#Capture 2008 arc | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

wyvernsrus · 4 months

Text

Hey hey, I wanted to try writing a little something with Stec and Fordo to get a better feel for their characters and this is what came about!

If you prefer to read it on ao3 I have a link for that right here

And if you prefer to read it here on tumblr! I posted the entire thing under the cut!!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If he ever got his hands on the person who booked their room for this mission, 17 was going to make them suffer.

Alpha-17 had been sent on a recon mission deep into Seperatist-held space. He already was annoyed by the fact that he could not have his whole kit on this op, but the fact he was not alone on the mission either was also annoying. Well, 17 thought to himself, it wouldn’t be so bad if I wasn’t paired with-

A hand smacked into 17’s face and he immediately reached up to slap back at his assailant. Stec squawked and latched onto 17’s wrist as the older ARC held onto his face and shook his head back and forth, shoving him off the bed that 17 had claimed. Fordo had stolen the blankets from the bed, leaving 17 to freeze, the shebs, and was hidden under the blanket pile.

“This is the greatest betrayal!” Stec moaned from the floor of the room. 17 grunted when Stec kicked his feet up onto the bed and jabbed at his side. “You subject your poor kih’vod to sleeping on the cold, hard floor! How will we survive the night!” Muffled snickering coming from the blanket pile accompanied Stec’s groaning and 17 was quick to grab the ankle of the foot that kept pressing into his side and shove them off the bed.

Whoever thought it was a good idea to put these two di’kute on a mission with him is going to meet the business end of his deecee. A thought occurred to 17 as he thwarted another attempt from Stec to take the bed. He had talked to Maze while on Triple Zero and had told the other Alpha that most of their brothers were off Kamino and out in the war.

That little- Stec crowed as he finally managed to get on the bed, pinning 17’s arm down and capturing the other with his hands. It would not be difficult to roll and send Stec over the other side of the bed, his kih’vod practically did it himself having pinned his arm under the younger Alpha.

A weight settling itself over both of their legs, however, thwarted that plan. Stec and 17 both paused in their shoving to look down at the end of the bed and were greeted by the sight of the blanket mound.

Moving one of his legs resulted in a grumble, bending his knee garnered a huff, and when 17 tried to pull his legs free he was rewarded with a pinch and arms coiling around his knees.

Stec was cackling, quick to exploit the opportunity to slump over 17’s chest and arms while his tat kept the older Alpha’s legs pinned.

“See, this is sharing 17!” Stec finished shifting, mashing his face into his 17’s shoulder. “Isn’t it much more comfortable anyway? Now no one has to freeze or sleep on the floor.”

“The only reason I would have been cold is because Fordo stole the blankets” 17 jostled one leg and ignored the Kark you tapped against his knee.

“You know him, never like’s letting his face see the light of day” Stec yelped and jerked a leg up, glaring down at the blanket mound and kicking out when the wheezing laugh of their youngest came from the blankets.

17 bit back another groan as he felt both his brothers settle for the night, Stec draped over 17’s chest and Fordo curled over his legs.

It was…nice, he thought, feeling both of his brothers’ breathing even out as they dropped off to sleep. Knowing that his brothers were close, that he could do something if they needed him, it settled that little voice that was always nagging him, telling him that something could -and would- go wrong.

Feeling Stec curl closer, his younger brother’s unruly hair tickling his neck, settled half of that voice. The same happened with Fordo. Even though the youngest was curled under the blankets, knowing that he felt safe enough to sleep without his helmet and was holding onto his twin’s ankle- 17 could see his hand peeking out from under his hideaway- finished off any other doubts that hissed in the older Alpha’s head.

He curled an arm over Stec’s shoulder and moved a leg so it rested over Fordo’s knees, settling himself in for the night.

He would have to send Maze a message after the mission. Something to thank him for the comfort that the twins brought. And I know the perfect message 17 hummed as he settled in for the night.

Ni ganar ja'hailir, vod'ika 17 thought, content with having his vode close again.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mando'a translations

kih'vod: little brother di'kute: idiots tat: twin shebs: ass Ni ganar ja'hailir, vod'ika: I have watch, little brother vode: brothers

#crab writes #alpha 17 #captain fordo #alpha arc stec #i love them #theyre my boys #and menaces #Stec distracts and Fordo steals blankets #Maze 100% sent Stec and Fordo with 17 to both annoy him #but also to help him calm down #alpha-17 has like a little (read: a lot) of anxiety about his brothers #mans got stabbed by a lightsaber I'd worry about that happening to my siblings too #17 retaliates by unleashing the twins on Maze later

8 notes · View notes

dailycass-cain · 2 years

Text

The Lost Tales of Cassandra Cain

With every comic book character there are stories that aren’t approved or slipped thru the cracks of being published. Here are the ones that involve Cass.

The Lost Batgirl Vol. 1 Story

- We’ll start with the most “finished” lost tale involving Cassandra Cain is one that was meant to be in her ongoing (probably #38 given the context of the story). has several official pages finished and inked. Not only that but the script was published online (it was written by Paul Storrie).

Here’s what we know the plot involves Charaxes (the post-Crisis Killer Moth Drury Walker who went by this particular name after the “Underworld Unleashed” event when he sold his soul to become a moth creature), him targeting a child who’s deaf, and is Cass’s only confrontation with Killer Moth (until Batgirls #9-12. I mean we sort of got that in Tec Knights, but Basil crashed Killer Moth’s plan in that, not Cass. Plus she wasn’t Batgirl then).

Not only does the story delve into the history between Batgirl/Killer Moth it also tackles Cass learning ASL. An angle not touched upon until Young Justice Targets #3 recently.

Several pages of the script by Storrie were drawn by artist Javier Saltares (Ghost Rider, G.I. Joe) and inked by Rob Leigh. It’s unknown how much of trhe story Saitares/Leigh drew and inked. What is known, is that in the early 2010s Saitares put a bunch of these pages up on eBay for auction. I personally bought a page but here are the ones I could find as well:

You’ve probably seen this story elsewhere too, because in 2010 artist Lynne Yoshii used the script and redrew the whole story. Lynn did an amazing job basically filling the portions that were missing: Here are a few:

The Missing Filler Detective Comics Issue

- Our next “lost” tale takes place probably around early 2009 and was meant to be a filler issue in Paul Dini’s Detective Comics run. This one was written by Chuck Dixon and would’ve tied into his Batman & the Outsiders run at the time. Not much is fully known of the story save it was announced by Dixon on the Word Balloon podcast (from December 2008).

For Cassandra, it would bridge the gap to Batman & the Outsiders Vol. 2 #2 of that series and her last prior appearance, Robin #162. Explaining Bruce's renewed trust in Cassandra, after you know-- the heel turn, getting injected with Slade juice, and-- a rather bad time for Cassandra Cain. 🙃🙃 🙃🙃

Six months later though, Dixon would leave Robin and Batman & the Outsiders. Now, this is where it relates to Tim/Stephanie. Robin #177 of Robin would have originally dealt with Cluemaster finding out she was alive (a lost tale in itself). This however, got a cover (and there’s probably art of that floating too if this much got thru) by then series artist Freddie Williams II:

Of course, you know the rest of the story. We instead got Batgirl Vol. 2 aka Batgirl: Redemption Road and Cassandra was given a set-up arc in B&O to establish "the Network" which would later become Batman Inc. Then get utterly forgotten when the series relaunched to just "the Outsiders".

It’s possible Dixon does have an outline to this saved. But given how crazy he’s become. I’m not one to ask him, but if anyone is brave. Be my guest.

The meeting we wanted but never got. - Robin #-183

- However this leads us into our next “lost tale” that would’ve been in Robin ongoing series. The writer who replaced Dixon, Fabian Nicieza, confirmed that had Robin lasted beyond #175-183 (the series’ final issue), he would’ve had Cass guest star and find out Stephanie Brown was alive.

But.. the series ended at #183 and Tim would become Red Robin. Cass would meet Stephanie, but it was extremely MEH reunion in Batman & the Outsiders Vol. 2 #13.

Now, if you want to see a fan version of this. Well, I wrote a script that artist Eileen Widjaja captured to perfection just this year:

Failed Pitches

White Canary series by Billy Tucci.

- Yes, there was an ongoing series by Tucci that would’ve starred Cass. For those who are unware of the identity. The White Canary was introduced at the main antagonist of the first arc of “Brightest Day” Gail Simone’s relaunched Birds of Prey #1:

After the arc ended rumors began to swirl that Cassandra Cain would be getting the identity and enter Tucci writing a spinoff series as well (covered by Bleeding Cool).

Cue Heroes Con 2010 and at a DC panel the question was asked with Senior Story Editor Ian Sattler and Billy Tucci himself attending the panel (sadly the Newsarama link I originally found is down but if someone can find it I’d be grateful). Here’s a clip of the quote though:

"They are also holding off on using Cassandra right now. Misfit will be seen later down the line. An audience member wanted to see more Cassandra, but Sattler insisted that they didn't want to rush her into the story and just want to time it right.”

