#Dynamic TPMS

[johndow01]

Discover how JohnDow Industries Inc. introduces the innovative features and advantages of Dynamic TPMS in this essential video. Learn about this tire pressure monitoring system's technology, functionality, and practical applications, designed to enhance vehicle safety and performance. Gain a deeper understanding of how Dynamic TPMS can simplify maintenance and provide peace of mind for drivers and fleet operators alike.

[akulride]

TVS Motor Launches Flagship TVS Apache RR 310 with Enhanced Performance TVS Motor Company (TVSM), a leading global automaker in the two- and three-wheeler segment, has launched the all-new TVS Apache

[hanasnx]

LMFAOOOO i set up the joke for em and they walked right into it man. cant get any fckn easier.

some misconceptions that would’ve been wasted had i pointed them out to this person. i’ll talk about them here:

☥ ahsoka met anakin as a 14-year-old (sourced here), and anakin was around 19-20 years old (mixed reviews). that would give us roughly a six year age gap.

in the phantom menace, padme (14 years old) and anakin (9 years old) met. a five year age gap.

age gaps are a funny thing, because its not so much the size of the gap that matters, but when the attraction took place.

anakin (9) was completely justified to crush on an older role model in his life: padme (14). from what we saw evidenced in TPM, padme (14) did not know (concretely) of this attraction, nor did she reciprocate it. she reciprocated his friendship solely. their relationship did not align and take place until they were both adults ten years later. anakin at 19, and padme at 24.

ahsoka (14) would've been completely justified to have crushed on an older role model: anakin (19-20). though that attraction was not evidenced in any media i've watched, or came across. it would be problematic for anakin— an already established adult— to feel attraction and show interest in ahsoka (14). they have nothing in common brain development and life expereince wise. he knows her as a 14-18 year old throughout their relationship as master/padawan. ahsoka in season 7 of tcw is 17-18 (sourced here).

no matter how you paint it, ahsoka met anakin as a 14 year old meeting an adult. an adult who works closely with her and is charged with caring for her. someone with influence over her. someone with more power in the relationship. that's one of the more dangerous parts of an age gap that begins as a romantic/sexual relationship when you're an underdeveloped teenager. not to mention how the person with more power is likely to abuse it because of how easy it is to do so in that position.

comparing that dynamic to anidala, is simply not the same. regardless if anisoka has a 6-year-age-gap and anidala has a similar 5-year-age-gap.

☥ it's the same reason why i don't care to write for obikin when obi-wan as an adult 25-year-old in TPM (sourced here) met anakin as a 9-year-old, and essentially filled a parental role for anakin until their split approximately 13 years later.

because one party was an adult meeting a minor in both anisoka and obikin, creating a romantic narrative out of that is what makes it inherently predatory. you must proceed with extreme caution when writing for either ship because of that very factor.

☥ side note: age gaps matter more the larger they are as well as when the parties meet and begin their relationship (romantic/platonic). so me personally, i have no quarrel with anakin (22) meeting obi-wan (35) and beginning their sex-life/romance, referencing the age gap in the warnings is still a good/polite idea. if you played the route of anakin (18) meeting and getting with obi-wan (31) you'll still have to reference the age gap in the warnings bcos even though anakin is an adult, there is still a power dynamic where obi-wan has the advantage (13 years of life experience and brain development over anakin).

☥ anakin's a fucked up guy. he's murdered people for revenge. committed multiple crimes. it makes sense for people to write about him doing another fucked up thing because it's a fictional piece of writing. you wanna write anisoka? be my guest, but you have to be aware you're writing dark content. you're writing an underage minor x adult, which means you need to be responsible for knowing what you're writing. you must be aware of why it's classified as dark content, and tag accordingly. it's not something to be written or taken lightly. i'm not here to judge you for writing dark media, as long as you know you're writing dark media and treat it with the respect it deserves (as well as treating your audience with that same respect as well, especially when they address concerns to you about tagging content appropriately when its problematic and triggering)

if you're writing an au, where ahsoka does not meet anakin as an impressionable 14-year-old that is not trusted to him and not left in his care, that makes sense. now you're not writing underage-minor-padawan x holds-all-the-power-master. you've erased why it's dangerous, and why it requires care to tackle in a fictional writing piece.

