#maybe ‘imperial military council’?

[shinyhappydigistar]

So who wants to listen to me ramble why an Empire reestablished by Grand Admiral Thrawn would be an “Empire” in name only? Nobody? Well that’s too bad, because you’re going to hear it. ^_^

Whether you like how it’s being portrayed or not, Thrawn’s ultimate goal as of the events in Ahsoka is to reestablish the Galactic Empire, all to help the Ascendancy against critical threats like the Grysks. Timothy Zahn has even stated this as such.

But it’d be an Empire in name only, as I just don’t see him being Emperor, nor do I even see him having someone in mind to be his figurehead/puppet ruler. After all, Thrawn is shown in canon (or the books at least) as being terrible at playing politics, which Palpatine was a master at thanks to the Force. I don’t even know who he’d even choose as Emperor, as ultimately what Thrawn wants is an overwhelming military power to crush the threats to the Ascendancy and his people, over anything else.

Realistically, any government led by Thrawn would be a military junta, where he works alongside other high-ranking Imperial military and regional governors to maintain order.

It makes the most sense, when you think about it: he can work behind the scenes to guide them and manipulate situations to best suit his needs. Like someone who can speak to the people on his behalf, someone who can play politics (but doesn’t outwit him), someone with charisma who can pacify the public, etc; It’s possible even other non-humans will be part of this council, if he deems them beneficial. (Which some of the more hard-lined, anti-alien council members wouldn’t like, for sure!)

All the while, he gets to operate in the background, where he works best. This makes him more a military dictator than an emperor, as he’s still the center of the council—he just doesn’t openly rule.

Would this be a fair system? Hell no, juntas are awful governments that oppress people and commit atrocities on the regular. Despite Thrawn’s best efforts to avoid this, he’s still cultivating an authoritarian regime that has shown in history to be built on sand and innocent blood. There’s going to be too many bad apples that he can’t—or feels he shouldn’t—cull from the system. They will do horrible things to people and some of those things he’ll allow as a lesser evil.

And there’s the fact he won’t live forever. He’s up there in age, and unless he’s okay with cloning—and we know trusting Imperials is not good—the paranoia is going to amp up. Who can he trust to keep up the system he’s so carefully crafted? Potentially none of the Imperial Shadow Council can be trusted outside of Captain Palleon, and maybe some of the humans he’s sent to the Ascendancy for aid. Somewhere down the line, someone will destroy what he built out of greed and egomania. And he knows this. Paranoia could be his ultimate downfall if he allows it.

This won’t happen, clearly, because the sequel trilogy (and the Legends Thrawn trilogy) indicates he won’t succeed. But I wanted to give you folks a more realistic vision of what the political makeup of galaxy would be like if he did. 🤔

[liesmyth]

Do you think the Nine Houses follow a Marxist, Keynsian, or Austrians economic model

this ask made me SO happy you have no idea! some vague thoughts

The Houses obviously have to do careful resource allocation. I doubt they have a free market economy, at least not on a system-wide scale. I could see some of the Houses — like the Third or Fifth Houses, which are by all accounts wealthy and with a very large population — develop some kind of internal capitalist economy within the House itself. Namely, private actors who control and own properties, wealth accumulation, competitive markets etc. But ultimately I think even those are subject to strong (local) governmental oversight because, again, they live on space installations in a situation of constant resource constraint. I bet there are quotas for everything.

However! No way ALL the Houses have a market economy. I'm thinking especially those Houses that are very small and/or have a "mission" which means that societal development is carefully planned, and probably the economy is also centrally planned. (Ninth, Eight, Sixth, maybe Second and/or Fourth).

On an overreaching scale (within the Home System) I don't think "the Empire" (as in, John) is overly concerned with the yearly economic development of the Houses, partly because he's been historically absent for decades or even centuries at a time. Verging sharply into headcanon territory, I think the closest thing the Houses have to a real centralised government is military leadership (High Command or the Fleet Admiral, who's the head of the Second House) and when it comes to issues that concern multiple Houses but are more "civilian" in nature, is kind of a free-for-all. I'm thinking about how Harrow thought that writing to ask for help would result in the Fifth or maybe the Third cannibalising the Ninth House — it looks like there's an informal council of House leaders, but no properly organised central government.

Trade: travel and commerce between the Houses is regulated. You can't just take a spaceship and move from the Eight to the Second, for example — movement of people as well as goods depends on a ship schedule that runs on "routes" and I'd bet there's an immigration/emigration quota that's maybe decided between specific House leaders, or maybe a third party. My best bet is that one of the Houses (possibly the Third or Fifth) OR an ad-hoc organisation (which includes multiple higher-ups from said well-off Houses) are the ones who regulate shipping and travel, and either have an ownership stake in the shipping system or administrate it in the name of the Emperor.

The shepherded planets: putting the "imperialism" in "Empire". The Houses definitely exploit their colony planet for resources, as per AYU (talking about the "contracts" that the Empire signs with the occupied planets). However, it's also worth noting that 1) for at least 5000 years, the House system was self-sustaining and hadn't made contact with any other population; and 2) stele travel is kind of a hassle, and only seems to be limited to Cohort ships that we know of.

What I'm getting at is that I think the economy of the Houses is not dependent on their war of conquest — imo it's more of a mission of conquest for conquest's sake, see Corona thinking that the economy of the Houses doesn't quite add up, and Augustine talking like the ongoing expansion of the Houses is a whim of John's and little else. Basically, it seems to be a way to oppress the occupied planet for occupation's sake, and I wouldn't be surprised if the resources the Houses extract from the conquered planets go straight into financing yet more war and occupation and very little (if any) of any wealth they may accumulate makes it back to the Houses.

It COULD be that there's a necromantic equivalent of the East India Company, and my bet would be on the Second administrating it — Harrow doesn't seem to rate them at all, which tracks because Harrow's primary concern is Houses that could be a threat to the Ninth, and the Second being focused on exploitation that's external to the Home System could be an explanation for that. I've also seen speculation that making money from colonialism is the Fifth House's purview (*) but EYE think it makes more sense if the House that are more strongly associated with running the war effort are also the ones making money from it. Or it could be a joint operation.