Cue C2E2 2011 a year later. The prelude to Black Bat as it were. Tucci was a guest and I had to ask the question myself. He did confirm there was a series pitched.

He'd keep Cass basic, using her skills as a fighter and no real tech at all save the standard grapple gun, which is standard in all vigilante equipment. Why would she need gadgets? When SHE IS THE WEAPON.

And if you don’t believe me, here’s the commission I got from him at said convention of Cass:

So, accidentally given how many have asked him to draw Barbara, Tucci had screwed up the pose (hence why Cass is on her tip-toes as he was drawing Babs in the high-heels). He did course-correct the art.

Not just a day later, it was then announced that Gates of Gotham #1 would feature the return of Cassandra Cain. Though as we now know how it all played what happened.

So what really happened? My theory? A mixture of The New 52 and her becoming Black Bat more than likely scuttled the idea. Or DC being DC when it comes to Cassandra. We will never know the answer. At the very least, I can fully confirm that Billy Tucci was pitching a Cass ongoing at the time. Oh what could’ve been (or maybe not given Tucci has gone equally crazy like Dixon):

Angel of the Bat

- You know this one by heart at this point.

This was Gail Simone’s 2006 pitch after Batgirl Vol. 1 was about to end. We didn’t get that, and instead we got well... this for “Robin OYL”:

🙃🙃🙃🙃🙃

There are a few more story pitches that I know but haven’t dug deep enough or asked about the stories at conventions. Nor do I want to reopen old wounds as most of these ideas were prior or during the “New 52″ era.

Gail Simone had a few (but they more or less materialized into Future’s End: Batgirl #1). Kyle Higgins wanted Cass to appear in Nightwing during his run (instead all he could do was be allowed to put in a deleted fight scene he wanted to put in Gates of Gotham but instead used in the “Court of Owls” x-over). We all know Scott Snyder wanted to use Cass and was spited numerous times over during his Batman run.

Fabian Nicieza had a few ideas involving Cass that would’ve focused against Cricket (the villain he introduced in Red Robin #25), Bryan Q. Miller wanted Cass to be featured in the second half to Batgirl Vol. 3 if it had continued Cass would’ve appeared as both Black Bat and a time displaced version of herself as Batgirl (along with Barbara) teaming up with the Blackhawks and Skeets in World War II. We saw this idea teased at the end of Batgirl Vol. 3 #24:

Finally, there is Grant Morrison, who wanted to use Cass when Batman Inc Vol. 2 launched. It’s unknown what they had in mind but they and artist Chris Burnham did poke fun at DC replacing Steph with Babs in their second run:

Not only that but Mad Dog (Cass’s evil brother) did appear in this run as well. But that’s a story for another time...

Black Bat Ongoing (late-2012 or 2013)

- So we have an entry to this list that has recently come to light. Artist Dean Zachary has revealed that there was a Black Bat ongoing pitched during the “dark era” of when Cass was listed as “toxic” between 2011-2013.

Zachary has several concept sketches of this ongoing pitch posted of Cass, Shivasaurus, Batman, and Bronze Tiger.

So the first arc of this ongoing was going to be this, per Zachary himself:

“The drawing was meant to suggest that Cass defeated Shiva so badly that she took the villain's Mask as a trophy. The League of Assassins were taking the streets from law enforcement and only Cass and Ben could stand against them. Shiva sent her Prize Student, Richard Dragon, to either convert or remove Cass and Ben as defenders of Gotham. Mayhem ensued. Editors at DC had "other plans" for Cass and company at the time. ”

Course any Cass fan knows that “other plans” lingo of DC all too well. Now how was I able to pinpoint the exact time when this pitch was given? Well, with help from a good friend (and Lady Shiva expert). We can pin point this pitch was made in 2013 (or earlier).

The reason we can is because that’s when Ben Turner was walking around in his New 52 design in 2013:

The design would be used for an Red Hood & the Outlaws arc that would infamously tie with Shivasaurus getting K.O.ed by Jason Todd easily in it for that year.

So I find this story pitch fascinating for several reasons because there were some creative folk STILL actively trying to keep Cass canon at DC even with the New 52 going on (which said otherwise).

I find the whole concept of a Ben/Cass team truly some potential as the two were retconned to be master/student before Batgirl Vol. 1 ended. Which gave us this panel:

It’s also curious how this would’ve led into a villainous New 52 Richard Dragon which again did occur but in the Green Arrow comics under Jeff Lemire’s Green Arrow run:

Zachary still found a job elsewhere so there was no skin off his back for the pitch failing. But still expresses interest in a Cass solo.

- Another LOST Cass story slipped under my radar in July until today. Former series artist Rich Leonardi tweeted back in early July several unpublished drawings he did and two feature Cass in them.

Given the focus of the story is Nightwing it does feel like a continuation writer Devin Grayson at that time was using Cass to further her sibling bond with Dick (aka #81 of that series).

However, it could be a lost Batgirl story as Dylan Horrocks did leave much on the table (a lot of pent up tension between the two due to Babs/Dick breaking up around this run) when he exited the ongoing due to “War Games” event. Whatever the case, let’s just take in the glorious Leonardi Cass art:

#cassandra cain #dc comics

100 notes · View notes

thehylianbatman · 6 months

Text

The Missing Episodes of Star Wars: The Clone Wars

This post has nothing to do with Disney or their movies.

Hello. Star Wars is extremely close to my heart, and extremely important to me. As a narrative and a creative work, I believe Star Wars is unique and distinctive. I believe that Star Wars is now in an unfinished state, and will more than likely remain so forever, but my anti-Disney tirades can go in another post. For now, I simply want to inform you about Star Wars: The Clone Wars, and share my theory that there are episodes of Star Wars: The Clone Wars being hidden from us.

All information in this post is publicly and freely available from Wikipedia.

Here is a list of every episode of Star Wars: The Clone Wars released before production was cancelled by Disney in 2014, along with seasonal notes.

SEASON 1 (2008) - This season contains 6 standalone episodes, 5 arcs of 2 episodes, and 2 arcs of 3 episodes, covering episodes 1 through 22 of the series. The seasons opens and closes on standalone episodes. As the first season of the series, these formats are all appearing for the first time.

"Ambush" (1.08)

"Rising Malevolence" (1.07)

"Shadow of Malevolence" (1.09)

"Destroy Malevolence" (1.11)

"Rookies" (1.14)

"Downfall of a Droid" (1.02)

"Duel of the Droids" (1.06)

"Bombad Jedi" (1.05)

"Cloak of Darkness" (1.10)

"Lair of Grievous" (1.12)

"Dooku Captured" (1.16)

"The Gungan General" (1.20)

"Jedi Crash" (1.22)

"Defenders of Peace" (1.24)

"Trespass" (1.25)

"The Hidden Enemy" (2.01)

"Blue Shadow Virus" (1.26)

"Mystery of a Thousand Moons" (2.02)

"Storm Over Ryloth" (1.15)

"Innocents of Ryloth" (1.17)

"Liberty on Ryloth" (1.19)

"Hostage Crisis" (2.04)

SEASON 2: Rise of the Bounty Hunters (2009) - This season contains 4 standalone episodes, 2 arcs of 2 episodes, 3 arcs of 3 episodes, and 1 arc of 5 episodes, "Senate Spy" to "Brain Invaders"; this covers episodes 23 through 44 of the series. The seasons opens and closes on 3-episode arcs. The 5-episode arc is appearing for the first and only time.

"Holocron Heist" (1.23)

"Cargo of Doom" (1.13)

"Children of the Force" (2.03)

"Senate Spy" (2.05)

"Landing at Point Rain" (2.07)

"Weapons Factory" (2.08)

"Legacy of Terror" (2.09)

"Brain Invaders" (2.12)

"Grievous Intrigue" (2.14)

"The Deserter" (2.06)

"Lightsaber Lost" (2.11)

"The Mandalore Plot" (2.13)

"Voyage of Temptation" (1.21)

"Duchess of Mandalore" (2.16)

"Senate Murders" (2.10)

"Cat and Mouse" (2.17)

"Bounty Hunters" (2.19)

"The Zillo Beast" (2.22)

"The Zillo Beast Strikes Back" (2.23)

"Death Trap" (2.15)

"R2 Come Home" (2.18)

"Lethal Trackdown" (2.20)

SEASON 3: Secrets Revealed (2010) - This season contains 3 standalone episodes, 5 arcs of 2 episodes, and 3 arcs of 3 episodes, covering episodes 45 through 66 of the series. The season opens and closes on 2-episode arcs.