☥ me personally, i don't feel like i "ship" anidala, i just enjoy exploring that side of anakin's character. writing for anidala is fun and entertaining because i get to utilize skills i don't normally get to (i.e. exploring anakin with padme, padme's character, their dynamic as a married couple, their sex life experience). it's set apart from x-readers because it holds truth to it since its a canon pairing.

it seems people take an extreme side of either. you either love the ship anidala (and you defend it to your last breath, and you won't hear criticism for it) or you hate it (you won't hear anything but criticism, and claim the story couldve been better served without padme or their relationship altogether). for me, anidala is not the ideal relationship. but i dont hate it. it serves its purpose in the movies, and i interpret its purpose to be a tragedy. i think anidala does a nice job of being a tragedy. i also think padme deserved better. i also think anakin did what anakin is capable of. i think anakin is bad person. i think they both idealized each other (which is not a good idea). i think padme ended up being right in the end. i think anakin is still not a good person, but hes not all bad (bcos who rly is all good? or all bad?). i wont ever defend or justify anakin. i will defend padme. its a balance, its a storytelling device. its fun to explore, theres a lot to say about it.

☥ i'll admit, i should've tagged this post as "not hate" bcos frankly, i couldnt give less of a fuck who you ship i just personally dont want to read about predatory relationships (which is why i have my rules laid out). theres plenty of fucked up shit i write about that is completely fictional. which is not reflection on me or my character.

however, to derive obvious sexual/romantic pleasure out of underage x adult relationships instead of publicly exploring them objectively and safely through your writing/posts that's probably why you're getting so much hate because that's problematic babe. especially if you attack those that explain to you why you need to go about it a different way publicly.

the actual heartbreak of seeing cute ahsoka and anakin fanart and seeing it tagged as anisoka

[galactic-rhea]

In the Sith-raised au how does Anakin react to Maul being revived and going to make a criminal empire?

Does he feel betrayed that Maul would not come back/betray Palpatine’s plan

Or does he think of joining Mail but decides against it

Or does Maul try and fail to convince Anakin to join crimson dawn

Well, first I think I have to explain that in this AU, Obi-Wan didn't manage to -seemingly- kill Maul in TPM; (but Maul ended wounded enough for him to be forced to flee).

Alas, it isn't until several years laters, when Anakin and Maul have already developed some sort of...bond, that Obi-Wan -apparently- kills Maul, which is why Anakin hates Obi-Wan in this universe lol.

That said, I explained here a little more how their dynamic is; but when Maul finally shows again at first AnakinVader is mostly overjoyed to find his evil big bro alive,,,and then Maul just tries to kill him, which Vader barely manages to survive and now that hurts.

But also, they were raised as sith and thus under the pretense that eventually only two would remain. Maul did had some mild hope that the two sith remaining would be himself and Vader; but Vader is hm, clearly a bit too loyal to Sidious and Dooku since, after all, they raised him, and his loyalty is his strong suit. Problem with Vader boy is that he would rather have the little sith group remain alive, he's too indecisive and divided to make a choice unless he's pushed to the edge; which is why Maul decides that the best course of action is just to kill him.

Vader doesn't feel as betrayed about the murder attempt, actually, because his fucked up mind sees murder to be better than being abandoned. And from his POV Maul left him all alone with Dooku and Sidious, who are just constantly tormenting him, like Maul was the closest to genuine comfort, in fact at times if it hadn't been for Maul is probably little Ani would have died.

So his issue is precisely that; Maul leaving him all alone with their awful parents and not even a "hey, vader, wanna join my new crime group? we all are still evil but you might escape the constant torture"; not that he tried to ask either (but to be fair, the murder attempt seems like a fairly reasonable motive to believe you aren't wanted).

In a very fucked up way that only reinforces Vader's idea that he only truly has Sidious, like the only person that really won't leave him. oof

|| AU tag||

[charmwasjess]

bespeak, thou, of thy story as the muse doth sing 'bout that hissy fit thrown by the son of peleus.

Oh, I’ve been invoked, and so beautifully! :3 THANK YOU!

Of course, this is Sifo Lives TPM AU - aka Sifo-Dyas Blackmails the Ever Living Shit Out of Dooku to Get At Sidious, which has developed a wholeass beginning, middle, and end and is churning away in my drafts. I know what happens; this is terrifying?!

Please to enjoy these formless, rambling thoughts:

Sidious figuring out that Sifo-Dyas isn’t so murdered as he would like and both he and Dooku are both back at the Temple = = he’s gonna think Dooku wussed out and ran home to mother, isn’t he? Dooku, you are so screwed in every direction. 

If I really wanted to break Sifo-Dyas psychologically the way I need to for this to work, I think Lene Kostana should probably be out of the mix, but I really want him to have SOME character to actually talk to, and I don’t think 9 year old Anakin counts. So Lene, you get to live, and Qui-Gon, too, for Dooku. 

