u/CrimsonFlareGun45

&gt;!By focus I mean, who should I keep!< (Why isn't spoilers working?)

Either way, Ashley is gonna end up with one and Kaidan with the other. This isn't for romance reason, this is more for "who has better chemistry with the other" kinda thing?

The MaleShep I'm doing was an unfinished playthrough before I started again, I'm finally getting back to it. The FemShep, I wanna see what she's like in comparison. Hence why I'm doing both. They're both gonna be Pagon - I have no interest in full renegade.

So yeah, Ashley and Kaidan - who should be assigned to which Shep in my playthroughs?

I have no doubt that this game is gonna be way bigger than HL2, maybe even the length of HL2 and its episodes put together, because if this is truly the final game in Gordon's story, there's A LOT to talk about and A LOT to do!

Not only do we have where Episode Two left off with the Borealis and whats-her-name in trouble, but now we got Alyx missing, whoever this unnamed scientist is, and learning about what G-Man's mission is.

We got SO MANY surviving characters still from Magnusson to Eli, from Russell to Barney, and who's to say we'll get more new characters?

The Half-Life enemy roster is so big that I wonder which enemies are coming back and which ones will be left out - from the different variants of Headcrabs and Zombies, to different Xenian animals from HL1, as well as Antlions. And there is SO MANY different Combine units, robots, synths, and vehicles that have the potential have returning. This is just the RETURNING enemies, imagine the NEW ones!

The weapon roster is on the same boat. Will we have the same amount of weapons as HL1 or HL2, or somewhere in the middle which I believe might be the case? Will we get upgrades again like in Alyx? How will the weapons be different from HL2's?

The only reason they'd make another Half-Life game is to make new revolutionary technology for their engines, or revolutionary gameplay. This is the largest factor for the conclusion's delay.

Despite this game taking a long time, we gotta consider all these factors. Some factors I might be missing. This is gonna be one huge game with an amazing story! It's gonna be both quality AND quantity in all angles!

Hi, friends! <3 How are you? I'm doing alright, thanks! Just had some cookies, so a bit full right now from them.

Anyhoo, yunno what really grinds my gears? When people use the word "everybody" or "nobody" to express their opinions.

Like if someone didn't know something, and they're like "EVERYBODY knows this". Oh, so if everybody knows it, that means I automatically knew it before, right? Is that what you're saying?

Or when someone says "EVERYBODY likes this food or this artist". There is absolutely nothing in the world that EVERYBODY likes or hates.

Or when I go see some of my friends, but one of them says, "Go away, NOBODY likes you." No, YOU don't like me. If the others don't like me, they can say it themselves, ya insecure control freak.

Everybody is an individual (no, duh)! I'm sure there are some people that agree with them, but whenever someone uses "everybody" to express their own thoughts, it really brings out their insecurities. No need to make a popular opinion to feel about, or make me feel worse.

Anyway, hope you're having a great day! ^w^

Here's mine.

Songs I didn't have the lyrics to (memorized the words):

* Rye or the Keiser (x3)

* Fat (x2)

* Eat It (x1) - not many people have Michael Jackson songs

* Another One Rides the Bus (x3)

* I Love Rocky Road (x5)

* Jurassic Park (x2)

* Girls Just Wanna Have Lunch (x1)

* Bedrock Anthem (x2)

* Smells Like Nirvana (x2)

* Lasagna (x1)

* Party in the CIA (x2 1/2 - one time the DJs cut me off very rudely)

* Amish Paradise (x2)

* Like A Surgeon (x2)

* I Think I'm A Clone Now (x2)

* She Drives Like Crazy (x1) - the newest one I did

* The Saga Begins (x3) - what's tough is that I can never sing the final verse

* Yoda (x2)

* Ode to a Superhero (x3)

* eBay (x3)

* A Complicated Song (x1)

Songs I had the lyrics to:

* Dare to be Stupid (x1)

* Like A Surgeon (x1)

* Polka Face (x1)

Songs I really wanna sing but haven't yet:

* Ricky (I want my future gf to sing with me)

* Alimony (ditto)

* My Bologna

* Pretty Fly For A Rabbi

* Spam

* Gump

* TMZ (having a hard time remembering the lyrics - plus I'm changing some words, "You just picked up an infestation of termites, seconds later it's up on the website!")

* The Brady Bunch

* I Lost on Jeopardy

* Living with a Hernia

* Grapefruit Diet

WARNING: Very wordy post!

I've been invested with Spike's story arc from the very beginning. I always looked at his comic-relief and him feeling left out all the time as a, "This is just part of his arc to setup a much bigger role for him!"