(*) never forget the iconic tag #we regret to inform you that spreadsheets dad is maybe running the necromantic East India Company @katakaluptastrophy here)

Anyway. Sorry I haven't answered your actual question! GUN TO MY HEAD, if I had to pick ONE economic model to map the Houses onto, I wanna say soviet type economy (think: centralised planning, no inflation, little to no unemployment, tendency towards black market, little to no innovation). I have thoughts about what the consumer needs market looks like in the Houses but nobody needs to hear that. Also, it's def very limited

If anyone has thoughts PLEASE feel free to jump in, I'm always thinking about the logistical side of space imperialism in the necro empire!

[thelealinhypehouse]

Handler Zi'sist, the one who take "care" of Ain'res and Eight (@eorzeashan) in this AU. Handlers are Force Users thats are to weak to be full Sith. Thanks to Dark Council they gave people a chance to not to be killed off on Korriban. They took additional trening like at the Imperial Academy and become mix of Sith/Military skills. They can't use lightsabers so instant they use vibroswords. They control shock collars and they can create a literal leash to keep the hounds in check.

Handlers maybe are below Siths but they gain some serspect and fear on military side. Because you dont know if you gonna be "vchosen" to become member of this great project

The uniform is offcial uniform for Handlers

[phoenixyfriend]

Ko-Fi prompt from Uncharted_Constellations:

I don't know enough about econ to ask about econ, but maybe a tip on how to actually start writing a story instead of just over-planning it? love your stuff!

So, I've been putting this one off for... significantly longer than I should have, because it's so much more subjective, and because I've been having so much trouble with my writing recently.

But let's give it a go.

Write some bullshit to start with. Frequently, I don't start with a real 'hook' of a sentence. I start with nonsense that could go anywhere, just to get something down on the page. "This is how it starts" or "[character] is [X], but not [Y]" does a lot of legwork for me. If I kick off with a basic opening that guides me to define the setting or problem in a prose manner before I start engaging in actual narrative, it lets me get the ball rolling with getting any words down at all. Often, it's enough to put me in the right mental space in terms of tone and style. Sometimes, repetition or parallels get you rolling. Whether you keep this section or not is up to you, as you can come back to it to fill it out later, but I find that writing something down is more effective for me than just skipping to a scene I want to write more. - Big Damn Kiss is an example of a fic where I kept this opening structure, by setting character ages and inciting incident in mirrored phrasing - Rex and Anakin Raise a Family is one where I use "the beginning of the end is this" four times in sequence to establish the premise - Imperial Consort Rex Skywalker shortens that process further, by using a numbered, step-by-step format to skip to the 'good part.' - Fake Spontaneous Training Bond is the three POVs of the first chapter, each established with a short paragraph headed by "it starts like this"

Alternately, I get a lot of mileage out of "When [character] [verb and setting, possibly age], they [action, emotion, or reaction to premise]." In fanfiction, you can usually use a character's age or location to shorthand a lot of information that lets the reader settle in quickly. if I start with "When Ahsoka is nineteen, she falls into the past," the reader immediately knows the main character, her age, what work she was doing, how much trauma she's been through, who she cares about, and what the premise is. If you're lucky, that's all you need to start, and you can always come back and change it later.

The next option for starting a fic I'm having trouble with is in media res. You can just... skip the setup. You might have to go back and add it in later, but it's frequently superfluous. You probably aren't writing television for twelve-year-olds, so you don't need to have missions assigned and explained on screen. Unless you're writing a fic that focuses heavily on politics and the ramifications of military actions, which TCW actually was, in a way meant for children... you can just start already there. Sometimes I try to pump myself up to write establishing facts and setting and Why The Characters Do This, and then I realize I don't need to. Why are Anakin and Obi-Wan exploring a Sith Temple? Because that's the shit that happens to them. Don't need an opening scene where they meet with the Council, have the mission assigned, and ask for details. You just open with someone hacking away at the foliage to get at a door and drop a line about how they aren't seeing signs of Ventress or something to handwave why they were sent here.

Get yourself a cheerleader. I have a few friends (these days, usually @firebirdeternal, @atagotiak, and @jebiknights) that I send things to as I go. I generally screenshot to send (none of them have particularly severe visual impairments, so it's easier on me in regards to maintaining formatting; discord eats italics), so the chunks are a few hundred words at a time. They do some beta-ing, too, but it's mostly just me going "is this still good?" and mostly getting 'Heck yeah, I like [X]" about individual bits.

This is a bit mean, but find a story with similar tropes and characters (not hyper-specifically, but if you're writing an Obi-Wan time-travel fic, there are tons to look at)... which is not your style at all. With a ship you hate or a characterization you disagree with or a plot progression you find illogical. Find something that gets your back up so you are fueled by the spite of "I could do this better." I don't actually do this on purpose, but the sheer fury of "She would not fucking do that" has propelled me through many a one-shot.

Playlists can help, depending on the fic and how you personally respond to music as a driving force. If you find the right song/album, you can railroad your brain into thinking about a premise or scene so hard that you have to get it out of your head to stop going over the same three moments from occupying your mental replay button.

I can't help with 'how do I finish' though. I only have like... two complete fics over 100k.

(Prompt me on ko-fi!)

[lorenfangor]

something that I wish was more discussed about meta and assorted conversations centered around “Andalite imperialism” (in quotes because as I’ve argued before I think this is much more of a personal read than the objective canonical fact) is that the Yeerks are often perceived as more victimized by their government than the Andalites are, in a way that skews interpretations in their favor.