"Clone Cadets" (3.01)

"ARC Troopers" (3.02)

"Supply Lines" (2.24)

"Sphere of Influence" (2.25)

"Corruption" (3.04)

"The Academy" (2.26)

"Assassin" (2.21)

"Evil Plans" (3.03)

"Hunt for Ziro" (3.05)

"Heroes on Both Sides" (3.06)

"Pursuit of Peace" (3.07)

"Nightsisters" (3.08)

"Monster" (3.10)

"Witches of the Mist" (3.12)

"Overlords" (3.09)

"Altar of Mortis" (3.11)

"Ghosts of Mortis" (3.13)

"The Citadel" (3.14)

"Counter Attack" (3.15)

"Citadel Rescue" (3.17)

"Padawan Lost" (3.16)

"Wookie Hunt" (3.18)

SEASON 4: Battle Lines (2011) - This season contains 1 standalone episode, "A Friend in Need", 1 arc of 2 episodes, "Mercy Mission" and "Nomad Droids", 1 arc of 3 episodes, "Kidnapped" through "Escape from Kadavo", and 4 arcs of 4 episodes, covering episodes 67 through 88 of the series. The season opens and closes on 4-episode arcs. The 4-episode arc is appearing for the first time.

"Water War" (3.22)

"Gungan Attack" (3.23)

"Prisoners" (3.24)

"Shadow Warrior" (3.19)

"Mercy Mission" (3.20)

"Nomad Droids" (3.21)

"Darkness on Umbara" (3.25)

"The General" (3.26)

"Plan of Dissent" (4.01)

"Carnage of Krell" (4.02)

"Kidnapped" (4.03)

"Slaves of the Republic" (4.04)

"Escape from Kadavo" (4.05)

"A Friend in Need" (4.06)

"Deception" (4.07)

"Friends and Enemies" (4.08)

"The Box" (4.09)

"Crisis on Naboo" (4.10)

"Massacre" (4.11)

"Bounty" (4.12)

"Brothers" (4.13)

"Revenge" (4.14)

SEASON 5 (2012) - This season contains 1 standalone episode, "Revival", 1 arc of 3 episodes, "Eminence" through "The Lawless", and 4 arcs of 4 episodes, covering episodes 89 through 108 of the series. The season opens on a standalone episode and closes on a 4-episode arc. This is the first season since Season 1 to open on a standalone episode, and the first season to open and close with episodes/arcs of different lengths, as well as the first season to have fewer than 22 episodes; it contains only 20 episodes.

"Revival" (4.26)

"A War on Two Fronts" (4.15)

"Front Runners" (4.16)

"The Soft War" (4.17)

"Tipping Points" (4.18)

"The Gathering" (4.22)

"A Test of Strength" (4.23)

"Bound for Rescue" (4.24)

"A Necessary Bond" (4.25)

"Secret Weapons" (5.04)

"A Summer Day in the Void" (5.05)

"Missing in Action" (5.06)

"Point of No Return" (5.07)

"Eminence" (5.01)

"Shades of Reason" (5.02)

"The Lawless" (5.03)

"Sabotage" (5.08)

"The Jedi Who Knew Too Much" (5.09)

"To Catch a Jedi" (5.10)

"The Wrong Jedi" (5.11)

SEASON 6: The Lost Missions (2014) - This season contains 1 arc of 2 episodes, "The Disappeared, Part I" and "The Disappeared, Part II", 1 arc of 3 episodes, "An Old Friend" through "Crisis at the Heart", and 2 arcs of 4 episodes, covering episodes 109 through 121 of the series. This is the first season to contain no standalone episodes.

"The Unknown" (5.12)

"Conspiracy" (5.13)

"Fugitive" (5.14)

"Orders" (5.15)

"An Old Friend" (4.19)

"The Rise of Clovis" (4.20)

"Crisis at the Heart" (4.21)

"The Disappeared, Part I" (5.16)

"The Disappeared, Part II" (5.17)

"The Lost One" (5.18)

"Voices" (5.19)

"Destiny" (5.20)

"Sacrifice" (5.21)

The series had 5 seasons conventionally constructed, intentionally sequenced and released weekly on television, and 1 season released in bulk on a streaming service, Netflix. Altogether, this covers 121 episodes of the series released before Disney's interference.

However, this is not all of the information we have. You'll notice that, next to every single episode title, there is a sequence of two numbers. This sequence is that episode's production code; the first digit is the production block, while the next two digits are the episode's particular order within the production block. This information is more pertinent for a look at the series from a production standpoint, so here is that information put together:

BLOCK 1 - This block contains episodes from Seasons 1 and 2.

1.02 - "Downfall of a Droid" (S1E6) 1.05 - "Bombad Jedi" (S1E8) 1.06 - "Duel of the Droids" (S1E7) 1.07 - "Rising Malevolence" (S1E2) 1.08 - "Ambush" (S1E1) 1.09 - "Shadow of Malevolence" (S1E3) 1.10 - "Cloak of Darkness" (S1E9) 1.11 - "Destroy Malevolence" (S1E4) 1.12 - "Lair of Grievous" (S1E10) 1.13 - "Cargo of Doom" (S2E2) 1.14 - "Rookies" (S1E5) 1.15 - "Storm Over Ryloth" (S1E19) 1.16 - "Dooku Captured" (S1E11) 1.17 - "Innocents of Ryloth" (S1E20) 1.19 - "Liberty on Ryloth" (S1E21) 1.20 - "The Gungan General" (S1E12) 1.21 - "Voyage of Temptation" (S2E13) 1.22 - "Jedi Crash" (S1E13) 1.23 - "Holocron Heist" (S2E1) 1.24 - "Defenders of Peace" (S1E14) 1.25 - "Trespass" (S1E15) 1.26 - "Blue Shadow Virus" (S1E17)

BLOCK 2 - This block contains episodes from Seasons 1, 2, and 3, tied with Block 4 for the most seasons within a single block.

2.01 - "The Hidden Enemy" (S1E16) 2.02 - "Mystery of a Thousand Moons" (S1E18) 2.03 - "Children of the Force" (S2E3) 2.04 - "Hostage Crisis" (S1E22) 2.05 - "Senate Spy" (S2E4) 2.06 - "The Deserter" (S2E10) 2.07 - "Landing at Point Rain" (S2E5) 2.08 - "Weapons Factory" (S2E6) 2.09 - "Legacy of Terror" (S2E7) 2.10 - "Senate Murders" (S2E15) 2.11 - "Lightsaber Lost" (S2E11) 2.12 - "Brain Invaders" (S2E8) 2.13 - "The Mandalore Plot" (S2E12) 2.14 - "Grievous Intrigue" (S2E9) 2.15 - "Death Trap" (S2E20) 2.16 - "Duchess of Mandalore" (S2E14) 2.17 - "Cat and Mouse" (S2E16) 2.18 - "R2 Come Home" (S2E21) 2.19 - "Bounty Hunters" (S2E17) 2.20 - "Lethal Trackdown" (S2E22) 2.21 - "Assassin" (S3E7) 2.22 - "The Zillo Beast" (S2E18) 2.23 - "The Zillo Beast Strikes Back" (S2E19) 2.24 - "Supply Lines" (S3E3) 2.25 - "Sphere of Influence" (S3E4) 2.26 - "The Academy" (S3E6)

BLOCK 3 - This block contains episodes from Seasons 3 and 4.

3.01 - "Clone Cadets" (S3E1) 3.02 - "ARC Troopers" (S3E2) 3.03 - "Evil Plans" (S3E8) 3.04 - "Corruption" (S3E5) 3.05 - "Hunt for Ziro" (S3E9) 3.06 - "Heroes on Both Sides" (S3E10) 3.07 - "Pursuit of Peace" (S3E11) 3.08 - "Nightsisters" (S3E12) 3.09 - "Overlords" (S3E15) 3.10 - "Monster" (S3E13) 3.11 - "Altar of Mortis" (S3E16) 3.12 - "Witches of the Mist" (S3E14) 3.13 - "Ghosts of Mortis" (S3E17) 3.14 - "The Citadel" (S3E18) 3.15 - "Counter Attack" (S3E19) 3.16 - "Padawan Lost" (S3E21) 3.17 - "Citadel Rescue" (S3E20) 3.18 - "Wookiee Hunt" (S3E22) 3.19 - "Shadow Warrior" (S4E4) 3.20 - "Mercy Mission" (S4E5) 3.21 - "Nomad Droids" (S4E6) 3.22 - "Water War" (S4E1) 3.23 - "Gungan Attack" (S4E2) 3.24 - "Prisoners" (S4E3) 3.25 - "Darkness on Umbara" (S4E7) 3.26 - "The General" (S4E8)

BLOCK 4 - This block contains episodes from Seasons 4, 5, and 6, tied with Block 2 for the most seasons within a single block.

