and not just plot devices there to make sense of a random off-hand remark in the original 1977 SW film concerning "the clone wars".

Even with The Clone Wars series, despite the clones being depicted as individual human beings, it is never clearly indicated that the very existence of the clone army is, in fact, slavery. The star wars franchise just does not seem to realise it (whether deliberately or not) and it's becoming quite ridiculous bc it is becoming more and more apparent how the narrative never actually cares about the clone troopers despite claiming to do that. The Bad Batch is a prime example.

I mean.... they still unironically use "loyal" and "a good soldier" as compliments...... The writers just seem to be so ignorant about their own story its jarring. You cant really properly examine the whole "clones are slaves" aspect of star wars on a intradiegetic level when on the extradiegetic level the writers dont even take it into consideration.

[fruityculture]

Nobody asked for it but I have a chronic "never shuts up" disease and you all chose follow me anyway so...

My Thoughts on SW: TLJ:

(I made a couple of long posts about it already when the film first came out but i guess there is a resurgence of sw fans due to the mandalorian so a lot of people are only watching the sequels now and dont really get why people hate tlj as much as they do.)

There are just so many reasons why people just dont like that movie.

Bad central installment in a trilogy

- If we imagine a trilogy as a bundle of threads that start at the beginning of the first movie and are tied together at the end of the third one, resolving the story in a neat arc, then tlj chose to snip all the threads: Luke fucking Skywalker died and did nothing, Snoke died and did nothing, Finn had an empty showdown with Phasma which lead to nothing (like a stormtrooper rebellion for example), etc. Even within the film itself there were so many things that lead to nothing, notably the entire Canto Bight sequence. There was no narrative continuity that carries the story forward.

Bad characterisation

- Poe Dameron, an experienced commander of both the New Republic and Resistance forces, acting in opposition to what has been established about him as a character forms the entire basis of the Resistance plotline; there is absolutely nothing to identify Luke Skywalker as himself other than the fact that he is played by Mark Hamill; Finn, a former child slave, is for some reason being lectured about slavery and the cruelty of war by Rose who doesnt serve any purpose in the movie other than bullying Finn and then kissing him in the end which...???; Rey, whose firm antagonism with Kylo Ren was established at the end of the last film when she saw him kill her only father figure, is suddenly Kylo Ren's #1 supporter, etc.

Unnatural conflict/ didn't actually make its point/ missed the point entirely

- The entire Resistance arc, in a addition to being centred on the bad characterisation of Poe, is reliant on the most ridiculous notion of a superior officer not telling her subordinates the plan of their rescue for literally no good reason. Rey's whole "poor Kyle" shtick is based on Luke's bad charcterisation and the whole "i know your parents" thing is based on misunderstanding Rey's driving force in the first movie, which wasnt "who are my parents?" - it was "where are my parents?". Luke's explanation of his "discoveries" about the nature of the Force are nothing new and they play no role in the narrative so its message remains completely useless. Rey's trip into the dark side force cave literally just says what we already have heard so many times: her parents left her - contrast that with Luke's force cave experience in ESB which is a pivotal moment in the film that defines the following conflict as well as Luke's character journey. Finn's "lesson" at the end where he learned that he needs to fight for what he loves is literally his character arc in the last movie - we've already been there, why are we doing this again? Etc.

Superficial progressiveness

- The movie was applauded for being so diverse and progressive, subverting traditional expectations, etc. When in reality it subverted stuff that was already subverted in the first film, turning everything back to square one, to racism and misogynism. So much has been said about the sidelining of Finn, who was the most original character of the trilogy, who literally started the events of the story - he is the one to awaken the force! His potential? Wasted. Rian Johnson even joked in an interview that he considered leaving Finn in a coma for the entire movie bc he didnt know what to do with him. Poe was regressed to the role of the passionate misogynistic Latino do further some fake, superficial feminist agenda about women leaders, completely ignoring any kind of intersectionality in its handling of it, producing even more harmful stereotypes. Rose's character was supposed to be a nice role-model for young girls but she spent her time patronizing Finn and then sacrificed herself for him for no good reason. Rey, who was again supposed to be a character for little girls to look up to, was forced into the position of furthering Kylo Ren's character with little to no development of her own. Etc.

Bonus: atrociously bad humour that borders on creepy (green milk trauma) and that shittily-choreographed lightsaber fight scene with cgi weapons that randomly disappear and everyone is just standing around

...Anyway, stop telling people that they're "overreacting about how bad this film is" when a lot of their problems with it rise from the racism and misogynism of the writing.