What I mean is this - whether or not a cog in the imperial machine personally agrees with every single value espoused by that machine, whether or not they’re a good person, whether or not they’re kind and compassionate - this doesn’t actually prevent them from doing harm, or believing most of what’s being taught without examining it. We see this with Aftran, to an extent, where she doesn’t actually start to disbelieve until Cassie’s sacrifice but she wasn’t ever a huge fan of the Yeerk Empire before. Same with the Yeerks from 8 who were in love. Sure, they’re good people? but they’re soldiers in a war just the same, and no matter how much they regret or how victimized or personally wounded they feel they’re leaps and bounds better off than their slaves and prisoners. ultimately what they’re doing is still incredibly evil and simply defeating them in war won’t end their ideologies or dissuade them from rallying and trying again in a century or so.

and this is relevant to discussions of the Andalites because so much fan conversation paints them as gleeful, willing collaborators for an imperial cause. In so many cases, it doesn’t seem to matter how good they are, or how disconnected from the war machine they are, or how badly they want to process the trauma of war, they can’t escape being tarred with the same brush as Lirem or Arbat. Yeerk grooming and propaganda is something Yeerks can’t help but believe and they’d be good people if the Empire was gone, but Andalite grooming and propaganda indicates deep problems in the core beliefs of the whole society, things every single citizen must tackle and unpack before they pass the “good enough” mark.

and that’s baffling to me, because one group is a pre-9/11 commentary on the US during the Vietnam War and the other are slavers with no scruples about mass murder on a truly galactic scale. one group has committed genocide, yeah, but it was both accidental (don’t forget that the Yeerks attacking the lab were what caused the quantum virus to be released! making a weapon of mass destruction and using it are two different things!) and the great shame of their military. the Yeerks have committed far vaster and more damaging crimes. they aren’t scrappy underdogs being poisoned from the top, they’re a rabidly fascist police state and most of their citizens DO believe in the ideals being taught to them. Yeerks might be scared of their superiors but the majority aren’t conscientious objectors advocating for nonviolence or joining the Peace Movement. every individual Yeerk is just as complicit, canonically, as fandom analysis says the Andalites are.

I’m wondering if the Yeerks are easier to sympathize with because their government is so much more obviously in the wrong and oppressive, and we see a lot more fear and uncertainty in their ranks because of how the Council of Thirteen functions, while the Andalite military and electorate are much more nebulous and subtle in their flaws. there’s probably a lot of personal guilt too, recognizing the things about America that are easy to hate in how they behave. but the Yeerks have a lot of those same problems too, so maybe that conclusion is incorrect. hm. more thoughts to follow probably.

[aidoneus-adoration]

I’ve been rotating Garlean!Shunta au in my head recently

In her normal backstory she has history with Zenos because they went to school together, and in the silly student council scenario she was the only bitch in the halls with big enough balls to be his treasurer

In this timeline her parents are never killed, and she continues with her plans to ascend military ranks to become unbullyable, to put it lightly

Somewhere along the way she gets picked up by Zenos and put on the path to become his retainer; it’s rare that anybody could even think of being near his combat level, and they’re familiar already.

As a result she lacks the fully realized blessing of light, but as a result of sparring with Zenos several times a day because he is simply insatiable, she’s a physical monster and could probably take her WoL self <pre endwalker and maybe shadower by ears> in a fight

I think the funniest difference is that she’s actually more levelheaded and overall chill in this universe. She’s never had to watch the people she cared most about die, especially not thanks to her own inadequacy. Is she more of an asshole though? Yeah. She’s on the imperial side and while she doesn’t kill anybody that isnt actively ordered by Zenos specifically, she’s still the baddie. She’s on the wrong side, and to be okay with that she’s had to compromise some of her morals in a way that suits the pragmatism that told her to join the military in the first place.

Her general unwillingness to kill maim or really even hurt civilians still holds true, and due to her position she’s less likely to punch someone she finds annoying. She has an image to uphold, and in her opinion it’s better when annexed peoples are happy as they can be in their new situations. As shitty as they may be.

Otoshiki still hangs around as an advisor of sorts, and she hasn’t seen Nekumu in years.

Also, she met Solus zos Galvus while he was still alive. He treated her exceptionally well. Not that she could understand why.

It’s actually really weird to think that she may be happier like this.

[ask-the-cosmic-duo]

"For you to be saying this, you might be as strong as my Master... Unfortunately, she is away in the dragons lands for a secret mission." Aurora raised an eyebrow at Stella, "This council seems balanced and fair. But who are these members?" Putting on her vest, she gave a sly nod at the duo, "Let me introduce myself again: I'm senior lieutenant Aurora Radiant of the imperial army, Glad to have you both here with me. I will, uhh... update this profile thing later." Pausing a little to look at Tumblr, she nodded at Sol, giving a serious look ,"I bet you are laughing at this, but I tell only the truth... the monsters came from the sky through a magic gate, from the seas, the corruption of ponies kind. The day of reckoning. You could say we are the 'Enforcers' here, in a sense."

"Perhaps... I don't like publicly telling ponies what I'm capable of, past or present, so you're kinda lucky."

"... You realize this is a Tumblr blog, right? Pretty public."

"... Shit."

Stella and Sol looked at each other when asked about the members of the Council.

"Well... Mostly well-respected rulers of entire universes. As far as I know, anyway. I only recently became an Agent, so I'm not as familiar with that stuff yet."

"No, you got it right. The Council is primarily made up of leadership from individual universes that are high up in importance. Whether they're important for providing the technology they and the Agents use, or for founding the Council in the first place, they'll usually have at least a couple seats there. There's many of them, and uh... I don't think I can really say their names. It's kept secret, y'know?"

The two of them didn't seem entirely surprised by the reveal that Aurora was high-ranking military. In fact, Sol smirked.

"Very interesting..." He decided to bow, as was custom in his land. "It's an honor, ma'am." As he stood straight again, he lightly bumped Stella.

"Huh? Oh, right. It's nice to meet you." She received a look from Sol, but she ignored it, continuing to listen to Aurora speak of the monsters. "I don't see why we'd laugh at that, honestly. If you think that's weird, you should see some of the stuff that happens here. I mean, we have cars with pony heads on them. That can talk. They're not even native to this universe, I just brought one over one time, and things just kinda... happened. Now I have a Devil Z with a pony head, the first car I brought over is a Skyline now, and one of the competitors in my racing league has a car with a mechanical pony head." She blinked. "There's also that weird corporation underground... Maybe I should check in with them sometime."

[paragonrobits]

Just had this crazy idea of a homestuck / mass effect crossover:

To start you have the Alternian Empire instead of humans, and naturally still get in a war with the Turians after the trolls shot first. I figure they'd be roughly on par for ground combat, but are a bit of Outside Context Problem in space as Alternian naval combat involves industrial scale psionics and non eezo ftl (I think troll ftl can still use mass effect induced from psionics to make it easier for ships to be pushed at past light speeds).