4.01 - "Plan of Dissent" (S4E9) 4.02 - "Carnage of Krell" (S4E10) 4.03 - "Kidnapped" (S4E11) 4.04 - "Slaves of the Republic" (S4E12) 4.05 - "Escape from Kadavo" (S4E13) 4.06 - "A Friend in Need" (S4E14) 4.07 - "Deception" (S4E15) 4.08 - "Friends and Enemies" (S4E16) 4.09 - "The Box" (S4E17) 4.10 - "Crisis on Naboo" (S4E18) 4.11 - "Massacre" (S4E19) 4.12 - "Bounty" (S4E20) 4.13 - "Brothers" (S4E21) 4.14 - "Revenge" (S4E22) 4.15 - "A War on Two Fronts" (S5E2) 4.16 - "Front Runners" (S5E3) 4.17 - "The Soft War" (S5E4) 4.18 - "Tipping Points" (S5E5) 4.19 - "An Old Friend" (S6E5) 4.20 - "The Rise of Clovis" (S6E6) 4.21 - "Crisis at the Heart" (S6E7) 4.22 - "The Gathering" (S5E6) 4.23 - "A Test of Strength" (S5E7) 4.24 - "Bound for Rescue" (S5E8) 4.25 - "A Necessary Bond" (S5E9) 4.26 - "Revival" (S5E1)

BLOCK 5 - This block contains episodes from Seasons 5 and 6.

5.01 - "Eminence" (S5E14) 5.02 - "Shades of Reason" (S5E15) 5.03 - "The Lawless" (S5E16) 5.04 - "Secret Weapons" (S5E10) 5.05 - "A Sunny Day in the Void" (S5E11) 5.06 - "Missing in Action" (S5E12) 5.07 - "Point of No Return" (S5E13) 5.08 - "Sabotage" (S5E17) 5.09 - "The Jedi Who Knew Too Much" (S5E18) 5.10 - "To Catch a Jedi" (S5E19) 5.11 - "The Wrong Jedi" (S5E20) 5.12 - "The Unknown" (S6E1) 5.13 - "Conspiracy" (S6E2) 5.14 - "Fugitive" (S6E3) 5.15 - "Orders" (S6E4) 5.16 - "The Disappeared, Part I" (S6E8) 5.17 - "The Disappeared, Part II" (S6E9) 5.18 - "The Lost One" (S6E10) 5.19 - "Voices" (S6E11) 5.20 - "Destiny" (S6E12) 5.21 - "Sacrifice" (S6E13)

Looking at this list, gaps are plainly evident. 1.01, 1.03, 1.04, and 1.18 are all missing, and Block 5 is 5 episodes shorter than the previous 4 blocks. Where are these episodes?

The missing episodes from Block 1 are easy; they were cannibalized and stitched together to make the Star Wars: The Clone Wars film. The film is 98 minutes long, while episodes of the series are typically around 22 minutes long; 22 minutes per episode times 4 episodes is 88 minutes total runtime, 10 minutes short of the film's runtime. Those 10 minutes are likely the credits and polishing for the film's theatrical release, if not simply the episodes themselves being slightly longer.

Therefore, we can add these to the list:

1.01 - The Clone Wars Film (FILM) 1.03 - The Clone Wars Film (FILM) 1.04 - The Clone Wars Film (FILM) 1.18 - The Clone Wars Film (FILM)

This resolves the issue of the missing episodes from Block 1, meaning that all of the episodes produced before 5.22 were released. This gives us a total of 125 episodes. But what about Episode 5.22 and the rest of Block 5?

This is where the trail gets murky. Fans of the series who were around when it was cancelled may recall The Clone Wars Legacy, the plan to release content from the series in different means in order to not waste the work that went into it. Some may think that this simplifies things. In fact, it does the opposite.

Here is a list of all the content from The Clone Wars Legacy:

Darth Maul: Son of Dathomir, a comic adapting a 4-episode arc covering Darth Maul's story after getting captured by Darth Sidious at the end of "The Lawless", released by Dark Horse Comics.

Dark Disciple, a novel adapting either an 8-episode arc or two related 4-episode arcs covering Asajj Ventress' story after her last appearance in "The Wrong Jedi".

Crystal Crisis on Utapau, a rough story reel of incomplete episodes of a 4-episode arc, covering the emotional fallout of Ahsoka's departure from the Jedi Order after the events of "The Wrong Jedi".

The Bad Batch, a rough story reel of incomplete episodes of a 4-episode arc, intending to work as a backdoor pilot of sorts to a spin-off series focusing on the titular Bad Batch.

Those keeping track of the numbers will quickly spot that we have the content of 20 episodes released as The Clone Wars Legacy. This does not easily fill in the gaps we have, nor does it finish things off neatly.

The production codes of the original episodes adapted into the material for The Clone Wars Legacy are known. The production codes of the in-production 20 episodes are listed below:

BLOCK 6 - This block has 16 known episodes.

6.01 - "A Death on Utapau" (REEL) 6.02 - "In Search of the Crystal" (REEL) 6.03 - "Crystal Crisis" (REEL) 6.04 - "The Big Bang" (REEL) 6.09 - "The Bad Batch" (REEL) 6.10 - "A Distant Echo" (REEL) 6.11 - "On the Wings of Keeradaks" (REEL) 6.12 - "Unfinished Business" (REEL) 6.13 - "Lethal Alliance" (BOOK) 6.14 - "The Mission" (BOOK) 6.15 - "Conspirators" (BOOK) 6.16 - "Dark Disciple" (BOOK) 6.21 - "The Enemy of My Enemy" (BOOK) 6.22 - "A Tale of Two Apprentices" (BOOK) 6.23 - "Proxy War" (BOOK) 6.24 - "Showdown on Dathomir" (BOOK)

BLOCK 7 - This block has 4 known episodes.

7.05 - "Saving Vos, Part I" (BOOK) 7.06 - "Saving Vos, Part II" (BOOK) 7.07 - "Traitor" (BOOK) 7.08 - "The Path" (BOOK)

While we can add these to the list of produced episodes of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, this raises more questions than answers. Not only was there a Block 6, but there was also a Block 7 as well. Block 7 is nearly entirely unknown, while Block 6 also has gaps, and, to top it all off, none of the things we gain from this are in Block 5, meaning those episodes are still unknown as well.

However, we do gain one answer from this: the production blocks got shorter. The last episode of Block 6 is 6.24, not 6.26 as one might expect from Blocks past. This makes Block 5's gap a little more clear-cut; it means we're only missing 5.22 through 5.24. That's 3 episodes, a common arc length. If Block 5 was as long as the other blocks, that would be 5 episodes missing, which could be either a 4-episode arc and a standalone episode, or a 2-episode arc and a 3-episode arc. All still common arc lengths, but not as clear-cut.

Of course, there's no definitive proof that the blocks got shorter. It's possible there'a 5.25 and 5.26 and a 6.25 and a 6.26. That would be a 2-episode arc missing from Block 6, as well.

The only "proof" I have seen stating that the blocks got shorter, besides the lack of trails for a theoretical 6.25 and 6.26 confirming that Block 6 remained the same length, and therefore Block 5 must have, as well, is a statement by Pablo Hidalgo on Twitter, stating that there is no 5.25 or 5.26. I do not know where he gets his information from, and his relationship with Lucasfilm is murky to me, so I'm hesitant to just accept it as fact. There's also the fact that he could be lying to cover Lucasfilm and/or Disney for the sake of money and employment.

This is not an allegation or a statement of belief, merely an acknowledgement of possibility.

However, the production blocks do seem to be 26 episodes long specifically just to cover the film initially, which leaves 22 episodes for the regular season; since Season 5 definitively got reduced by 2 episodes, it's entirely possible that the production blocks did also get reduced by 2 episodes, and the new season length merely reflects this.

All this does is muddy the waters, however. Without solid answers, we've got next to nothing to go on.

Except Disney.

Of course, Disney resurrected the rotting corpse of Star Wars: The Clone Wars to be completely sure that the money well within was completely dry, before discarding it and moving on to whatever live action thing they're working on now. These episodes do, however, give us some information. Listed below are the episodes Disney released:

BLOCK 6

6.05 - "Gone with a Trace" (DISNEY) 6.06 - "Deal No Deal" (DISNEY) 6.07 - "Dangerous Debt" (DISNEY) 6.08 - "Together Again" (DISNEY)

BLOCK 7 7.21 - "Old Friends Not Forgotten" (DISNEY) 7.22 - "The Phantom Apprentice" (DISNEY) 7.23 - "Shattered" (DISNEY) 7.24 - "Victory and Death" (DISNEY)

While these episodes have been "adapted" (read: scrubbed and censored) by Disney, the fact that they continue to use the original production codes leads me to believe that these episodes originated as original episodes of Star Wars: The Clone Wars. However, they've been written or additionally written by Dave Filoni, who, aside from assisting with one episode ("Lethal Trackdown", S2E22, 2.20), was not a writer on the series until after Disney bought the property; he was a director. This tells me that the direction he took the episodes in was not their originally intended direction, but rather, the Disney-approved direction given to him. This says, to me, that we cannot pull any information from these episodes besides possibly basic premises, as these are not the original episodes with renewed production, but new "adaptations" of what was being produced when the series was cancelled.

However, this does give us new information, in telling us that the final episodes of Block 7 were the finale of the series. This feels too large of a fact to be new or changed; I feel that, while the content and direction of 7.21 through 7.24 may have changed, them being the series finale is just too big of a basic premise to ignore or change. If it isn't, then why make those episodes the finale of the revived series? Why not 7.01 through 7.04, or invent new numbers in 6.25 through 6.28?