He did get a bit better at around season 6 - they greatly lowered the Spikeabuse and gave him something more than just an assistant role, but I feel like alot was setup with him without much satisfaction, or they don't mention something until way later, or we're given a half-ass answer.

WHAT I'M GLAD WAS TALKED ABOUT

I was really glad with SOME of the questions answered, like Dragon Dropped having Spike move on from his crush on Rarity and developing their relationship into a healthy platonic friendship! Something I wish was done back in season 5, but better late than never, I suppose.

Then we got Spike's relationship with the Sparkle family FINALLY talked about in Sparkle's Seven! That's something I wish was talked about alot earlier, like Canterlot Wedding. There'd be a better understanding with Spike accepting not knowing his origins if we actually saw more of him with his adoptive family alot earlier. At the end of Father Knows Beast, it felt more like, "I'm with Twilight because she's my best option." Contentment rather than genuine happiness.

And of course his Ambassador arc! After befriending Ember and Thorax and starting their alliances (plus the buffaloes too in season 1, don't forget that), I was so proud when he became in charge of Equestria's alliances with the outside nations when he grew up! Before the series finale, I was afraid he was just gonna be Twilight's assistant forever without a proper career plan. So I'm glad it happened! Royal advisor is good too, but I like the ambassador one better - make him in charge of something rather than just being in Twilight's shadow.

WHAT I FEEL IS INCOMPLETE

Spike's biggest problems IMO is his insecurities, and I feel like it wasn't talked about enough. To the very end of the show, Spike is still stuck in a limbo of thinking he's not good enough, not sure if he's truly the seventh mane despite the devs calling him a "main character", and has abandonment issues which is interfering with his own independency.

Look at Dragon Quest, and look that photo where he tapes a picture of himself with the Mane Six because he wasn't there. All the times he feels left out of the group, or that time Tirek kept saying "six of you" rather than the "seven". At the end of the series he was finally part of the final EOH climax, confirming that he's actually connected to the Elements, but it just happened at the end and wasn't brought up before or after.

Kinda makes me wonder why he bothers hanging out with the Mane Six all the time when he has a more natural friendship with others like Big Mac, Discord, Starlight, Ember, Thorax, Smolder, and Gabby. His vibe with them alot more open with them, and more equal, than he usually is with the Mane Six. Who's REALLY his friendship group, huh? Who's his actual tribe? It seems he usually hangs out with the Mane Six just to be there for Twilight and/or hang out with Rarity.

His undying dedication to Twilight is a major concern to me. Don't get me wrong, I love their friendship, and her being either a mom or sister figure to him is very sweet. However, she hasn't really been the best parent to him if she's constantly using him to further HER OWN goals, and not really thinking about his future and independency.

He went with her to Ponyville, helped her make friends she connects with despite him not having an Element of Harmony connection with her, helped her achieve her destiny to become the Princess of Friendship, helped her open the School of Friendship - and all that time while she achieved the ranks, he was still just the assistant. It wasn't until the very end was he promoted to something bigger. However, he left all his own friends at Ponyville to move back to Canterlot with Twilight to still further her own goals.

I can tell half the time he's annoyed by some of the tasks Twilight gives him, or that she doesn't listen to him - so it's not like he's happy in the role all the time. He's fully aware of his flaws. Dungeons & Discords, he mentioned, "Everybody treats me with the upmost respect." O&O is definitely a therapeutical getaway from his real-life responsibilities and problems.

I love his loyalty and dedication, but it really looks like he's sacrificing his own wants and needs for her. I still have so many questions about him that I just don't understand:

1. What was his life in Canterlot like?
2. Did Celestia have a plan for him?
3. Was being an assistant his idea, or was it assigned to him?
4. Did he ever consider his future beyond being an assistant - his purpose in life and destiny? Did anyone ever ASK him?
5. How does he feel deep down that Twilight chose others to be the Elements of Harmony with, but not him?
6. Did he feel like he missed out on having a proper childhood?
7. How did he actually feel leaving Ponyville that we didn't see in The Last Problem?
8. Why doesn't he usually sing along during the musical numbers?
9. My most important question: IS he really happy, or is he just masking? The vibes I get from him looks like the latter, cause who in the right mind would be super dedicated like him, constantly given the short end of the stick, and actually be happy to be in his position?

Let's not forget about his ego. Whenever he talks about his little accomplishments like being called by the map ONCE, to his big accomplishments like the Crystal Empire, he takes it with great pride and likes bragging about it. He was overjoyed when he finally got wings! It's not very often he gets a bone thrown for him.