Alternia rejects all attempts at diplomacy that isn't surrender until one day they suddenly announce a peace / cease-fire (but theyre still keeping any systems they took) and are sending an ambassador to the Council for 'military coordination' and 'defense agreements'. Can you imagine their reaction when the ambassador arrives, who would be a fuschia, maybe Feferi, and explains that the sudden about face is to prepare to fight against the Reapers? And this was "ordered" by the 'god' of the imperial cult.

So the trolls would be an old enough race for their early or near sentience phase to be at the same time as the reapers, and Gl'bgolyb remembers it- and probably the previous cycles too if she was there since the planet formed. And Feferi would be if not grimdark/grimdark adjacent then very obviously a "cultist" of some sort to citadel people. Also fuschias don't have to fight to the death automatically, its still an option if they want to try for the throne but for the most part they're the penultimate level of imperial bureaucracy, administering multiple systems and such.

Unfortunately, I haven't thought much about what happens after since I dont know mass effect that well.

I'm embarassed it's taken me a while to get to this because something about this made the dopamine go ZOP!

i'm still perpetually salty about human exceptionalism being such a norm and partially present in Mass Effect's earlier entries so anything that gets the uninteresting primates with an entitlement complex out of the way is of course of interest

That honestly makes perfect sense; the Turians are well suited to fighting the trolls in a ground-based or one on one context, as from what we see in canon, their extremely ruthless attitude towards warfare makes them good at just fighting the trolls directly as opposed to canon humans continually escalating. It's also VERY similar to the way the turians fought the krogan, who have similar physical capability to trolls and even a similar explosive reproduction that allows them to waste troops with the piles of bodies strategy of just throwing disposable soldiers at a problem.

I REALLY like the sudden twist and, if this was a narrative story, I think this might be a good place to start it since its full of interesting character bits to set off around this point; everyone is confused and has no idea what the hell is going on. The implicaiton I get is that Feferi has recently taken her position, in response to the revelation about the Reapers.

I think making fuchsias not unique and instead being the chief administrators makes a LOT of sense and works really well for taking the trolls into a space opera or even a relatively hard-ish sci fi setting. I would also say that Feferi's cultist status would probably be a bit weird to the Citadel but, funnily enough, something they can work with; in canon we see that they're no strangers to alien religions and tend to accomodate them, and in fact this is QUITE similar to the batarians, who are often religiously motivated, but the trolls would actually be easier to deal with, as the batarians constantly have friciton with the citadel aliens wheras this isn't really a factor here, from what i can say.

I DO know Mass Effect extremely well so I can offer a lot of thoughts. My first thought is, assuming humans are not present at all and trolls occupy their narrative position, that Commander Shepard is a troll here; POSSIBLY a fuchsia for maximum coolness, but narratively i can see the appeal of them being a lowblood of some sort. A psionic would work well, given Shepard often being portrayed as a biotic.

[dogettt]

[M4F] Star Wars Plots!

Hello! With the upcoming Ahsoka series right around the corner, I've thrown myself back into the Star Wars fandom. This has really sparked a hunger in me for a roleplay set in this universe. Below, I have compiled a list of plots - 'What If' scenarios - as well as a list of the Canon characters I'd like to play and a list of those I want to play against!

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WHAT IF: GRIEVOUS WAS A JEDI?

The commander of the CIS's military and one of, if not thee, most dangerous Jedi killers alive, General Grievous has earned the fear and morbid respect which his name and presence invoke. Tall, dangerous and nearly invulnerable due to his armour, he's a tough opponent. What if, though, Grievous becomes a Jedi? His Canonical backstory is almost non-existant, so perhaps he joins the Order at a young age? Maybe the Jedi or the Republic puts him back together, not Dooku? Perhaps he's even captured and freed from serving the Sith, allowing him to side with the Jedi to exact his revenge on them?

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WHAT IF: PADMÉ SURVIVED?

Padmé meets a tragic end - but what if she doesn't? This might seem a bit cliché - obviously - but how would her surviving alter the course of galactic history? Does Obi-Wan take her with him to Tatooine, nursing her back to health slowly but surely? Perhaps she's resurrected by Vader, only to be turned into an Inquisitor by Palpatine? Does she become a cyborg in order to survive giving birth?

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WHAT IF: THERE WAS A PADAWAN?

Order 66 is one of the most tragic events in the Star Wars Canon. Sure, the Jedi aren't exactly the definition of righteous, but they tried to help the galaxy - most of the time, at least. While the Jedi are powerful warriors, their skills do not save them when their Clones turn on them. How would their fates change with the inclusion of a padawan, though? Does Aayla Secura escape from Felucia with her life? Does Luminara Unduli still end up in the Empire's clutches?

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WHAT IF: THE INQUISITORS TURNED ON VADER?

The Inquisitors: fallen Jedi, for the most part, trained in the dark side of the Force by Palpatine and Vader to hunt Jedi; still weak enough to be taken out with ease. What if one or more of these Inquisitors realises the error in their ways and defect, launching a desperate attack on Vader to cripple the Empire?

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WHAT IF: FENNEC SHAND MET HER MATCH?

Master assassin Fennec Shand is, by the time of the Mandalorian, past her prime. Though she's still incredibly deadly and dangerous, the people who are hired to come after her are, too, increasingly so as the list of atrocities she commit grows longer. One day, her past catches up to her in the form of a young bounty hunter. Will she strike a deal with him, or die fighting?

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WHAT IF: MACE WINDU AND ANAKIN SKYWALKER SUCCEEDED?

What if Anakin Skywalker and Mace Windu vanquish Palpatine? Padmé would survive and, considering the circumstances, the Council would overlook the marriage. The Seperatists would probably regroup, but a further few years of war would lead to the Republic emerging from the ashes as the victors. Let us explore the lives of the Jedi in a world where Order 66 never happened.

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WHAT IF: EZRA WASN'T TAKEN?

With a magnificent finale, Lothal is freed from Imperial reign, Thrawn and the Seventh Fleet are destroyed and Ezra Bridger disappears - but what if that last one did not happen? What if Ezra could pass on what little knowledge he has to Luke once he, too, joins the Rebellion? Would he and Sabine finally end up together? Would he instead turn towards the only remaining mentor in his life, Hera Syndulla, for more than platonic love? Who knows...