Speaking of Lene Kostana, I need to figure out her and Sifo’s adult dynamic in a hurry.

....I think she privately thinks it’s great Dooku and Sifo-Dyas are spending more time together in the aftermath of this horrible tragedy, “comforting each other.” Don’t you want to help your friend? :3 >:3 

I’m so tempted to put a HORRIFIC beach episode in: Lene: surprise, we’re going to Another One of Jess’s Made Up Names for Lowercase Temples, u need a vacation, ur starting to freak even me out Sifo: oh shit uh *knows he can’t let that damned sith out of his sight* can Dooku come Lene: *lol those two are absolutely fucking again* sure, you can even share a room Sifo: >:c yay. Dooku: *doesn't even know how bad he's in for* Darth Maul: *aiming lightsaber like a javelin at them from the roof*

[tairona-is-taken]

So I rewatched The Phantom Menace for the first time since 1999 ...

The last (and only) time I saw it before this was in theaters when I was 13. Some random thoughts upon rewatching it as an adult:

I am laughing so hard that Qui-Gon drags bb!Anakin into the middle of the Trade Federation's occupation of Naboo. Of course, I remembered that Anakin blows up the droid control ship at the end, but I had completely forgotten that it was because nobody stops to think that maybe it's not a good idea to take a 9-year-old into the middle of a brutal occupation. Like, even though the Jedi didn't want to train him, couldn't Anakin have hung out in the Jedi creche until Qui-Gon was done with the Naboo mission? Or once Qui-Gon and friends get to Naboo, couldn't Anakin have hidden out with some non-combatant Gungans at their sacred place?

Apparently no, because instead Qui-Gon brings him on the dangerous mission to capture the Trade Federation Viceroy. And at one point, Anakin is literally charging with Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan, and Padme straight into enemy blasterfire! Just ... amazing.

The Palpatine-Padme dynamic in TPM is delicious. The subplot of Palpatine manipulating Padme into starting the proceedings that make him Chancellor is one of my favorites in the movie. It also adds such an interesting layer of complexity to Padme's character that she's this bold, competent queen in TPM--but she's also Palpatine's pawn.

Good to see that the whole people-sucking-at-communication-in-the-prequels thing starts here. When Obi-Wan tells Qui-Gon that he thinks Anakin is dangerous, he is totally within hearing range of Anakin!

And Obi-Wan apparently got this from Qui-Gon, because when Qui-Gon is dying, he doesn't say a single nice thing about Obi-Wan or about their relationship. No "I'm so proud of you" or "I'll always be with you" or any other heartfelt death scene sentiments. Nope, it's just, "Train the boy." I guess you could argue that Qui-Gon isn't thinking straight because of the whole being fatally stabbed thing, but still. Ouch!

Jake Lloyd is adorable as bb!Anakin. I liked Lloyd's performance as a 13-year-old and I still like it as an adult! I really don't know why people hated him so much when this movie came out. I spent the whole movie wanting to give bb!Anakin the biggest hug. There is a lot that can be criticized about TPM, but Lloyd's acting isn't one of them for me.

[mirrorofliterature]

for some positivity, here is a few star wars fanfics I have recently been following, reading and enjoying:

in the absence of the sun by vizslasaber, a story about obi-wan, ahsoka and anakin with their legions going to stewjon for a relief mission and ruining into someone's family: written very well, love the variety of perspectives and nuanced and complex familial dynamics

Ties That Bind by Imagined is a gorgeous, gorgeous WIP where the clone wars start basically straight away after TPM and bby!anakin with the clones and anakin... my heart. somehow this situation is better for anakin than canon.

reread this delightful crack fix-it fic told through pithy bullet points where obi-wan and anakin hash out their problems and palpatine's plans are foiled by pre-bespin luke telling anakin about obi-wan's apprentice becoming a sith and anakin, naturally, not leaving obi-wan's side: From A Certain Point of View by Phosphoroscent

[mathildepadme]

thee reason why I go to bat so hard for qui gon is mostly because it’s me fighting against the obi wan woobification industrial complex but I also love the character too and I generally put more thought into discussing him than average person because he isn’t thee most important character.