His problem is an ongoing issue that expands to Twilight, and even Celestia and Luna

Despite all this, Spike does what he feels like he has to do, and I do admire that dedication that is very rare for others to have. But at the expense of his own wants and needs, this isn't JUST him.

I DO NOT BLAME TWILIGHT FOR SPIKE'S SELFLESSNESS!

Because after all, this is how she was taught. Her dedication to Celestia, constantly doing what she asks her to do, especially being groomed to rule Equestria without objection, I find that to be quite questionable as well. Twilight's willingness to impress Celestia rubbed off on Spike, which plays a huge factor of his own selfless dedication to Twilight.

Do I blame Celestia for that as well? No, not completely. That's probably how she and Luna were raised. They were destined to rule, and Celestia missed out on alot in life because of it - the episode Horse Play was proof of that when she had dreams of the stage but never had the opportunity to. Plus, her retirement was a way out of it, finally!

Despite all this, though, it's an ongoing problem, and I wish the show talked about it. Both Twilight and Spike should've been given a choice. Spike especially, since he doesn't rule Equestira.

Conclusion

Sorry for the very wordy post. I wrote similar stuff to this for over a decade, and if this has been a personal problem for me TO THIS DAY.... then I hope one day it finally gets talked about.

Novel, comic series, I don't care. It doesn't have to be on-screen. But I feel all this needs to be canonically talked about. I tried letting it go, but every time I go back to the pony fandom, it just comes back.

I'll do it myself if I have to once I get my own original novels out there.

I wish I didn't have to, though. Spike is a gold mine of interesting and relatable story arcs that people would pay for. Wish the writers took his character seriously from the very beginning.

I feel we haven't gotten alot of Duchess Satine in this series, so I'm really hoping that we get a "Tales of Mandalore", and one of the stories can be Satine's younger life.

Featuring her as a child with young Bo-Katan, her relationship with young Obi-Wan during his and Qui-Gon's mission to Mandalore, and maybe Korkie's fate post-Satine death!

With how many times Mandalore appeared in the Star Wars universe after The Clone Wars, I'm surprised we STILL haven't gotten the Satine prequel stories, just to sate her story arc. It feels unfinished without her younger years and how she became a passivist in the first place.

Sometimes I think about this song, and not alota people know it, but it went hard! It was one of the first songs he ever made, and it really spoke to me.

Kinda makes me wonder, just for kicks, for one last hurrah from even in the grave, he has a sequel or remake of the song that'll only release to the public after he dies! That would be awesome!

I took a vacation back down to South Florida where I was born and raised, and twice already I saw a WM and BW together, and they seemed so happy and attracted to one-another. I see it from time to time in Georgia, too, younger couples like this.

One time on Hobby Lobby, I saw a couple, and their baby looked absolutely beautiful! My mom even said that one of our cousins in New Jersey married a BW too, and their baby looked absolutely beautiful, too.

I'm hoping that would be me one day. I don't really have a preference of what ethnicity my future gf/wife would be cause I'm more into personalities, sense of humor, and connection, but ever since I moved near Atlanta, BW started being more attractive to me cause, in my PERSONAL EXPERIENCE, they seemed to have the sweetest and most comforting voices and kind personalities with the greatest compliments - and they don't let people mess with them! I can respect that!

If I wasn't so insecure with my dating life, I'd actively go out looking. I have been trying, but alot of 'em that I found are already taken - especially the fellow video game geeks. I just recently got more assertive towards my friendships, and I never had a problem with the assertiveness of my career, hence why I'm doing well there. But I haven't found the balance between trying too little, or trying too hard. One day, though, one day.

I just wanted to speak my mind about this - I'm not asking for advice or anything, but feel free to speak your minds when you see a couple of a different ethnicity, and wish that was you.

Despite how unpopular Jar Jar is, no doubt that these episodes really added to his story arc. Jar Jar has relations to the queen of a cult of passive force wielders, and Star Wars has yet to explain where that all came from.

Like, when did Jar Jar have connections with that order? Did it happen while he was senator, or did that happen way before the events of Phantom Menace?

Could they have something to do with Jar Jar's constant "luck" with his clumsiness saving his life? (inb4 Darth Jar Jar)

And despite the Aftermath book giving us a rough description of his life during the New Republic era, there was still a very long gap during the Imperial era where he was completely MIA.

From what little we know of Jar Jar's life during the Imperial era, here's the facts:

1. Despite the Dagoyian Order being passive, I doubt Emperor Palpatine would care. They're force users, and the Inquisitorious might have alot of interest in them. Not saying they actually are, but with Jedi Fallen Order and Bad Batch, the Empire has a history of kidnapping Force sensitive children. Who's to say the Dagoyians won't be the same?

