Something Something Pattern Recognition

the thing is, kanan and hera are So. Young. they’re so young!!!!

i think one of the (kind of unfortunate) side effects of the fandom placing them in these boxes of “mom and dad of the group” is that a lot of people forget they’re really not THAT much older than sabine and ezra (or at least, comparatively, the age gap between sabine & ezra and kanan & hera isn’t as big as the age gap between zeb and the teens).

like kanan and hera are 28 and 24, respectively, in s1 of rebels. putting kanan at only 32 when he dies (again, that’s so young!!). sabine and ezra are 16 (going on 17) and 14 (going on 15) in s1. which means hera is barely 8 years older than sabine. there are plenty of siblings around the world that have that much of an age gap. obviously, those age gaps are going to lend to some differences in thinking, life experience, etc. but given that they’ve all grown up under the thumb of the empire, they have a lot of similar experiences, even with the age gap.

yes, kanan and hers themselves make jokes in canon about being the “parents” of the group (“make mom and dad proud”; saw referring to sabine and ezra as their kids; etc.) and i think it's a fair enough comparison, considering they're the founding members of the ghost crew. but they're not just the "parents"; they're friends with the other ghost crew members!

and, importantly, kanan and hera are also still just young adults! (young adults, as in, not middle-aged adults; not young adults in the way that ezra and sabine are young adults/teens. you know what i mean). they've accomplished a lot, they're competent and smart and mature, but they're young. they still make mistakes and sometimes screw up when talking about their feelings and yes, they teach the younger members of their crew valuable lessons, but they also learn a lot from the teens too. because they're still learning and growing!

anyway, just thinking about how kanan and hera were practically kids when they met, and how they've grown up together (and done a lot of growing as people, together), and how they take these younger teens under their wings and also a middle-aged lasat with no home to go back to, and they all grow and learn from each other.

this means absolutely nothing at all but i think Kallus would go ham on overnight oats. loaded with protein and nutrients; requires some planning ahead but super convenient when you actually go to eat it; portable; can be literally any meal; cinnamon; berries. there is nothing for him not to love about this, especially after nearly two decades of bland imperial oatmeal.

Ezra calls him an old man. Kal does not care.

So, I just started rewatching Justice League: Unlimited for funsies and I am having a small thought as I watch "For the Man Who Has Everything."

So you know how "The Darkness Within" was an episode where the turtles are given horrific visions of their worst fears? What about the exact opposite, as in at least one, if not all of the turtles hallucinate a world where all of their greatest desires have been granted?

A sort of continuation of that one Padawan braid Ezra comic I did ages ago.

Sleepy times with the fam :3 it was originally going to just be April and Leo, but I know Mikey would totally want in LOL and it grew from there. They are just the family ever, and I care for them!!

We should have more interpretations of Steve being just strange enough that once everybody really gets to know him they’re like “…this guy was considered cool?”

An alternative Hondo rescues Tech is that Tech isn't well enough to stop Hondo from running around the Galaxy with him for numerous weeks, but eventually Tech is strong enough to lock Hondo in the refresher and contact Phee. They meet up somewhere. She hears Hondo banging around in the refresher.

"...you locked him in the fresher?"

"It was the moment he was least likely to be able to free himself. And, he didn't take his blaster with him."

Phee cackles, knocks on the door. "Bet that's the last time you make that mistake, huh?"

"Genoa! Phee Genoa my peer and trusted ally! If you let me out and help me subdue him I'll make it worth your while."

"No he won't," Tech says as he fiddles with the ship's comm console.

"Do not listen to him! He's an untrustworthy cur!"

Phee is barely holding in tears, she's giggling so hard. "Oh yeah? How much is my while worth to you?"

"At least ten thousand credits."

"Ten thousand to open this door?"

Tech says, "He does not have ten thousand credits."

"He says you ain't got it, Ohnaka." She looks askance at Tech. "How do you know that?"

Sounding confused, Hondo says, "Yes how do you know that?"

"Your personal security is lacking." Something on the console beeps. "There. I should now be able to signal Echo."

"Are you using my ship to send illicit communications? Genoa! I'll make it fifteen."

Phee whistles. "Damn. I dunno, Brown Eyes, this is awful tempting."

"If he could and would pay you, I'd agree. But as he can't--"

"Do not listen to his slander!"

"--and you're quite intelligent enough to know that, I can only assume you're engaging in this to toy with him."

"She would never. You would never."

"Oh wouldn't I," Phee says, and Hondo groans. She bobs her eyebrows at Tech. "Also I wanted to tease you a little."

Tech blinks. "Tease me."

"For running off with a pirate."

"Technically, he ran off with me."

"I did no such thing!"

This was so good

You wanna know what’s pretty messed up?

So there’s a mini, joke chapter at the end of Fullmetal Alchemist Volume 3 called “Flame vs. Fullmetal” –if you’ve watched FMA 03, you’ll remember they adopted aspects of this into the semi-joke episode, episode 13—Anyway, the premise is that people have started musing about the timeless question, “Who would win in a fight?” between Ed and Roy. And for the hell of it, Ed and Roy agree to an all-out alchemist battle to settle the matter.