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WHAT IF: DOOKU NEVER TURNED?

Following Qui Gon Jinn's demise at the hands of Maul, Dooku falls to the dark side - but what if he doesn't? Maybe he gathers the most powerful Jedi he can and goes after Sidious, ridding the Republic and the Jedi of their greatest enemy - they think. Maul survives in the shadows, planning his return. Who will stop him this time?

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CHARACTERS I CAN PLAY:

- Obi-Wan Kenobi

- Count Dooku

- General Grievous

- Ezra Bridger

- Hunter

- Wrecker

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CHARACTERS YOU CAN PLAY:

- Padmé Amidala

- Luminara Unduli

- Shaak Ti

- Jyn Erso

- Bo-Katan Kryze

- Hera Syndulla

- Sabine Wren

- Ahsoka Tano

- Aayla Secura

- Depa Billaba

- Fourth Sister

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I hope to hear from you!

[arc-77]

Spoiler discussion and blog relevance for the latest episode of The Mandalorian (S3E7/Chapter 23) below.

Gideon you vain bitch don't you go stealing my schtick!!!

Anyways, I appreciated that episode for what new lore it brought to the table. The Imperial Remnants look fun, and I doubt that was the full extent of the "Shadow Council". Gideon walked past his collection of big cloning tubes right into the meeting just to tell everyone cloning isn't his thing (lmao). I've read a theory that Gideon's forces, the new Imperial Supercommando-looking troopers (who look dope as hell), might be clone troopers of his own creation. Clones of who? Maybe Gideon himself. He's self-centered in a way I could totally see that, though upon re-watching, the suit actors are visibly different heights from one another.

So. The story of how Bo-Katan loses the Darksaber to Moff Gideon has been fleshed out. It contradicts my headcanon/blogcanon/the potential plot I had hoped to use where Fordo takes it from her in battle, which kind of sucks, but you win some you lose some. The more I thought on it, the more reluctant Fordo would have been to hand it over to Gideon anyways. He won it in battle, after all, and it matched his kit very nicely. In that instance Gideon would have likely held some ruinous blackmail knowledge over Fordo's head, and Fordo would have begrudgingly acquiesced. Regardless of the Darksaber, Fordo definitely was there for the Purge and did work with Gideon.

I'm torn as to what Fordo might think of Moff Gideon, and how they might interact Post-Jakku. Gideon's previous usage of remaining Dark Troopers (albeit not the original designs Fordo helped develop) would have attracted Fordo's attention, and he may have reached out to offer his assistance as a mercenary contractor and military or technical advisor. In addition, Gideon's supplies of beskar offer a lucrative payment option.

On the other hand, Gideon's personal "Dark Trooper" suit is little more than just a fancy set of Mandalorian armor — it still prominently features the ka'rta beskar in the center of his chest plate and of course, the helmet. "And the most impressive improvement is that it has me in it." Fordo would scoff at the assertion. His armor is perhaps the most advanced set in the galaxy, and the aforementioned comment would read to Fordo as a dig at him in particular. It's a mockery of Fordo and Rom Mohc's work to call it Dark Trooper armor. They most certainly would butt heads.

For these petty reasons, Fordo could be inclined to turn on Moff Gideon at some point. He'd love the chance to utterly wipe the floor with Gideon's stupid cape-wearing-ass, beskar armor or no.

[couronnez]

Vasily's military medals - a thread

At first glance, the upper star appears similar to the 1st Class Order of St. George cross which is worn worn on sash across chest, with a star.

The Order of St. George, Imperial Russia's highest exclusively military order, was instituted in 1769 and came to be considered among the most prestigious military awards in the world, ranking just below the Order of St. Andrew the First Called. The order was awarded to officers and generals for special gallantry, such as, personally leading his troops in rout of a superior enemy force, or capturing a fortress, etc. Before membership in the Order could be granted, a candidate's case had to be investigated by a council composed of Knights of the Order.

Source

Looking at the Tsar's orders, we can clearly see that the two encircled ones are the same ones Vasily carries as well. The cross on the star is clearly an Order of St. George (I wonder what Vasily did to receive it? Probably just serve I guess ...) and the blue cross which faintly reminds me of the Order of St. Anne but in the wrong color. Maybe it's a campaign medal? Blue for a campaign against Fjerda?

HOWEVER, in the 5th episode, we do get a clearer glance at his medals. Which doesn't help me whatsoever LMAO. The crosses are still Orders of St. George. The medal to the left looks similar to one from the Imperial Russian Cavalry Regiment of the Imperial Guard.

Source

Anyone an expert on Imperial Russian orders? Or maybe it's Ravkan ones entirely so there's no real world equivalent?

[deflare]

Day 16 brings us a shiny-bronze set of real bastards: the Minotaurs!

The Minotaurs are a successor chapter to... somebody. Their history is locked down super-tight behind layers of clearance that even Inquisitors can’t break into. Complicating things, there may have been two different Minotaurs chapters in Imperial history--a chapter of ferocious berserkers who didn’t bother working with anyone else, and the modern, more disciplined force.

What’s known about the Minotaurs: Unlike other chapters, they rarely disperse their companies across different theaters, instead tackling every problem as a full chapter. They’re cold and aloof to others. They fight with particular brutality, even by Space Marine standards, with a willingness to eat really nasty losses in close assaults and heavy-duty siege warfare. They’re often brought in to fight internal enemies, like rogue Space Marine chapters. They’re unusually well-supplied for a chapter of their caliber, with a particularly robust recruiting pool. And they seem to answer directly to the High Lords of Terra.*

This all suggests that the Minotaurs are meant to be the High Lords’ agents in the Astartes, the mailed fist of the Imperial government. This plays poorly with some of the other major power of the Imperium, like the Inquisition; the High Lords’ interests don’t always line up with the Imperium’s interests as a whole.

One of the major military actions of the Minotaurs was in the Badab War, a fairly nasty civil war. I’ll go more into detail on this when another chapter pops up (probably the Mantis Warriors or the Lamenters), but the short version is that s Space Marine chapter tried to make its own little empire, and several chapters got embroiled on both sides of the war; the Minotaurs were one of the most brutal of the chapters on the loyalist side of the war.