[fruityculture]

thoughts on commander cody?

Hah I have many thots on commander cody 😏😌🤭 (im sorry... this was supposed to be a joke but i dont think it even qualifies as a bad one)

He's... we'll he's a clean slate in a way. With a vague personality. Which means he is so open for projection that he's become one of my favourite characters bc im a hoe like that.

As a character what draws me to him is his dry wit, his companionship with Rex and his no-nonsense attitude. He is shown to be very smart, too. He could potentially be rude and obnoxious but he's not. He's nice, supportive and kind to those who deserve it. I've mentioned this multiple times but I consider one of the most important aspects about his character to be his dedication to his duty (this is what also unites him and Obi-Wan). He's a sort of Lawful Neutral character that I can identify with. Unfortunately, we're talking about a tragedy here -- following his duty (whether bc of the Kaminoan conditioning or the chips) literally means losing his freedom and sense of self.

Cody is the first victim of Order 66 we see on screen so he comes to personify the entire tragedy. He both kills his own friend because of the duty that drives him and he figuratively kills himself. In that moment, he represents all of Palpatine's evil machinations: the inhumane treatment of the clone army, their brainwashing and their slavery, the complete loss of their free will as well as the genocide of the Jedi and the general fall of the Republic. In a way, he is the first imperial stormtrooper to rise from the ashes of the Republic. We often talk about Obi-Wan "Infinite Sadness" Kenobi, but Cody is really the one to embody the Tragedy.

Favourite quote: "Sometimes in war it's hard to be the one that survives."

[fruityculture]

Thoughts on the “barriss was the terrorist” reveal and (because I’m just assuming you agree that that was bad) how you would’ve written that arc instead?

You know how i've talked about not liking The Clone Wars for various reasons, despite loving the concept and the characters.... Well... This arc is probably my nr 1 on the list of things I hate.

First of all, it just doesn't make any sense in-universe. Why would Barriss, disillusioned with the Jedi and the war, decide to kill random innocent people to make her point????? That's just an incredibly far-fetched argumentation for creating a plot point that would remove Ahsoka from the Order bc she wasnt there in RotS.

Secondly, wow who was the fucking genius who decided that yes, making the character who wears a headscarf a terrorist is a brilliant idea? I'd like to have a word. With my fucking fists!! (I will never get the amount of Dave Filoni adoration going around)

Since you asked, I would have probably made Ahsoka leave the Order due to her own revelations and disillusionment. Because of her close relationship with Rex, I would have tied her reason for leaving with the clones. Like, there is some obvious mistreatment going on, Ahsoka discovers "decommissioning", or something else bad happens and the Council cant or wont do anything about it so she realises that where her own priorities lie and what her moral code tells her no longer matches with what the Jedi are currently doing. She leaves because the Jedi are no longer who they are supposed to be - protectors and peacekeepers - and they have been forced to abandon their core beliefs to fight in this war. She leaves so that she can help the clones without being one of the people who enforces their enslavement.

[fruityculture]

I'm extremely cautious about the obi wan show bc d*sney really demonstrated with the last mando season how its incapable of creating self-sufficient stories without 101 different cameos and easter eggs to promote their upcoming shows.

Obi-wan is literally one of the most beloved characters in star wars. Any story about him needs to be self-sufficient and tied to his story as seen in the original trilogy and in the prequel trilogies. Period. You cannot expect the majority of the people who'll watch a show about a character that is so well-known that you dont even need to have seen a single sw movie to know him to be interested in any cameos from any other sw media, least of all the fucking cartoons.

I'm not just going to sit there and watch it all become a carnival of "how many unnecessary references can we make today that add nothing to the narrative and are only here bc we want people to watch these 500 other things to understand wtf is going on". Or even worse "we've formed the entire narrative of this series around these fucking cameos and references and we're making that an inherent part of the story even though you can visually see the seams as they are barely holding the thing together".

As I said, the series needs three things:

Luke, even if only at a distance (bc that's what ties together the pt and ot)

To address Obi-Wan's trauma concerning Anakin (bc that's the most glaring thing what we were left with in the pt)

To address the genocide of the jedi and the "betrayal" of the clone troopers from Obi-Wan's perspective (since his story in the pt was tied to existence of the clone troopers)

And im adding something that i didnt mention before but is also obvious

4. Obi-Wan communicating with force ghosts (bc thats the task yoda gives him at the end of the pt)

And as a bonus

5. To address the jedi's position in the galaxy before the empire and what is different now that the jedi are gone (since you're already making a show about a jedi survivor)

But, you know..... in the end i just want it to be a well written story and not driven by corporate greed, shock value, nostalgic recognition and unoriginality. But it seems that with every new d*sney product thats a more and more outrageous thing to ask for.