he is a good but flawed master and was the best option for a master for obi wan who was one of the people who grew up quicker and wanted to be treated like an adult from an early age so they were friends from the start instead of parental dynamic. and it was fitting for obi wan’s decision mostly until tpm where he grew up into a man child because he didn’t necessarily get the guidance he needed and was more codependent to him which caused him to act out jealously when anakin came into the picture. qui gon was too lenient with him which caused him to not learn somethings he should’ve learned pre taking a padawan but at some point you can’t blame all of your problems to your upbringing and have to take some responsibility which obi wan eventually does.

they didn’t have a trauma bond because tpm obi wan isn’t someone who was traumatized but more like neglected which caused him to not take qui gon seriously in situations he should’ve taken him (such as Anakin’s situation) and need him in situations he should be old enough to do alone (facing the council). qui gon was the only person he fully trusted and felt safe with which caused him to hold onto him tight and he never managed to learn how to be alone by himself which caused him to use anakin as mini qui gon to learn and evolve person which wasn’t at all fair to anakin.

obi wan never got to grow up and separate himself from qui gon which aided anakin’s tragedy but qui gon isn’t solely responsible of that and he shouldn’t be considered a bad master for that but a flawed one

[maeve-on-mustafar]

hello!! first of all: I’m so obsessed with your writing especially your anakin and mace dynamics of all kinds and your anakin-obi-wan-ahsoka trio. if you’re still writing for the anakin is mace’s padawan series, could I ask for your thoughts about anakin’s relationships with other padawans in this world?

First of all, thank you so much for your kind words! I love Anakin and Mace so much and have so many ideas about them being friends (or more) or Master and Padawan. It’s always so lovely when another Mace & Anakin (or Mace/Anakin) fan reaches out!

I do plan to update my series about Anakin as Mace’s Padawan one day! It’s slow going as I fight the intrusive thoughts and scramble for free time between school and work, but I have several WIPs and a few more ideas besides that that I’d love to be able to put down.

I’m always really fascinated by Anakin’s relationships with other Padawans in both Legends and canon, and I really like it when he’s introduced as having friends. It’s very popular in fandom to only have Aayla Secura as Anakin’s one friend throughout his entire time at the Temple (if he’s given any friends at all), but I really like to remember Tru, Darra, Jax Pavan, and Zule Xiss and the rest of the Padawan Pack from Jabiim.

I think being Mace’s Padawan changes Anakin’s relationships with other Padawans in that as he gets older, he feels more pressure to step up and try to be a leader/mentor to his peers as a way to honor Mace and all of the Jedi who have helped him. It’s not that Anakin feels like he has to be a model student or a perfect Padawan—he just wants to make it known that he recognizes the kindness he’s been shown and it capable of passing it onto others, whether that means helping some of the Padawans who are struggling to chose that their lightsaber form or going with a particular Padawan who a Senator has been personally inviting to their apartment to make sure it’s all above board.

TBH, I don’t think Anakin is ever entirely comfortable in this role? He’s always aware of the eyes on him and that there are certain expectations for him as the Padawan of the Master of the Order. There’s always a part of him that would rather be in his workshop repairing droids or inventing new starship designs. But he tries to channel that into other actions, like helping new Padawans design their lightsabers, or holding a “Mechanics 101” class for Jedi who aren’t as tech savvy as he is.

But in many ways, Anakin is the same guy. He still clashes with Ferus, because Ferus is still judgmental about Anakin’s hobbies. He still finds a way to swoops race if he thinks he can get away with doing it for a mission. He’s still very talented and he knows it, but I think in the position he’s in as Mace’s Padawan, he feels like he can’t show off as much without it coming across as bragging, so he has to truly chose his moments to shine. But he never resents Mace or any of the other Jedi (beyond Ferus) for it. It’s more of an internal frustration that Anakin has with himself.

I think that might be the biggest difference between who Anakin would be as Mace’s Padawan vs. Obi-Wan’s Padawan. Especially in Legends, a huge insecurity of Anakin’s was that Obi-Wan didn’t actually want Anakin as his Padawan and only is training him out of obligation to Qui-Gon. With as snarky as Obi-Wan could be, and in particular, because Obi-Wan actually said in TPM that Anakin was dangerous and should not be trained when Anakin was standing right next to Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon, I don’t think Anakin ever overcame this fear. As far as I’m aware, unless I’m forgetting something, Obi-Wan never reassure Anakin that this wasn’t the case.

But with Mace Windu taking Anakin as his Padawan, Anakin knows Mace chose him. There’s never any doubt that Mace wanted to train him or that he loves him, and Anakin loves him back. I see that aspect of their relationship as being very simple; there is never any doubt of their affection for one another. But I think Anakin remains insecure in a different way, especially since he’s thrust into the spotlight much earlier and on a much more regular basis. A part of him is always hyper aware of his background and is wondering if he, as a former slave, is good enough to be trained by the Master of the Order, and I think a lot of his relationships with other Padawans are shaped by him trying to overcome that insecurity and be a person they trust and rely on. But I don’t think this particular doubt of Anakin heals until he reaches Knighthood.