In another major incident, after Roboute Guilliman woke up from stasis and started reforming the Imperial government, the High Lords tried to rebel against him and launch a coup. During the incident, the full Minotaur chapter arrived in orbit around Terra and... waited. The rebel High Lords had called the Minotaurs in to help their coup d’etat, but the split in the council caused the Minotaurs to wait until the dice had fallen, a looming threat to Imperial stability, until the matter was settled and they departed.

Aesthetically, the Minotaurs have some Greek theming to them; this mostly shows up with character names, but their chapter master also wields a spear and shield like a hoplite. Their grim bronze armor is cool as hell, but once upon a time, they had a whole different color scheme. One that makes the Howling Griffons look subdued.

My eyes.

Anyway. The Minotaurs are total bastards, but I can’t help kinda liking them. Their theming and aesthetics rule, and there’s a certain appeal to a chapter whose whole thing is “attack dogs of the ruling oligarchs”. There’s a certain menace to stories where the Minotaurs show up, an air of ‘shit just got serious’, and that’s fun.

*Who’re the High Lords of Terra?

So as the Great Crusade neared its end, the Emperor decided that running everything through military councils sucked. So he started to set up a civilian government that would administrate the Imperium during peacetime. This loss of influence among the military elite (most especially the Primarchs) was one of the motivating forces for the Horus Heresy.

After the Heresy and the Emperor’s entombment, someone needed to run the Imperium. Guilliman and Rogal Dorn did a lot of the heavy lifting for a while as the Emperor’s regents, but one got put into stasis and the other died (maybe?), so ruling the Imperium was left in the hands of mere mortals. Thus, the ruling council that act as the regents of the Imperium: The High Lords of Terra.

There are 12 seats on the council total, though who fills each one has fluctuated over time. Always on the council are the leaders of: the Administratum (the Imperial bureaucracy), the Inquisition, the Ecclesiarchy (the state church), the Adeptus Mechanicus, the Adeptus Arbites (the Imperium’s police force), the Navigators (mutants who guide spaceships through the Warp), the Astronomicon (the psychic lighthouse that lets Navigators do their job), the assassins, and the Astra Telepathica (the order of sanctioned psykers who allow FTL communication). Various military and religious leaders have occupied the other 3 seats.

A few thousand years ago, there was a fun little period when one guy managed to sit on two of the seats at the same time. This turned out very badly, as the guy became a super-tyrant and caused a period of civil strife called the ‘Age of Apostasy’. Since then, there’s been a very firm one-butt-one-seat rule.

The High Lords are the embodiment of the Imperium’s ossification. They’re a council of amoral, paranoid, nigh-immortal arch-conservatives who care only about maintaining their own positions and power. Each one got to their position through backstabbing, ruthlessness, and the ‘mysterious’ death of their predecessors. Until Guilliman resumed his seat as regent, High Lords didn’t retire; they were assassinated. They sit in their fortified residences on Terra, with no need to care about the endless masses of humanity that they order to fight and die with a penstroke.

In an empire full of people who suck, these guys suck the most.

Master post here

[moragarsia]

The imitation game. Pseudo-elections of the Russian Federation on fake territories.

Unable to cope with the growing collapse of the fronts and the gradual transfer of the war to its territory, Moscow continues to create the illusion of the prosperity of the ideas of the "Russian world" in the "new regions", as it calls the four occupied regions of Ukraine. Another fiction project is an imitation of "elections" to the State Duma, regional legislative assemblies, as well as to municipal and village councils, within the framework of the "single voting day" of Russia - September 10. It is indicative how many resources and effort are invested in a seemingly doomed farce.

First, it is the formation of a legal framework at the highest level by amending the law on martial law, allowing the exercise of the right to vote in the annexed regions.

Secondly, the creation of a suitable crowd, because the number of remaining voters is not known. So, you can vote anywhere - even from home in the temporarily occupied regions, even from anywhere in Russia using the Mobile Voter system. Anyone - all residents of the annexed regions, escaped collaborators from other regions of Ukraine, Russian gastrobeiters and even occupiers. For any document, a passport of the Russian Federation, a passport of Ukraine, an ID card, a driver's license and even "any document issued by the authorized body of Ukraine before September 30, 2022 and the authorized body of the Russian Federation after September 30" will do.

And whenever - from August 31 to September 10 "in view of the current situation." At the same time, despite this diversity of the electoral base, measures are being actively introduced to deport unwanted people deep into Russia - in order to avoid excesses and demonstrate "unity of position".

Thirdly, the image of a "live" electoral process is drawn. Political strategists, observers, organizers of extras, propagandists and even representatives of the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation come en masse to the occupied regions. Collaborators from among the escaped members of the Opposition Platform for Life and the Opposition Bloc, who scattered to different Russian parties, are involved in the form of "political competition".

Another attempt to legitimize annexation through suffrage also looks far-fetched, which is completely broken down by international norms from the UN Charter to the Hague Regulations of 1907. Secondary, and the intention to draw residents of the temporarily occupied regions into the orbit of life of the Russian Federation with the help of elections, and the alleged justification why this territory should remain with Moscow, and an attempt to demonstrate imperial control over the captured, and the formation of psychological influence on the Ukrainian population, they say, "we are here forever."

All this is illusory and practically devoid of political and military meaning. Especially given the speed of change in the "updated" map of Russia, which decreases every hour as the Armed Forces of Ukraine advance. The priority, perhaps, is only the desire to convince the whole world, the citizens of Russia, the inhabitants of the occupied and, possibly, themselves - that the recklessness started on February 24 is justified. But, despite all the horror, this movie is not perceived anywhere in the world, with the exception of two countries - Syria and North Korea. Maybe because in this imitation game, the villain deceived himself.

[wantonwinnie]

The Bacta War Review

7/10. About halfway through I was feeling “eh,” and while it got better toward the back half, I think it still warrants a lower score than I have usually given for Star Wars books so far. I have a lot to say on this one because I'll be covering the first three books in the series a bit, as well.