[fruityculture]

Oh my gods i'm so tired of seeing the fucking jedi order discourse thats like "the jedi forbade love and having emotions and that's why they were Bad" like sure... i understand that you want to have a more nuanced take on the order, which is great! I love that!

But like blatantly misinterpreting and/or ignoring what the core problem raised in the prequels and the original trilogy is not a "more nuanced take", its just misunderstanding the text and the actual issues that the jedi order had in said text.

It's not as if we had a long monologue of exposition by Anakin in AotC about how the jedi view love and compassion that you are just selectively choosing not to listen to.....

The problem was never "Anakin was sad bc his mum died". It was that "Anakin literally slaughtered an entire village as revenge". The problem was never "Anakin loved Padme". It was that "Anakin put his own feelings above Padme's (and the entire galaxy's) well-being".

The jedi were always saying "be mindful of your emotions so they dont lead you to do bad things", not "dont have emotions".

Idk about you but that's literally the basics of any kind of self-awareness and self-regulation. It's not something evil, it's just using your prefrontal cortex like an adult.

And its especially necessary for the jedi to be mindful of their thoughts because they cannot mix up the will of the Force with their own emotional responses, otherwise their judgement when following their way will be clouded. Being a jedi is not like having a day job. It's a way of life.

Its fucking impossible to have a good discussion about the actual problems that the jedi order had when so many people wilfully misunderstand the basic jedi philosophy of "Don't be selfish and don't kill people bc you're angry!"

[fruityculture]

The first two chapters of “when we were young” made me sob there’s nothing sadder to me than two people who clearly love each other so much falling apart.... 👁💧👄💧👁 anyway its rly good

@tired-tatum , ya hear that?????!

And yes, I absolutely adore the simmering burn of two people who love each other but never did anything about it and drifted apart but they still love each other so much and think about the other person all the time and wish they had just done something about their feelings but it hadnt been the right time or they just didnt have the courage back then and now absence makes the heart grow fonder and you now have that distance to reflect upon your relationship and your own feelings and clearly separate your feelings of infatuation (that fades) and love (that stays) and sometimes you see that people didnt really have anything to connect them in the first place when they are finally apart and they dont really care about each other that much anyway BUT THEN there are the people who understand that that was really it! That was my heart, my soul that echoed right back!

Cody and Obi-Wan are both such duty-focused individuals that this kind of scenario is so in-character in my opinion. That they would just be like "okay, im going to fulfil my duties to the jedi/ my brothers and i dont want to bother you with this, distract you and ask you to do something more or give something that you cant right now and make you sacrifice this important thing". And they just drift apart.

And I think the post-clone wars new republic AU setting really perfectly plays into this. Bc we're so used to this constant war and then the empire strikes and we have the rebellion and war again.... But this is the AU that really plays into this post-war lull. By which I mean that the soldiers that had been constantly fighting for the duration of the clone wars, for years, dont have that constant part in their lives anymore, the fighting, the adrenaline, being forced to desensitize yourself to cope with the casualties etc. And now you dont have that anymore and you're kinda adrift in the world, in a way forced to confront your fears you didnt have the time to do before. We see so much of this in post WW1/2 literature, The Lost Generation and all that jazz. Obi-Wan and Cody both had to find that grounding duty for themselves that is at the heart of their characters, that kept them going bc if they'd stopped, it would have been difficult for them to really go on with life.

And now they've had that distance, now they have that security back, and they both know that they still love each other after all this time.......... bro.............. that really is the tearjerking part...... The deep love they must have for one another if it lasts like that. The trust, the warmth they feel for each other..........

I raved...... Does this even make sense?? Idk!!

(I do have a complaint about the last chapter, though. When they kissed, Cody tilted Obi-Wan's head up -- but since we all know that the Short Clone Rights! Society Manifesto clearly states that the clone troopers, including Cody, are 171cm tall, like Temuera Morrison, then Cody is, in fact, shorter than Obi-Wan and tilting his head up would make Cody kiss Obi-Wan's chin. As the society's president I obviously cannot let this violation pass 🧐🧐🧐)

When We Were Young -- please read!!!!!!!!!!!!