Thank you so much for your kind words, and I’m sorry it took me so long to respond. I want to work on clearing out my ask box, so if anyone has any asks they’re waiting on me to get to, believe me, I’m working on it! ❤️ Thank you so much to anyone who’s read and enjoyed my fics!

[abigailspinach]

Here is a brief follow-up on the question TPM Reader MA addresses in an earlier post: why does the Trump administration have it in for biomedical/disease research? It’s a really good question and one I have not seen an adequate explanation for. But having been reporting on this for a few months now I think I do get the outlines of it.

First, let me address a related point. There is a fascinating dynamic at play at the heart of this. The fascination is depleted somewhat by the stakes. There is immense potential political power in the defense and expansion of biomedical research. But the stakeholders simply don’t have any experience using it: the researchers, academics, university administrators, government scientists, etc. That’s not a criticism. We don’t train these people to operate in that sphere. They exist in a highly esoteric space.

As I was just explaining to a physicist today, the question of why a school bus driver and a nurse should care much about theoretical physics is a pretty good one. Why they should care about cutting-edge research into cures for cancer or Alzheimer’s is very straightforward. This entire meta-struggle is best seen as a contest over whether the biomedical research community can get on to the political playing field and deploy that potential power before the people in the administration, who actually hold a fairly weak hand, can snuff it out entirely.

Now to this question, why do they have it in for biomedical research?

The best explanation is a sort of perfect storm. Trump wants to dominate and control the universities and eliminate them as what people in his world see as a seedbed for liberal ideologies. Russ Vought has a long-pre-existing and similar aim within the federal government. At a basic level, at universities, scientific research is where the money is. The humanities don’t have big research and grant budgets. If you want to bring the universities to heel and diminish their power that’s just where you go.

This part is fairly straightforward, pretty easy to understand, and it’s one of the most common explanations. A number of separate factors are also in the mix that, together, have added immense energy, focus and power to this push.

First, you have Elon Musk, the belief that AI can and will essentially replace research scientists and the related belief that AI-backed tech has essentially achieved a kind of escape velocity from government-supported science. So AI will soon replace research scientists. I, Elon (or tech generally) own the AI. So there’s no big harm shutting down this research apparatus. And since I own the AI, not only will we cure all the diseases but I’ll own all the cures! What’s not to like? This may seem like hyperbole but it is at most only a hyped up version of what these people think. This informs A LOT of the thinking behind the cuts. The aim of knocking the eggheads off their perch is easy to understand. If there’s also no downside (in terms of lost cures, lost leads in the sciences) why not?

Related to this is something I’ve picked up in discussions with a friend who is a very close and shrewd observer of the tech world. That’s the Silicon Valley class war between the folks with tens or hundreds of millions or more and the working stiffs on salaries of $400,000 or $500,000 a year. That tech “working class” salary point may sound absurd. But it really captures a big part of this. The dynamic is intensified by the ossification of tech. It used to be that the half-a-million-a-year folks might be one great start-up move away from hitting super wealth themselves. That’s not happening anymore. Meanwhile, the Elons and sub-Elons have super wealth and it’s annoying to have to listen to the gripes, the borderline-woke thinking and everything else, from the guys who fuel your wealth. A Thorstein Veblen type could explain it better than I can, but, for present purposes, we’ll settle for this thumbnail version.

Needless to say, government scientists don’t make half a million a year and neither do all but maybe a tiny elite of science grant superstars. But when the tech oligarchs in Elon’s world see these folks with their PhDs and their peer reviews and their long-ass study timelines, they see the uppity salaried techs who run their companies. And they act accordingly.

Second, you’ve got COVID. There’s always been a deep strand of anti-intellectualism on the right and hostility toward the academic world. COVID, COVID denialism and vaccine denialism have made public health and biomedical researchers a big, big bogeyman across huge swathes of the right. This one doesn’t require much explanation, I imagine. We’ve all lived through this. All biomedical researchers are hugely suspect right off the bat. Lots of vaccine “skeptics” have landed major appointments at HHS, not least among them the guy who runs the whole place.

There are a few other lines of push here against biomedical research. But I think these three things capture it. You’ve got multiple, interrelated but still very distinct factors all pushing the same direction. And that’s what gets us here.