To preface, I generally like canon better than a lot of the older legends stuff, but I still enjoy much what I’ve read so far (I also loved playing the KOTOR games). My main experience, albeit limited, is the first four novels of the X Wing series, and overall they were great! I really like the first three (Rogue Squadron, Wedge’s Gamble, The Krytos Trap). However, I think this one kinda suffers when compared to those.

Since they’re all a part of the same series, I’ll talk about what I liked in the first three. Rogue Squadron had excellent starfighter combat and engaging tactical discussion; Wedge's Gamble had interesting military strategy and related controversy, as well as espionage; The Krytos Trap, perhaps my favorite in the series, had questions about judicial policy, mysteries related to Isard and Corran, and Imperial subterfuge.

This begets a problem for The Bacta War – it has to wrap up whatever was left after The Krytos Trap, which wasn't much, without starting much new stuff. Most of the important mysteries were already resolved, including Corran's past, the main betrayal, and Isard's plans. And it’s totally okay to just want to continue the story with another fun adventure! Not every book will keep the same mysteries going, and the payoffs in Krytos made that a stalwart favorite of mine. People will read for the characters they came to know and love, which is totally cool.

__________________________________________________

Spoiler from here on

However, that leaves me in a weird position. I like the characters just fine, but I don't have the same attachments to them as maybe others do, nor do I find them especially compelling. Corran is courageous, cunning, talented, and charming, but is also just an ex-cop who half the time is lamenting Booster Terrik as a hardened criminal or whatever. Booster himself is fun but straight-foward. Mirax is fun but ultimately felt like Corran's love interest more than her own character in this installment. Wedge is Wedge – hardened fighter who always gets the job done. I liked Ooryl and exploring the Gand culture.

That brings me to the main problem – while it didn't need to start anything new, I think it lost a lot of the political dimensions that made Wedge's Gamble and Krytos so awesome. Maybe it wanted to return to Rogue Squadron's focus on space combat or something, I don't know. But I was pretty disappointed in the lack of attention in the 12-hour (audiobook) read to interesting political questions that got asked and were left unanswered by the story (other than to say that they're irrelevant). I mean, they mention the New Republic can't get directly involved because that would be a violation of Thyferra's sovereignty, thus leading to other worlds leaving the NR. This is stated as fact without the perspectives of the Provisional Council or Thyferran people, and even less, barely weighs on any of the characters (and why would they care when they already decided it was a worthwhile venture?). Of course, the in-universe angle justifies itself; Isard is definitely evil, and making sure she doesn't control the Bacta cartel (+ liberating the Vratix from human oppression) is undoubtably good. But Rogue Squadron doesn't have to worry about sovereignty, and they honestly barely care about liberating enslaved workers (it’s more about Isard = evil). And that makes sense. But since we are only given their perspective, we never develop the political issues involved here.

Moreover, after defeating Isard, the establishment of a new government is an afterthought in the story and pretty fucking simple somehow. It’s literally turn the page and now Thyferra has a provisional government joining the New Republic. Blink and you'll miss it.

I think the most dimension The Bacta War gets is from the economic disruption of Isard's bacta supply, which is interesting, and definitely necessary to make the book a more worthwhile read.

I don't feel like the major characters had much development in their story arcs here. Corran is slightly more aware of his force abilities, though highly limited. He and Mirax grow closer. Corran gets over Booster a bit. Wedge gets more tired. Tycho tries to let go of his past trauma for a bit. That said, I don't think the characters are the strong-suit.

Speaking of, diversity is a big issue in this book (as with the first three, where most of the characters started). It’s human-centric, which isn't a big deal (Andor was probably the best show Star Wars has made yet, and that had an extreme lack of non-humans). However, this installment was even more human-centric than the others in terms of the characters given sufficient time, though non-humans were still relevant (Vratix, Ooryl). But more important – I was BEGGING for some non-white humans. I mean, holy shit. Corran? White. Wedge? White. Mirax? Booster? White. Isard? White. Tycho? White. Iella Wessiri? White. Gavin Darklighter? White. Pash Cracken? White. Elscol Loro? White. I just named almost all the major characters in this novel (and many are major to the first three).

There are exceptions (Wookiepedia doesn't say the skin tones of humans Erisi Dlarit or Fliry Vorru, who are both major characters, and Winter is described as "tan," though she's a minor character). I don't want to belabor this point, but I think it’s an important one. The author could have stood to make a few more non-white characters in the first place, especially considering how many non-legacy character options there were. And I've always thought it was so weird that, with Luke Skywalker being a white man, and Wedge Antilles being a white man, the author decided to make the titular character of the series (Corran Horn)... another white man? Not to mention the second new and important character, Tycho, another white man? I think we have enough of those in Rogue Squadron alone to cover our bases here lol. I can only speak for myself (another white man), but I have to imagine it’s difficult for non-white readers to see themselves in this series and especially this installment.

Of course, any relationship or potential relationship in this series is depicted as heterosexual, and all the characters have binary pronouns, though I never had any expectations in that regard. I'm really spoiled by The High Republic and other modern canon books, because those do a much better job than 1990s legends, which is both hopeful and unsurprising.

So, ultimately, how did I feel about this novel? I think the most important question for any novel is: did I have fun while reading it? Yes, I did. The space combat was exhilarating, tense, and surprising; the tactical questions were interesting; and the story had its moments. I don't feel like I wasted my time reading it. However, at the end of the day, I think it’s pretty, erm, skippable. It’s another story with the same characters, and I totally jive with that, but I think the missing elements made it a bit of a letdown compared to the first three books, which got better with each successive one.

I think next on my list is either the Doctor Aphra audiobook or Shatterpoint.

[reliciron]

You ever think about the files the SIS must have on the Imperial characters? I mean really, look me in the eyes and tell me they don’t have extensive files on all four of them.

-

The SW is probably the first one to be noticed purely because they’re the apprentice of Darth Baras and any apprentice of his needs to be constantly monitored. The SW is very much a blunt instrument (Baras himself calls them his enforcer), so even though the SIS probably doesn’t know WHY they’re on a particular planet, the destruction they leave in their wake makes them easy to track. And if they’re a light side SW, there’s going to be a whole lot of discussion about some of their more confusing actions.

They were actually? Honorable? With that Republic squad they enlisted on Nar Shaddaa?