Fast forward through the battle a bit, Ed’s lured Roy out with a decoy and seizes the opportunity to jump the Colonel from the smoke.

In classic Roy fashion though–

–he’s prepared. “You sliced up my right glove but psyche I’ve got a second one that does the exact same thing.”

And Ed’s toast. Rip Ed.

This whole sequence is pure humor, all jokes and snark and the satisfaction of watching Ed and Roy try to beat the shit out of each other. But something about it seemed…familiar. Something that finally clicked.

In this silly little sequence, Ed chose disarmament of his enemy over victory. He chose securing his position of power by using his automail weapon to slice through his enemy’s transmutation circle rather than actual violence. And his foolish trust in passively subduing a powerful opponent is what gets him well and truly burned.

And then, well there’s his fight against Kimblee. Chapter 76

Ed spent a long chunk of the lead-up to this battle arguing that he does not want to kill Kimblee. He gets into a fight with the Briggs soldiers about this, and they never quite convince him that Kimblee is better off murdered.

So when it comes down to a fight between the two of them, Ed chooses mercy. He chooses Kimblee’s life. He separated Kimblee from his philosopher’s stone, and slices out the transmutation circle on Kimblee’s palm.

And just when he’s let his guard down, convinced he’s passively won–

–Kimblee, rather than Roy this time, pulls out his trump card.

It’s…nigh identical. Ed sees an opening, uses it to disarm, then is taken by complete surprise that his opponent has a second transmutation circle…a second philosopher’s stone.

In Flame vs Fullmetal, Ed is just sort of…comically blown away. His weakness was exposed and his pride suffered for it. Against Kimblee. Well–

–he does not get away in tact.

And it hits as such a…dark piece of continuity. A trueness to this being Ed’s weakness, and a stark, cold, harsh reality in the fact that there are bigger, scarier things out there than Mustang, yet things just as manipulative, powerful, tactful. Things which will kill Ed at a moment’s notice, that do not deserve his mercy.

Ed lives, but he sacrifices his own life-force for it. He surrenders years off the end of his life to pull through. This is an unforgiving consequence shown to naivete. And the parallel exposed in a joke chapter from volume 3 is just…

…well, chilling.

A post I recently came across (elsewhere) about the Jedi made me realize there seems to be some crucial misunderstandings about love versus attachment.

(Full disclosure: for a very long time I didn't understand the difference either. It's only in the last few years that I've come to appreciate the nuances.)

Context: the post claimed that Kanan and Hera prove the Jedi were wrong about feelings/love.

Love and attachment are two very different things. I would even go so far as to say that attachment doesn't allow for real love.

We see in the prequel era that the Jedi Order largely didn't allow for (especially biological) familial or marital/romantic relationships because of the risk for attachment. Sometimes we take this to mean the Jedi Order didn't approve of feelings/love.

But Anakin was absolutely correct when he told Padme that the Jedi endorse compassion, which is (a form of) love. Calm, joy, and peace are all feelings, too, all of which the Jedi encourage. What the Jedi warn against is acting on negative feelings: hate, anger, fear, etc.

So, Anakin was not wrong for loving his mother and Padme, just like Kanan was not wrong for loving Hera and the other members of the Ghost crew as family.

The difference is that Anakin caved in to attachment - he allowed his fear of losing Shmi and then Padme to turn into possessiveness/obsessiveness, to turn into selfishness, which overpowered his love for them. Massacring the Tuskens wasn't an act of love for Shmi. Neither was siding with Palpatine an act of love for Padme, even though Anakin deluded himself into thinking so. All of that was done out of hate and anger and fear.

Kanan, on the other hand, loved others but did not become attached. He taught Ezra how to use the Force as a Jedi would, while accepting that if Ezra did end up turning to the Dark Side, that was Ezra's choice to make - Kanan's responsibility was simply to teach Ezra the best he could. He loved Hera and was basically her husband, but he was willing to step back and let others take the lead when she needed to be rescued. Kanan let go of the things he couldn't control, and he did not become possessive. He truly acted out of selfless love for his family.

Now, personally I think the Jedi generally promoting no marriage/families and no relationships with birth families is a bit on the "overkill" side in trying to stamp out attachment. (Note: while I don't fully agree with the Jedi Order's stance here, I still respect their choice to live that way; much like I personally wouldn't choose to follow the CotW's helmet rule but I don't begrudge them choosing to adhere to it.) And Kanan DOES prove that one can decide against following that tradition while still being a Jedi and not falling to the Dark Side.

But the reason why Kanan is able to succeed where Anakin does not is because Kanan understands the difference between love and attachment, and he remains a Jedi by avoiding the latter. Interestingly enough, I would say it's because Kanan strives to follow the hallmark Jedi principles about emotions - including acting out of love - and using the Force that he is able to avoid attachment.

And so, while I agree with the premise that romantic relationships do not in and of themselves lead to the Dark Side, I think it's also very important to keep in mind what attachment truly is when talking about the Jedi and their beliefs.