[cosmicmordecai]

So my short on Dooku’s hypocrisy got two comments and is the most viewed short I’ve had gotten thus far. I find it ironic I got the “Tell me you didn’t watch Star Wars without telling me you didn’t watch Star Wars”.

Like Dooku fell off whatever point he had before even TPM. He moans & complains about Republic & Jedi corruption but he also covers Sidious’s tracks, who enables it further to evolve his Supreme Chancellor agenda & the very corruption he supposedly hates. If Dooku felt nobody was taking him seriously, that’s his own fault for not being straight & talking around the point. I feel this really should be obvious given his actions throughout the Clone Wars but this fandom is so used to treating Dooku like he was standing up to THE MAN™️ in his early heyday it’s looks different having something point out the hypocritical nature of sonething other than Jedi even in that time.

There’s also this interesting dynamic where Dooku holds critical opinion of people in power particularly in the Jedi Council. Lot of characters looked up to him as a political idealist & free-thinker but he comes off as someone who jumps to conclusions & rash unless people follow his way. He really thought Mace being promoted was some set-up when it really wasn’t & he thought the Council wouldn’t believe Qui-Gon. It’s telling Qui-Gon has these traits too because even when Mace (who leads the Council) assures him they’ll investigate Maul regardless, he didn’t think they were eager. This also comes up in Master & Apprentice when he’s so surprised to learn he is a prospective Council member & the book expressed how he felt real comradderie there. It’s surprising given his age it took that long.

But that’s where Qui-Gon differs from Dooku; he would at least be fair and at end of the day, respected his peers unlike Dooku who comes to resent them to a extent & is not as capable of accepting different nuances & complexity that comes with helping but not directly governing others. And when he finally is in a position himself to govern others, he resorts to scheming, betraying others, aligning himself with corruptive people and organizations, and even stole from his own people & killed his family members to consolidate power.

[mayayayayayayaya]

I just rewatched The Phantom Menace for the first time in like a decade and six year old me was onto something, that movie does rock. However, one thing bothers me: Anakin’s age. I’m sure this isn’t a new take by any means but I think Episode I and the prequel trilogy as a whole would have benefitted had Ani been ~15 years old. This thought boils down to one thing mainly, character agency. Throughout TPM it feels like things happen to Anakin, not him doing things. If he was aged up then you could characterize him like a rebellious well meaning teenager as opposed to the sweet little kid who finds himself in situations.

I realize his youth combined with his skills are a big factor for why Ani is so remarkable. However, I do not think you lose much of that wow factor by aging him up. Building a podracer and protocol droid along with being a skilled pilot while having to suffer through slavery as a 15 year old is still incredibly impressive, and a bit more believable to boot (yes I know, looking for believability in my space wizard movie but still). Additionally, as a teenager it would be easier to draw parallels between Anakin and Luke, something Star Wars loves to do. Have Anakin interact with Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan more. Let Qui-Gon make good on his promise to the council and give Ani some light Jedi training, not just explaining midichlorians to him. Let there be a real relationship between the two like there was between Luke and Obi-Wan. Have Obi-Wan be more hesitant about Anakin, not trusting that he’s able to become a Jedi because he’s so old. A little bit of the Han Luke dynamic, just a bit more centered on what it means to be a Jedi. Speaking of, have Ani take an active interest in becoming a Jedi, let him voice his opposition to the council’s objections due to his age and show the cracks in that relationship early on. An older Anakin also makes for a better budding romance with Padmé. They can flirt with each other and learn about how different the galaxy is, let them be a view into each other’s worlds. Finally, it makes Anakin’s whole third act so much better and more meaningful. Instead of Scooby Doo antics leading to an almost accidental stoppage of the blockade, have him be a rebel and “stay in the cockpit” while using his piloting, sharpshooting, and force abilities to do something no one else can (kind of like another young tattooine boy we know and love).

By giving Anakin this agency in the first movie it makes Qui-Gon’s death more meaningful, strengthening the bond between him and Obi-Wan thereby making the central relationship of the trilogy have even deeper meaning. Seeing him attain that heroic high point also makes his fall to the Sith all the more tragic. By doing this you also have what I feel is a better progression across the trilogy. Start him out as a bright eyed 15 year old forced to grow up as a slave and then as a Jedi who quickly learns of both the danger of the job and of the folly of the Jedi. Next we see him as a prodigious 18 year old Padawan soon to be knight, quickly mastering force skills and seemingly being on track to fulfill the prophecy but also showing some of his dark side tendencies. And finally we see him as a desperate 21 year old Master, wanting to do right by his wife, kids, galaxy, and order but ultimately falling victim to Palpatine’s manipulations.