The jedi master on Tatooine was left alive? And the SW actually respected the sand demon ritual?

And the jedi on Alderaan and the ones sent to intercept you at Jaesa’s meet-up were still in one piece? Hell, the SW actually shamed the later and exposed the darker side of one of them.

The ensuing quarrel between the SW and Darth Baras was probably a little less interesting, sith fight over power all the time, but it definitely caught their attention that the SW actually came out on top and ended up the Emperor’s Wrath.

-

The SI starts more subtly. Zash is clearly powerful, but not as influential as Baras. To the SIS, they’d just seem to be a no-name apprentice to an average lord. Something to keep tabs on, sure, but not as much as the SW. The first chapter is pretty much a scavenger hunt, and without knowing about the bigger picture, it probably looks like normal artifact hording (though making the cult on Nar Shaddaa probably turned a few heads). With the exception of attacking the jedi enclave on Taris, the second chapter is fairly uninteresting to Republic intelligence too. Just another sith squabble.

But then this lowly sith lord just… doesn’t die. They keep challenging Thanaton and he seems unable to put them down. Then they get the goddamn Silencer and THAT is when they go from ‘eh’ to ‘fuck I need someone monitoring them at all times’.

-

The BH is surprisingly more illusive than the SW and SI, mostly because a no-name mercenary can easily move around unnoticed. It probably take a lot more for a hunter to get noticed by the SIS than it does for someone who’s part of the Imperial military or sith. Clearly though, the destruction of the Aurora and Kellian Jarro catches their attention. Of course after that their file probably gets filled with the lies Jun Serros spun. I’m sure there were some agents there that saw some things didn’t add up but who’s going to question the jedi battlemaster? Others probably also noted that the BH only started working for Darth Tormen AFTER being driven into his arms.

Of course all their assumptions about the BH get thrown out the window if they’re revealed to be innocent and turn on Tormen. Taking down a Darth Council member probably makes them one of the most interesting mercenaries in the galaxy outside of Mandalore and titans like Shae Vizla, and they’re probably tagged as ‘might be willing to work with the Republic in the future’.

-

I can’t decide if the Agent had a file started before they even set foot on Hutta, or if it took until chapter 2. It probably depends on how good the SIS is, how they get their info, and how good the Agent and Imperial Intelligence are at keeping their identity secret. They’re probably aware of the damage the Agent has left behind, but they might not know it was all done by the same person and they might not have identified them specifically. After that, it’s all up to Kothe as to how much the SIS is kept in the loop (though I get the feeling that he left a lot out, especially the conditioning), and at the conclusion of chapter 3 the state of their file varies based on your choice of ending.

If the Agent wiped their existence from the holonet though, the SIS better hope they have hard copies of their files, or some sort of independent system for their records.

-

It certainly raises some interesting possibilities for Imperial characters who romance Theron. If he wasn’t already up to speed about them well before they ever met on Manaan, then he sure as hell read up on them the second he realized who he was working with. Hell, maybe he’s been following their career for a while now.

[st-just]

Tell us about the Better ME3, please, you're posting about it has got the bad real one in my head again.

Okay, so!

Well, I'll limit myself to just the third game, because while 2's plot is very stupid it never quite got to the point of daydreaming about the 'indiana jones/tomb raider in space hunting for Prothean relics and shit" version I'd have made if you put me in charge of EA. But that does mean that you're basically already painted into the corner of having the apocalyptic Reaper War while also having established absolutely no way to beat them, which means you're stuck pulling a rabbit out of your ass and making it the centerpiece of the plot.

Still, you can do better than the Crucible. So,so much better. Hell, just limiting it to 'Prothean ultra-superweapon they didn't quite finish" and forgetting all the reveals about it later on would already be a massive improvement. So, for the sake of economy, we'll go with that. It's a complete maguffin anyway. Maybe it shuts down the space-magic that powers Indoctrination and is also how the Reapers communicate and control their drones and destroyers. Idk.

The first really big change I'd make is to the nature of the Reaper invasion. Specifically, the Reapers are not used to having to fight, and the current Cycle is the hardest target they've ever had. Why?

1. In literally every cycle before this one, the war was over before it began, because the entire Reaper fleet just popped into the middle of galactic civilization, ripped the heart out of all the biggest political, economic and military structures, and were able to move out from the center with the indoctrinated galactic leadership giving them all the information they could ever need. Thanks to literally the whole plot of the first game, they can't do this, and actually have to fight an opponent that still has a head and a logistics network.

2. As Javik helpfully explains, and is brought up at least a couple more times before being forgotten, every previous cycle has been dominated by a single species, since the first mover advantage of being the species to figure out how to use Mass Relays and claim the Citadel is more than enough of a boost for whoever manages it to imperialize their way across the Galaxy and incorporate any other species on their terms. In this Cycle, however, the ones who got the lucky spot were the Asari who are, well, like that, who were happy to keep all their imperialism cultural and all their colonialism neo-, because they're all perverted xenophiles I guess, and also because according to the codex they're all a bunch of direct democracy city-states who've never had a world war, so the possibility might just literally not have occurred to them. Whatever, in any case - this cycle is much more diverse, meaning it's much less vulnerable to a decapitation strike, and much less likely to have giant blindspots or doctrinal vulnerabilities.

3. Technology. Remember, by the time of the first game, the Reaping was already supposed to have started decades ago. And, if we're allowing ourselves some minor/justifiable/possibly not even retcons, even if they were all assholes about it, every Council military obviously started tearing apart Sovereign's wreckage and studying every scrap they could grab before the fires were even out. So, while they're still way ahead, the Reaper's technological advantage is not nearly as overwhelming as it would otherwise be.

All of which is adds up to the fact that, since we're playing this as an action movie, the Reapers can be defeated conventionally, at least once you unify the galaxy against them and get the Prothean superweapon online. It'll still come with an absolutely horrifying butchers bill, of course - but that's why you spend the game running around getting every major player on board and preventing the Reaper's indoctrinated saboteurs and quislings from crippling defenses and derailing the coalition.

...okay, it's 2am. Will write more about, like, the weird idea for a tripartite alignment system for endings I have later, if I remember/someone bugs me.