Therefore, going off that conclusion, we have a solid ending point: 7.24, the end of the final production block, Block 7.

This also supports the idea that the production blocks get shorter with Block 5, as, while 5.24 is not known, both 6.24 and 7.24 seem to be the end of their blocks.

Therefore, with all this information, I feel we can see a basic roadmap of where Star Wars: The Clone Wars was going to go, and what Disney took from us. Looking at a list of the production blocks:

Block 1: 26 episodes Block 2: 26 episodes Block 3: 26 episodes Block 4: 26 episodes Block 5: 24 episodes Block 6: 24 episodes Block 7: 24 episodes

If all information is correct, this means LucasFilm were planning on producing 176 episodes of the series. Looking at a list of the released episodes before the buyout:

Season 1: 22 episodes Season 2: 22 episodes Season 3: 22 episodes Season 4: 22 episodes Season 5: 20 episodes Season 6: 13 episodes

This means that LucasFilm released 121 of their ostensibly planned 176 episodes. Adding the 4 episodes used for the film gives us 125.

Subtracting these two gives us a figure of 51 episodes remaining. These 51 episodes were likely in various stages of completion when the buyout occurred.

Looking at the seasons, Season 6 is not constructed like the rest, but rather, a bulk release of product. Assuming that Season 5 was intended to be the new model going forward, we can subtract 7 of those 51 unreleased episodes to round out Season 6 to it's intended length of 20 episodes.

This leaves us with 44 episodes. Divide that by 2, and you get 22 episodes. 22 episodes for a theoretical Season 7 and a theoretical Season 8.

Out of the 51 episodes not completed and released by LucasFilm, 28 have been adapted and released via other means. This leaves at least 23 episodes of Star Wars: The Clone Wars about which we know absolutely nothing, listed below:

5.22 5.23 5.24 6.17 6.18 6.19 6.20 7.01 7.02 7.03 7.04 7.09 7.10 7.11 7.12 7.13 7.14 7.15 7.16 7.17 7.18 7.19 7.20

These include a 3-episode arc from Block 5, a 4-episode arc from Blocks 6 and 7, and almost the entirety of the middle of Block 7.

These numbers are not solid. It's possible that Blocks 5 through 7 were intended to be 26 episodes as all the others were. That would add 6 episodes, for 182 planned episodes, and 57 uncompleted, about which we know nothing about 29 of them.

It's possible that Seasons 5 and 6 were intended to be 22 episodes as all the other seasons were, and things simply didn't work out that way. This would mean 11 episodes would be needed to round out the seasons, rather than 0 for Season 5 and 7 for Season 6.

This could leave us with 40 or 42 episodes to divide between a theoretical Season 7 and 8. 2 seasons of 20 episodes, or a season of 20 and a season of 22.

There are many possibilities, wrapped in shadows and behind closed doors, regarding this series. We will likely never know the facts, simply because the facts are nebulous and were not, nor ever will be, solidified.

But we can know for sure is that the original intended versions of Blocks 6 and 7, plus the final 3 episodes of Block 5, will likely never be finished, and that we have lost George Lucas' original vision for this series. Those 51 episodes, while potentially getting adapted, will never be released or even completed the way they were originally intended.

(Although George Lucas has stated previously that Star Wars is "like poetry, it rhymes", this series does seem to be lacking in rhyming. Production blocks and season lengths both change midway through, and there seems to have been intended 8 seasons, which is annoyingly only 1 short from matching the intended number of Star Wars movies: 9.)

This is a tremendous shame, because Star Wars: The Clone Wars is a fantastic series which lovingly and accurately adapts a big-screen property for the small screen, tells a dense, varied, but cohesive story, and expands the universe that so many of us have loved since 1977.

We wanted to know about the Clone Wars since that time, and we finally got it. While we may never see the original, epic conclusion, we should still be grateful for 6 seasons of wonderful television.

This post was typed listening to the theme for Star Wars: The Clone Wars on repeat for about 3 hours. As stated at the top, all information is publicly and freely available on Wikipedia.

Thanks for reading.

#Star Wars #Star Wars: The Clone Wars #LucasFilm #George Lucas #Disney #Dave Filoni #Netflix #Darth Maul #Asajj Ventress #Ahsoka Tano #The Bad Batch #Star Wars: The Bad Batch #This post does not speak positively of Disney so if you're an ardent Disney defender I would skip this one

8 notes · View notes

mywifeleftme · 8 months

Text

196: Earth // The Bees Made Honey in the Lion's Skull

The Bees Made Honey in the Lion's Skull Earth 2008, Southern Lord (Bandcamp)

The most money I’ve ever spent on a vinyl record is on the stupid fucking quadruple LP Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness boxed set, but that was only because I allegedly scuffed the first track on the first side of LP1 of my friend’s copy while putting it away at a party, so I had to buy him a replacement and got his old dinged one—but I’ll write about that another time. The most money I’ve ever spent on a vinyl record I wanted was on Earth’s The Bees Made Honey in the Lion’s Skull, and specifically on one of the editions bound in faux Bible leather that Southern Lord reissues from time to time. From the first time I heard the record back in 2008, from the first time I read the title really, Bees has held a strange fascination for me. Despite being a broke college kid, I ordered a Bees Made Honey hoodie using my first credit card and hemmed and hawed over whether to snag the leather record, though I didn’t even know how to use a turntable. I didn’t end up actually scoring a copy till more than a decade later, by which time I’d already pretty well carved the thing’s grooves so deep in my brain I didn’t need to listen anymore to hear its contents.

The inner sleeve.

Still, there’s the pleasure of handling it, opening up the gatefold and reading the hoary language in elaborately-filigreed gold text:

“from strength sweetness from darkness light the bees made honey in the lion’s skull”

A1. Omens and Portents 1: The Driver A2: Rise to Glory B3: Miami Morning Coming Down II (Shine) B4. Engine of Ruin C5: Omens and Portents II: Carrion Crow C6: Hung from the Moon D7: The Bees Made Honey in the Lion’s Skull D8: Junkyard Priest

youtube

I grew up just religious enough to really fear God and love His language, especially as filtered through all the fantastical art that’s borrowed the diction of the King James Version to command a sense of gravitas. It’s a tone of voice that still compels me, and it’s the perfect dressing for this era of Earth’s looming, desertified music. Starting with 2005’s comeback Hex; or Printing in the Infernal Method, Earth has been working on a form of Western-inspired instrumental post-rock that looks to the Bible and fire-and-brimstone writers like Cormac McCarthy for words to match the weathered lurch of Dylan Carlson’s lithic guitar. Bees continues this direction, and it’s broadly considered the best of the band’s later efforts: something elemental captured in the songs; extra pristine production; sterling contributions from Steve Moore on a variety of pianos and organs, plus famed jazz guitarist Bill Frisell; and above all the languid pulse of drummer Adrienne Davies, the sheer weight of her pauses (best exemplified on the title track).

When Davies joined the band in 2002, she became the long-term musical partner Carlson had never really had, and her playing has become as distinctive a signature of Earth’s sound as his. In the exhaustive 2023 documentary Even Hell Has Its Heroes, her interview is the most enlightening from a musical perspective. An amateur when she began casually jamming with Carlson, she soon found that all of the drumming instructors and guides she consulted emphasized focusing on how to refine the angles of her playing, minimizing the time and effort required to play a beat. But for Davies, playing in a band whose rhythm swells and resides like the breathing of a massive steer, this advice ran counter: her arms wave in slow, swooping arcs, drawing out the tempo in the air before falling into the drums, letting gravity provide the consequential force.

Despite the band’s mugshot stares and stupendous volume, that signal phrase holds: “from strength sweetness / from darkness light.” There’s no violence in this songs, only some obdurate quality of endurance; no aggression, only flickers of the transcendent among the amps. That’s the notion embedded in its title, a nourishing work transpiring within sinister ruins.

youtube

196/365

#earth #halloweek #drone #drone metal #post-rock #ambient americana #dylan carlson #southern lord #'00s music #minimalism #music review #vinyl record #seattle music #adrienne davies

8 notes · View notes

rescue-ram · 1 year

Text

I did a double feature of MASH (1970) and The Hurt Locker (2008) last night and let me tell ya, that is an interesting back-to-back experience.

I mean fundamentally the genres completely change the way the movies scan, but there are some striking similarities.

Both are shot in this "realistic" way that is both very striking and technically impressive. The Hurt Locker uses slow-mo to capture real explosions in great detail, and roaming documentarian filmwork to capture action in a more naturalistic way, and Altman's use of overlapping soundtracks was both very naturalistic and revolutionary and influential. His frequent use of busy unfocused framing is very important to the visual language of the film.

Shallow comparison, but I was struck that both films open with "thesis statement" quotes, The Hurt Locker with "War is a Drug" and MASH with excerpts from MacArthur's "Old soldiers never die" and Eisenhower's "I shall go to Korea" speeches. Because THL is a straight up drama, it's quote is more of a tone setter, while MASH's quotes are more sarcastic contrasted with the satire that follows.