[this-acuteneurosis]

I kind of want to get you started on mind tricks. cause like weak minded to strong minded dynamic and the blur away, but also the sith back in the day were for SURE a Caste system of force sensitive rulers and non force sensitives, and the jedi were their ENEMY off and on for thousands of years, cultural bleed through and dynamics of their own power systems but Ben we are not the droids you are looking for go away so I dont have to kill you, versus Qui hey I want this thing trade it for me.

Alright, Oct anon, it's been a while, but I have not forgotten you definitely forgot this ask in my drafts for who even knows how many months but it's found again, whoo!

It's taken me a while to get this together partly to try and arrange my thoughts in a logical order but also...

Guys, I really, really care about the use of agency in stories. Like, I've ranted about it in relation to droids, I've explained some of my problems with it in the context of the thematic changes between the OT and the PT, I stew over it constantly in my brain, it's a central theme of many of my own stories (including DLB).

I really don't like mind control, and not just in Star Wars.

Now, just because I don't like a thing doesn't mean it doesn't have a place in story telling. As a device, mind control/manipulation can be useful or important to a plot. To a theme. Overcoming it can be powerful or cool (Ella Enchanted-I prefer the novel personally, Tanjiro in Demon Slayer: Mugen Train), watching someone succumb to it can be agonizing (Frodo in Return of the King, anyone? Princess Euphemia in Code Geass?).

So, what is the point of Mind Tricks (and that naming choice, "trick," making it sound almost...harmless) in the Star Wars story, and maybe in the universe?

I feel like in its initial reveal, the mind trick was supposed to a) convey how "magical" Jedi were and b) get the plot from point A to B. Obi-Wan waves his hand, someone believes something hideously untrue, move along move along, don't think about it too hard.

Like, literally, audience, please. Don't.

Luke uses it in RotJ for pretty much the same reason. To convery a) Luke is well on his way to being a "magical" Jedi now (oh but wait, there's more character growth he needs!), and b) Luke needs to get into Jabba's palace and why would they let him in? Because he says so, so we will take him to Jabba now. Move along, move along.

I don't like the implications of this power existing, and as an adult who has been in situation where I have to report to higher powers, the disregard of the consequences of these things are a bit darker if I look too closely, but like...move along, I guess. It's fine as long as we're only using these powers on space nazis and slavers. Right?

Except then we get more movies. And cartoons. It's fine if Obi-Wan mind controls a person into not smoking, right? Smoking is Bad and Obi-Wan is Good.

Only.

Only...

Who taught Obi-Wan to use mind tricks?

Ah yes, my old nemesis.

To all you Qui-Gon fans out there, you may wanna leave. This analysis is probably not for you.

So like, Qui-Gon Jinn. Qui-Gon "I'm friends with the current Chancellor and thus an obvious, notable representative of the Jedi Order but I don't get along with my higher ups" Jinn. The thing you have to understand about my opinion of him is that, as a young, first time watcher of TPM, I liked him. He was funny, irreverent, direct. He was wise, or at least seemed to know things no one else did. He was a maverick, ready to go against all orders and advice for what he knew was right. And everyone around him was just stuffy and uninformed.

And to be fair, he wasn't wrong about everything. He's set up to be sympathetic. He's trying to treat with the gungans and they won't listen? Well he and Obi-Wan are right, the Trade Federation does go for the gungans. The Order says there are no Sith? Oops, wrong on that one. The Council makes the ambiguous assertion Anakin is "too old" to train. We've seen the OT. We know "too old" is nonsense.

But like, what does Qui-Gon do when he's thwarted?

He takes away people's agency.

Oh, you don't want to help us, Boss Nass, political leader? Cool, well I'm gonna undermine you in front of your entire court and you're gonna give us a whole ship (that we won't return) to help us defend a people you've been in an active war with for centuries. Oh, my currency doesn't work on this planet? I think it will mister small time junk dealer with a gambling problem (jokes on you for that one, sir).

This to me is a huge red flag in a story that is about literal slaves. I know people will defend the above examples. It was necessary. There were lives at stake.

You wanna know who would have suffered if Qui-Gon had been able to con Watto out of that part?

Anakin and Shmi.

Worthless (or event mostly worthless) currency on a planet where you have to buy water is literal death under the right circumstances. And who do you think Watto's going to reduce rations on. He's got cash flow problems? What's the quickest way for him to make back what he just lost? I'll give you a hint, he gambles on them later in the exact same movie.

So like, well before we get to "weak minded" or anything dubious like that, there's this awkward question of, "Why are the good guys always using powers to make people do things? And not worried about the consequences?"

And like, if we go back to simple story narratives, and trying to move things from point A to point B, that's fine I guess. I enjoy the OT. I'll move along.

But if you ask me to stop and think about it.

Well...

[charmwasjess]

you know the drill

💔&🖤

Ohh, Boli, my love, you got me comin' in hot here:

💔: If you had to remove one major character from the series, who would you choose?

Honestly? It’s Dooku. 

The films fail him as a character. He’s there to kill time between villains, foreshadow Anakin's fall, and because Lucas wanted a respected film icon in his prequels the way he had Cushing and Guinness in the OT.

"But Jess, he's your fav and you're uncomfortably horny about him on main?!" you might ask. Yes, Dooku has an incredible backstory, a huge amount of narrative and emotional complexity, and a burning pile of potential, but it is never addressed or expanded on in the films. He has no arc or dynamic development - even his political scenes with Padme hit the cutting room floor. His motives for leaving the Order or joining the Sith are confused at best, shunted to supplemental canon, and the fake war plot is arguably one of the weakest and most confusing aspects of the prequels. He isn’t even given last words; fitting in the scene, also a perfect summary for how the character is used in the narrative. 

Imagining him gone is also an interesting possible fix-it recipe. So: lil' baby Doo gets turned into a spinewolf snackpack back in bby 101 or whatever and never exists. Okay, without Dooku there to save his life, teenaged Sifo-Dyas is either a. smashed by a falling city, b. drowned in hospital basement bacta flood, or c. tortured to death by Evil Moss (holy shit Dooku rescues him a LOT in that damn book). Between the two of them, that means the clone army is out. And if Qui-Gon had a different Master, one who actually put their foot down about the prophecy holocron instead of codependently indulging him, would he still have gotten obsessed with it to the point that it built into his obsession with the Chosen One and actions with Anakin? Maybe, maybe.

🖤: Which character is not as morally good as everyone else seems to think?

It’s ironic that my man Qui-Gon has become the canon poster child for The Only Truest Goodest Jedi, the exception to the so-called arrogance of the late stage Order, when his actions in Phantom Menace are a laundry list of things people routinely blame the Jedi for doing. Now, I love Qui-Gon, he’s my first favorite character, but let me just give a quick bad faith summary of his actions in TPM just to prove my point before I round back around:

convinces an enslaved child to participate in a deadly race, then buys the child from profits gained from betting on the race’s outcome

blatantly ignores priorities of intergalactic crisis to pursue the goals of his own fringe spiritual beliefs and conspiracy theories

takes said untrained 9 year old child into active combat after being told expressly not to train him 

Of course, this is a bad faith summary: all those decisions have greater nuance and narrative context. (Tho, actually, why did Anakin come to Naboo... nevermind) This is not to say I think Qui-Gon is secretly bad or something.

But I think people reduce Qui-Gon down to:

Qui-Gon follows his instincts to commune with plants and rescue cute animals :3 

When the reality is (also!):

Qui-Gon follows his instincts to do some morally dubious bad optics shit that works out for him by the end, which is a thing he learned to do from watching Dooku break shit with no consequences btw, and not a uniquely different approach from all other Jedi

I've said it before, I'll say it a thousand times: let Qui-Gon be a beautiful problem, that is part of the joy of the character!  

[not-this-crude-matter]

I'm amused belatedly at the years and years of "Obi-Wan is such a slut" "Obi-Wan so rascally" "Obi-Wan can get it and does" when you know who more obviously fucks?

Qui-Gon.

Take one look at their dynamic in TPM and tell me that Liam Neeson-acted motherfucker isn't putting his Padawan to bed directly after dinner. Like as soon as Obi-Wan turned 13 Qui-Gon was like, "You're a big boy now, we're getting rooms on separate floors whenever we're off on Jedi missions because developing this kind of trust and autonomy is a vital part of your growth as a nascent Jedi knight, here's your evening meditation homework, I'll see you for lightsaber practice after breakfast--after breakfast--and it's normal that papa hits the fresher both before and after the morning workout"

And then fucks off straight to the hotel bar

[mathildepadme]

still can’t believe JW wants to you to believe by tpm qui-gon already had a fallen apprentice and dysfunctional af dynamics with his other two padawans and still he would champion anakin like that