Both eschew a traditional narrative, and are more of a sequence of thematically linked vignettes. I don't want to belabor the comparison too much, because they're very different films, and the thematic links, rising tension, and character arcs are much more clearly drawn in THL. The descent into madness is terrifying, and then the contrast with the banality of the real world does paint why James has been seduced by war. But MASH makes a lot more sense if you watch the movie knowing each scene is an escalation in absurdity running from the genuinely beautiful, eerie, and realistic opening sequence of casualties being flown into the unit, through a relatively grounded first act, an increasingly outrageous second, culminating in the almost nonsensical football bit at the end. (Uncontroversial opinion, I don't fucking like the football bit, but I do get what they're going for here.)

Both render the "meat" of their characters' work in loving gory detail. The surgery scenes in MASH are very realistic compared to the broad comedy scenes, and were genuinely shocking at the time. They provide a good contrast to the silly scenes, and I think a lot of the bite of the anti-war message comes from the contrast between their bloodiness and the pointless absurdism of the military around them. The attention to detail in the defusing scenes, the realism of the detonations, and the bloody aftermath provides the tension and horror in THL. Also striking neither film is about infantry, and feature little to no direct combat sequences- the characters are mopping up the damages after battles, either in bodies (MASH) or in munitions (THL).

James and Hawkeye are similar in their devil-may-care attitudes and lack of respect for military protocol and hierarchy. Both are hyper competent "wildmen" who will do whatever the have to do to do what they do very well. But this leads into the biggest contrast between the two films- Hawkeye was drafted and James has volunteered, repeatedly, to be here.

One last similarity- the theme of suicide runs through both movies. I think it's most overt in THL- James repeatedly rolls the dice with his own life and is called out for it, implied to be passively suicidal, or at the very least to be incapable of enjoying life without a metaphorical gun to his head, and it's not coincidental that the last two bombs are suicide bombers, neither of which are defused. The theme is more subliminal in MASH because again, comedy, but the notion that war is suicidally stupid is not hard to read.

Okay, getting into the contrasts, of which I'm going to highlight just a few:

The biggest biggest difference is in the make up of the army. In MASH the conflict is between draftees and Regular Army, and the Regular Army is given zero (0) dignity or respect. "How did that man get an officer's commission?" Hot Lips asks indignantly, to which Mulcahy replies "He was drafted." Thesis statement of the film baby! In order to go to war, you either have to be crazy and stupid (Regular Army) or dragged there against your will and driven crazy by your desire to do literally anything except be there (the draftees). THL is an all volunteer army, and the three main characters give a nice little range of "why are they there." Eldridge is a kid implied to have been seduced by unrealistic patriotic propaganda, and is now having a bit of a breakdown realizing he's going to kill and die for nothing. Sanborn is a career soldier, "ten years military intelligence", who ends the film breaking down realizing he wants a real life away from war. James is already broken at the start of the film.

Maybe this should really go under similarities, but the way commanding officers are handled is interesting. In MASH, to reiterate, they appear and are depicted as universally incompetent, stupid, and/or delusional. They are absent in THL, the EOD team acting mostly independently, and I can only think of two who appear on screen- the guy who is impressed by James' cowboy bullshit at the embassy bombing, and the ineffectual psychologist Colonel Cambridge who gets killed because his attempts to be nice allow an insurgent to plant an IED within their perimeter. Not sure if the absence of superiors is a comment on the remove of the brass from on the ground action, the result of focused filmmaking, or something else.

I think the final and biggest difference is the role of fear in the movies. THL is both a tense movie to watch, and one in which characters feeling fear tells you important data about them. I was struck by how reactive most of the American soldiers are, repeatedly screaming orders, ducking for cover, and frequently freaking out. The biggest contrast between Sanborn and James are their reactions- Sanborn openly emoting and freaking out when things go wrong, contrasted with James excitement, focused competence, or quiet and internalized breakdowns. James honestly comes across as better than most of the other soldiers who are more reactive, but the film is explicit that that's a symptom of his pathology and addiction. I saw current day reviews of MASH that criticize it for being a movie about the horrors of war with very little horrors- to which I thought "Yeah babes, it's a comedy, and if there's one thing the horrors of war are not it's funny"- but I think what a lot of people are picking up on it that at no point do the characters seem afraid. While war is immediate and threatening in THL, in MASH, although the 4077th is just 3 miles from the front, no one is particularly concerned. The Regular Army are delusional and more concerned with spreading American values through fucking football and other bullshit, and the draftees are more focused on distracting themselves and making their own fun. I think this is commentary on how pointless the American interventions in Korea and Vietnam were- literally no one cares- but as the audience correctly points out it directly detracts from the horrors it opposes. The film originally had a subplot where Ho-Jon is drafted by the Korean army, injured on the front lines, and dies on the operating table on the 4077th that Altman cut for being too much of a downer, but I kind of wish had been retained. I think there's an alternate universe where a slightly less funny version of the film was made, and the last fifteen minutes replace the football bit with Hawkeye being sent to the front lines to provide medical assistance as he did on the show, and we get 15 minutes of absolutely brutal and horrifying combat, then he returns, gets his discharge papers, and steals a jeep and bugs out of there with Forrest. I do think a little fear would've heightened a lot of the themes in MASH, but it's also psychologically interesting to me that the anti-Vietnam movies appeals mostly to anger and outright nonconforming rebellion, while the anti-Iraq movie is both less anti-military in its messaging and it's characters are fearful or dissociative under stress rather than angry.

#mash #the hurt locker #long post

8 notes · View notes

nerdby · 1 year

Text

I was asked to elaborate on why I think TVA Loki is the most comic book accurate version of Loki in the MCU, so I wanted to throw my thoughts out here. For those of you who don't know this already, the first Thor movie was based off of Robert Rodi's Marvel graphic novel Loki: (Blood Brothers). This is a book set in a timeline where Loki, the God of evil -- AKA Classic Loki -- takes over Asgard and we see his abusive childhood at the hands of Odin and the Asgardians unfurl via a series of flashbacks throughout the book whilst Loki contemplates his next move. And, as we all know, that laid the framework for Loki's character as a sympathetic antihero in the MCU.

But, as far as I know, Loki was not a sympathetic villain in the comics prior to the release of Rodi's Blood Brothers graphic novel in 2005(?). Loki was simply evil just because mischief was his thing and because of misinterpretations of the Norse mythology. So Rodi's novel was written to answer the question, why was Loki evil?

That means that there has never really been an accurate on-screen portrayal of Classic Loki in the MCU. MCU Loki is based off of newer more fleshed out variants that were invented in the 2000s-2010s when someone at Marvel realized they had left the youngest prince of Asgard basically unfinished and Norse mythology is apparently not as black-and-white as the older Thor comics.

So after the 2012 variant of Loki was captured by the TVA fresh from a failed suicide attempt and being tortured and blackmailed by Thanos, essentially drugged by the Mind Stone, and failing to take over Earth the version we then see is Ikol from Loki: Agent Of Asgard.

This is a still of Ikol -- I-K-O-L -- and Amora, who served as partial inspiration for Sylvie by the way. Ikol was an antihero variant of Loki that was desperate to rewrite his fate and avoid becoming Loki, the God of the evil because Ikol was the aged up version of Kid Loki. Kid Loki, the AVENGER from Young Avengers in case you weren't connecting the dots. Ikol later goes on to become a new Loki variant called Loki, the God of stories who while also an antihero is more of a wild card than Ikol was. But he's still a hero because this is the character who would go on to play mom to America Chavez and to even leading the Avengers. He was also the Loki variant behind the Vote Loki scheme, heads up. So if you're looking for the God of stories in the MCU President Loki is your guy. Which brings me back to the point that TVA Loki is a portrayal of Ikol, which for me was cemented after I reread Agent Of Asgard and watched the first episode of the Loki series. Because Ikol is the most emotionally vulnerable variation of Loki and he's also the one that's most desperate for acceptance. Which is why he's so willing to do anything to rewrite his fate.

Ikol is a Loki that desperately wants to be good.

Ikol was also the first canonically queer and transgender Loki variant in the comics. Lady Loki was technically born in a 2008 Thor arc when Loki used his magic to possess the Goddess Sif. But Ikol was the first Loki to trans his gender and don the form of Lady Loki in the Agent of Asgard books while Loki's bisexuality was cemented in McKenzie Lee's print novel Loki: Where Mischief Lies when Loki had his first love affair with a young mortal man.

And that's why TVA Loki is the most comic accurate Loki✌️

13 notes · View notes

clonemedickix · 1 year

Text

OC General Lara Lin of the Dragon Company

Head shot, still working on her full body, Company artwork.

Rating: Explicit/ Adult Content/ 18+ ONLY!!

Archive Warning: Graphic Depictions Of Violence

Category: F/M

Fandoms: Star Wars: The Bad Batch (Cartoon)Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media TypesThe Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. TolkienGame of Thrones (TV)Star Wars - All Media Types

Relationship: CT-7567 | Rex/Original Female Character(s)

EXCERPT:

Telperion Laurelin was created at the dawn of time by The Great Father, Illúvatar. Her purpose was to be twofold: to help maintain the Balance between the Light and the Dark, and to guide the souls of the Honored Dead to the Undying Lands of Valinor. She was bred in answer to the threat imposed by the Great Deceiver, Morgoth, a child of Illúvatar that had destroyed the Two Trees of Valinor in jealousy over their beautiful light, and in greed - he wanted to rule over all the Children of Illúvatar, over all the worlds, no matter how many that might come to be. He had also stolen the Silmarils, stones that had been created to capture and imitate the light of the Two Trees - hallowed stones to the Elves that had made them. Lara had been born of one of the Ainur, the first creations of Illúvatar with godlike immortality, but not raised by them. At her birth, she’d been taken and placed in stasis, in a pool of crystal clear water, where her body and mind grew, all things were taught to her, and she waited for the day to come when she would be sent forth to complete the duties she was charged with. By the time she was actually called out of her sleep, Morgoth had been long imprisoned, the Silmarils recovered and set aside for her, and Morgoth’s Lieutenant, Sauron, had come to power. She had been awakened, presented with her two swords, her armor and sigils, and the Silmarils as her crown. She set out to help the people of ancient Earth, fighting alongside them to destroy Sauron and return peace to the world.

At the end of her first war, she was given in marriage to a king, as a peace cow, to solidify ties between the ancient world of Valinor and the new rising world. She gave the man children, one of which was a daughter of singular beauty, the image of her mother. But her relationship with the king was more of respect and friendship rather than love. Her king died after the years went by, her children were lost to her or grew old and died as well, and when the third generation had come to power, Lara decided it was time for her to leave. She had become more of a curiosity than a help, and her duties to the Balance had never changed. She would do more good, passing into the world anonymously, rather than trying to remain relevant with people who no longer knew her. Her descendants spread out though the world, and even into other galaxies over time, carrying her bloodline through time and space. There were times when she came into contact with a child of her blood; she knew them by the vibrations, almost a singing, in recognition of her own. Her life became one of solitude, a shadow that passed through the eons of time alone, appearing to help when needed, and disappearing again into the darkness of legend. In all of her years since her family had dissolved, she had never gotten close to anyone long enough to form a relationship. None outlived her - why would she want to love again, only to lose them in what was a relatively brief spark in her life? She was not opposed to love. She felt it was the most important driving force in nature, but she had yet to find the one whom Destiny had set aside for her. Lara answered calls from other worlds, other galaxies, working to fulfill her charge, passing as a lonely shadow through time.

She had ferried countless souls to the Undying Lands over time. The Vikings had been the most entertaining for her. The general impression of them was always one of big, hearty men that believed in honored death in battle, passing into their Halls of Valhalla where they feasted and fought and fucked their way through eternity. They were always a happy lot, even in death, many of them telling jokes as she led them to their final homes. Thankfully she’d had no personal connection to any of the souls she escorted, since the long past and the death of her children and grandchildren.

Lara had been in a nearby galaxy when she heard the calls for help in the Jedi’s own system. Thousands of voices crying out for relief from a war that was affecting system after system. Chiefest among them was a voice repeated over and over - to Lara it had sounded like the same voice. Since she’d arrived, she’d learned it was, and it wasn’t. It had been the voice of the clones, thousands of them dying daily in a war they were created to fight. She didn’t voice a judgment on that fact, but her story ended on that note. The Jedi all seemingly awoke from her story, as she drew back from their minds. There were now no further questions about her provenance. Master Yoda especially seemed satisfied by what he’d seen. The Chancellor and Senator Amidala seemed both impressed and saddened by her story. All those years, alone, a witness to the eternal ravages of time. Amidala had glanced over at General Skywalker, to see his reaction to the story. He looked awestruck.

Lara took a breath, and looking to Masters Yoda and Windu said “Well, then. That is the story. Do I pass your guidelines? Am I worthy to serve alongside the Jedi in this war?”

Master Yoda did not answer immediately, and he glanced over at the other Council members first. Then he spoke. “Answer our questions, this does. The Guardian of the Balance, as written in the ancient Jedi texts, you are. Believe you, I do. Though, General Lin, question your purpose here, I do. Come to save the clones, have you, or the people of the Republic?”

The other council members all looked up in surprise, and Anakin’s jaw dropped in shock. None of them had gotten that impression from her story, but it was a fair question. Anakin could see it took even Lara by surprise, and she paused to think before answering.

“My charge is to help all people. The clones are a part of those people are they not?” Lara looked at Yoda respectfully. “I cannot deny their voices were the loudest, the clearest of those I heard. If for no other reason, the clones are why I am here. But having come so far, I am also here to fight for the Balance. Not just one race of being.”

9 notes · View notes

oifaaa · 1 year

Note

Apollo survived the war world saga he was just captured and I believe mind controlled. (iirc only lightray and manchester black fully died in that arc but I might be forgetting people). Also I don’t think they’re in nightwing’s generation they’re still batman/superman ages of like anywhere from late 30s to 40s (I think they have a slow aging thing but that might have been taken out in the current iteration? I love them but boy does dc not)

I don’t think Jenny Quantum/Jenny Quarx’s has a confirmed current status. I know she sacrificed herself in the 2008 wildstorm and was in the 2011-2014 dc stormwatch but I don’t believe she’s really been referenced since. The 2017 The Wild Storm reboot had Jenny Sparks? JQ should be 23 now but I think dc just doesn’t know what to do with her and she’s got that thing where she’s too powerful and not popular enough for writers to want to use her

See I remember the mind control thing I just honestly don't remember him getting fixed from that tbf that arc went really weird at the end it felt like it went straight from they won to being back on earth but I might of just missed an issue or something

#ask #deadpoolsmom #the major thing i remember from that arc #is kals outfit #bc its the same outfit he wore in one of the future state comics #but im also pretty sure that story also took place on war world #so im gonna call it his war world outfit #also speaking of kal #his aging recently has been very weird #like does he still have the white in his hair #it feels like that just yoyos depending on the artist #clarks getting the jason treatment #sometimes he gets the white hair sometimes he doesnt

17 notes · View notes

jadescortaurius-alt · 6 months

Text

[chuckles] "Well Dotty, this is.. well this is me! But on the inside! It's like a combination of what makes me, me! It's called a soul!"

#Dotty #2008/jade #Capture 2008 arc

17 notes · View notes

prismatoxic · 9 months

Text

anyway, fun story:

so @captainfkingmagic got into mgs sometime in 2008. we've been together for like 8 or 9 years now and he's mentioned it a lot (and made me watch metal gear awesome a whole bunch) but you'd be surprised how much media you have to share with each other when you get into a committed relationship. there's still a decent handful of things we haven't gotten around to

so, anyway, this year (like 4 months ago?) he got a hankering to play mgs1 again. he has the ps3 collection, and that seemed the best way to play, and he got somewhere after the ocelot fight when our ps3 (which had been having issues previously but we had repaired) started overheating again. to the point of shutting off. now, this ps3 was my ps3, and his ps3 had already bitten the dust some years prior for similar reasons (exacerbated by it being a launch version with bad soldering). so you can imagine how frustrating this was.

well, we had enough money at the time for him to just go ahead and get us a slim ps3. which took like a week to arrive, and, you know, by then i think he could be forgiven for not having the energy to go through mgs1 again up to the ocelot fight. i don't remember when he decided to try anyway; if it wasn't the night the ps3 arrived then it wasn't too long after.

so he finally gets to show me mgs1. all of mgs1. sans the meryl ending, bc fuck that, he went otacon. i mean, i had to see it, right?

needless to say, i was pretty hooked. i liked it a lot but, admittedly, wasn't super jazzed about mgs2 conceptually bc i knew raiden took over. he said he'd wait a few days to start it, then started it like. 1 day later. gamers amirite

anyway, mgs2 was great. hooked me also. but then i wasn't super jazzed about mgs3, bc it wouldn't be about snake and otacon.

anyway, mgs3 was great. hooked me also. but then i wasn't super jazzed about mgs4, because otacon cheats on snake and also snake gets old and dies.

anyway, mgs4 was... fine. like, it wraps up the solid snake arc pretty well, but it's also fucking batshit and there were several plot points and characters who i just found grating. (naomi. i found naomi grating)

so we finish mgs4 and like, okay, that's the solid snake story. fuck rising, and mgs5 is its own whole beast. so i finally said: hey. you wanna rp otasune?

and of course he did, he's been into otasune for like 15 years but never really got into the fandom aspects of it back then. so here's where things get amusing...

see, i've had trouble getting him to agree to fandom rps in the past, or if he does, had trouble getting him to stick with them. he's too oc-brained. which is fine, but after 4 games i was obsessed and i really doubted i'd find anyone better, more interesting, or more willing to put up with my bullshit. so i was like, okay, let's ease into this. we can do a silly little high school au so the pressures of the canon setting aren't present. and, of course, i'd let him play otacon.

...now you may be looking at my icon. and all my otacon posts. and wondering what that was about. well, see, he likes snake and otacon both, and hadn't expressed to me at any point just how much snake was his favorite (or if he had i had glossed over it). so because otacon was my favorite, i think i just assumed otacon would be his favorite, and even though he knew that wasn't true, he agreed anyway. (maybe i sounded like i really wanted to play snake? in truth i was trying to excite myself about it; i wanted otacon, but if i couldn't have otacon, i wanted to want to play snake).

he did say maybe we could switch it up sometime. i thought maybe he just didn't know who he really liked best, but i was happy to agree.

the first rp was fine, but fizzled out fairly quickly, which made me anxious. despite all my careful approaching, it seemed like we wouldn't be able to stick with it. maybe it was for the best; i found snake hard to capture. i wrote a fic in the high school setting to try and satiate myself.

well, eventually he brought up that he'd like to do something in canon instead. he'd been concerned with living up to canon settings in the past, but mgs was so zany that he figured he could handle it. so we picked after the tanker to set a rp. he asked if maybe he could play snake this time.

i found otacon way easier to write, though i was still feeling out what i wanted to do with him. within days we had a new idea. and then another... and another...

and we're still doing otasune rps. the first one started july 12th. at some point he finally said, hey, i never wanted to play otacon, he's not my favorite. and i was like. oh. well i feel silly now. but i have embraced otacon as my little blorbo now that i know i don't have to compete for him, lmao... love is all about sacrifices! it's also about being a fucking idiot sometimes

#tox.txt

1 note · View note

precuredaily · 2 years

Text

Precure Day 229

Episode: Yes! Precure 5 Go Go! 31 - “Milky Rose’s New Power!” Date watched: 3 November 2022 Original air date: 14 September 2008 Screenshots Precure Metamorphose Gallery | Sky Rose Translate Gallery Project info and master list of posts

I am once again asking you to buy our toys

Nuts is down in the dumps, and that’s when Anacondy decides to make her move and attack directly. When push comes to shove, what kind of power will the quiet king bestow on the girls? Let’s dig in!

The Plot

Coco and Milk call the Palmier Kingdom on the Milky Note. Everyone is happy to see them, but Nuts tries to stay off camera.

After the intro, the girls remark on how Nuts is being sad and keeping the store closed. Kurumi calls Palmier again and tries to get Nuts to talk with everyone, really laying onto him, but he snaps at her and then leaves.

Anacondy remembers her last interactions with the Director and Shibiretta. After she’s unable to locate any of the generals, she storms out to steal the Rose Pact herself.

Coco talks to Nuts and recognizes he's upset that the Milky Note didn't work without help, and he feels unworthy of being a king. Coco tries to reassure him, but Nuts brushes him off. Anacondy secretly watches their conversation.

Everyone talks about how Nuts has aided them with their problems and helped with his insight. Nozomi uses the bad weather as an excuse to find Nuts. Anacondy finds them first, with a beat up Nuts in hand.

The girls transform and Anacondy uses lightning to make a dragon Hoshiina. It's impervious to their attacks. Meanwhile Anacondy goes after Milky Rose directly.

Rose stands fast, saying it's her duty to protect the kings. Anacondy deflects her Milky Rose Blizzard, and the Hoshiina keeps the Cures from interfering. Ultimately it captures them in lightning.

Coco, Nuts, and Syrup try to protect Rose but are overpowered and drop the Rose Pact. Rose tries to protect it with her everything. Nuts tries to talk the villain down. Meanwhile, Rose reminds Nuts how much he means to the peoople of Palmier, so she has to protect the both of them.

Nuts says he doesn't care about becoming king, he wants everyone to be smiling and protect that, and stand up to any threat to that happiness. The crown appears. Nuts uses the Milky Note to turn the Milky Pallet into the Milky Mirror and Milky Rose performs Milky Rose Metal Blizzard.

Anacondy dodges the attack, but the Hoshiina is defeated.

Nuts says his power is thanks to everyone.

Later, Kurumi has a mountain of letters for Syrup to send to Palmier. He objects, since she can use the Milky Note to contact everyone, but she retorts that sending letters is still an important symbol, and they also serve as reference material for future historians.

The other girls and Coco and Nuts say they'll write letters as well, and the episode ends.

The Analysis

What I Liked

This completes Nuts’s character arc that we’ve been exploring the last few episodes. He’s finally found his sense of worth as a leader: he is inspirational to people through his insight and willingness to help.

Following from Kurumi’s internal conflict last episode, Nuts finds his own resolve in this, and the two of them together accepting their roles is what allows the new power to blossom.

Nuts gets to use the Crown of Palmier just like Coco did makes me happy, because it means neither fairy gets preferential treatment. They are both worthy of the crown and both worthy of being kings for different reasons. This was mostly resolved last season, but the introduction of the crown did raise some questions.

Anaconda striking out on her own is a terrifying sight we don’t get enough of. It plays a little into her reveal from last episode, as she’s spurred on by Shibiretta’s taunting that her feelings will never be reciprocated.

Nuts feeling down on himself because of his personal failure, despite everyone around him telling him that they appreciate his contributions, is a good portrayal of depression.

Milk’s excuse at the end for still writing letters, which is that they’re important historical materials, is funny but it is honestly sound reasoning.

What I Didn’t Like

Milky Rose Metal Blizzard is visually pretty much the same as Milky Rose Blizzard. The rose petals are now shiny metal and so is the rose but otherwise, the Milky Mirror has simply replaced the Milky Palette in the animation. The individual attacks from last season with and without the Symphony Set provide an example of how you can upgrade an attack and make it similar but still visually different.

Metal Blizzard (above) and Blizzard (below)

The Milky Mirror accessory, which is summoned by the Milky Note, is not even a mirror. It’s another wand.

Some of the art is a bit questionable. Kawano Hiroyuki (Y5GG 7 and 15) is our Animation Director again, so you get a couple instances of vacant expressions and large, spaced apart eyes. He’s not terrible, but it merits mention.

As I said last time, I wish these two episodes were more closely connected to each other. It would have served Milk better to have an extra episode of development, and I think more clearly demonstrating Nuts’s conundrum across the episodes would have helped.

Miscellaneous

Syrup gets excited for unknown reasons when the Milky Note can connect directly to Palmier. It’s pretty clear that he thinks he’ll no longer have to be a courier but they don’t confirm this until the end.

Milk does not appear in her fairy form in this episode.

The Milky Mirror is, of course, a toy. Its summoning involves the Milky Note opening, the two central slides pushing together, and then a blue rose bursts out of the screen. The rose combines with the Milky Palette and transforms it into the Milky Mirror in highly detailed CGI. Visually it’s an elaborate wand, with an hourglass-shaped center support that has a window, and a blue rose on top. There is a large disc in the middle that acts as the face of the mirror with eight rose emblems in it: one for each of the Precure’s primary colors, one that is white, and two on opposite ends that are purple. The topmost emblem is visible through the window in the frame holding the disc. To use it, Rose spins the dial and then the blue rose presses down, locking one of the roses in the frame. From there, other than a minor change to the incantation, the sequence is the same as Milky Rose Blizzard, as mentioned above.

On the toy, the blue rose at the top of the Mirror is detachable and compatible with the Cure Fleurets, and likewise the individual rose plugs on those are compatible here. You can see a demonstration of the Milky Mirror toy here.

I’m obligated to point out that the Milky Mirror would be very impractical as an actual mirror. The surface may be reflective but it’s highly textured and the bar running down the center will get in the way of your view.

When Nuts is at the bookstore, the shelf is lined with books with books about monarchs and kingdoms. The titles of the books are in Japanese but romanized using the Kunrei-Shiki style rather than the more familiar to westerners Hepburn style. (more on that here) The titles are: The Free Land and the King (Jiyuu no Kuni to Ousama), Power and Symbol III (Kenryoku to Shouchou III. I might be wrong about this one), Modern Kingdom: 104 Cases (Gendai no Oukoku: ~104 no Jirei~), What is the Symbol of Power (Chikara no Shouchou to wa), The King’s Secret (Ousama no Himitsu), The Emperor is Great (Koutei wa Eraizo yo), and Is a King Necessary? (Kokuou wa Hitsuyouka). Please take these translations with a LOT of salt, there’s a lot of room for error in this process.

Conclusion

It’s an alright episode. Nuts’s arc throughout the last several episodes was well-portrayed and it’s good to pay that off. Similarly, Anaconda and her rage was building since the last episode as well, and I appreciated both these two story elements continuing and also playing against each other. It would have benefitted from being longer/tying into the last episode more, but it’s a decent New Toy episode for Milky Rose nonetheless.

Next time, on Precure Daily, the girls shrink! Look forward to it!

Pink Precure Catchphrase Count: 2 Kettei!

#Precure #Pretty Cure #Yes! Precure 5 Go Go!#YPC5GG31 #PCD229

13 notes · View notes