2. Jar Jar comic 1 shows that Jar Jar is at least suspicious of Palpatine. Queen Julia is the love of his life, and if Palpatine declared himself emperor, even a clumsy fool like Jar Jar could be scared of his love's life.

Once LucasFilm created lore, it is highly recommended to build upon it. If Jar Jar's story arc continues in the near future to further expand his life pre-Phantom Menace, post-ROTS, "The Disappeared" arc is pretty much a big hint of his future, and I hope LucasFilm continues it.

This could very well darken his story arc, as well, with a more serious tone.

I have no idea what LucasFilm is gonna do with the unfinished concepts of the remaining Clone Wars arcs, whether it's novel form or comic form or just release the scripts, but at the very least, did ANYBODY in the fandom make some decent fanfics outta these arcs?

Outta all these years, one would think that people in the fandom made fanfics of these arcs. They're not canon, but they'll have to do - and I'll just pretend they're canon until something happens or not.

So anybody got anything?

I been seeing alota predictions lately of Devon finding out Maul betrayed Daki NEXT season. I believe that's gonna be TOO early for that. Maul needs a whole season to earn Devon's trust - she doesn't necessarily trust him yet.

If Devon is gonna find out about this, it's gonna be season THREE. If she finds out too early, we're gonna have a pretty short series, and I don't want it to end too soon. A 20 episode series feels too short.

I know 1313 was gonna be that, but what if we had a game starring Young Boba Fett (voiced by Daniel Logan), and his rise to becoming the best bounty hunter in the galaxy?

The game could start off with the unpublished Clone Wars arc with him and Cad Bane, and then after their dual, they could time-jump to the Imperial era where Boba finds out Bane is still alive and is sabotaging him!

We can have legendary characters appear such as Bossk, Sugi, Aurra Sing, Tobias Beckett, Embo, Latts Razzi, Highsinger, Dengar, VENTRESS..... underworld gangs like Black Sun, Crimson Dawn, the Hutts, and the Pykes..... maybe Maul!

Then we can have a ton of locations like recycling parts of 1313, and a ton of other planets! It could be a spiritual sequel to the old Bounty Hunter game starring his dad! So, it might be a bit more linear, with a bunch of bounty hunting side missions, rather than an open world game. It COULD be open-world still, but if it's a successor to the first Bounty Hunter game, if it ain't broke, don't fix it!

At first I was thinking an animated series for young Boba, but wouldn't it be much better if this were a game? We could get all the unanswered questions about Boba before the events of Empire Strikes Back, and witness first hand his rise to the top!

With the stuff that was set up in Kenobi, Jedi Survivor, and Tales of the Underworld, the Hidden Path is the next big major Star Wars thing I wanna see!

Starring Quinlan Vos, showing the origins and events of this "Underground Railroad" inspired organization showing a rebellion-type of group that doesn't really wanna fight the Empire, just avoid it, and save people! A story about potential and redemption!

A bit like a sequel series to the Bad Batch containing returning characters like Oppo Rancisis, Kelleran Beq, and Ventress, Legends characters turned canon like Kahleen (Vos's wife in legends), and new characters! Former Jedi younglings trying to find new lives, former Separatists teaming up with their former opponents against a common enemy, and washed-up Republic senators who left the Senate - there's a ton of Clone Wars characters to use! Plus, more of Rex's clone network expanded from Bad Batch!

Imagine all the different story arcs we could get from something like this! It could very well last 3-4 seasons!

I understand alot of people hate him. Alot of people in the Star Wars universe hate him. Maybe even alot of people on LucasFilm hate him. I personally DON'T hate him - I mean I grew up with him, so it might be a bias.

Regardless of our opinions of him, and whether we think he deserves this fate or not, after thinking about it for a long time - his fate in the Aftermath book makes no sense, at least not with the information we were given - it has been a long 20 years between Revenge of the Sith and that book.

So why do I believe this? Well, here are a few reasons:

1. He was blamed for "giving" Palpatine emergency powers. He has absolutely no power to give anybody anything in the Senate. The SENATE gave him emergency powers. And he only proposed it because Palpatine and Mas Amedda manipulated him. Palpatine manipulated EVERYBODY! He manipulated Padme to give the vote of no confidence to Chancellor Valorm, and paving the way for Palpatine to become chancellor - I don't see anybody hating her for that. Hate him or not, it seems pretty unfair.

2. Jar Jar has a queen girlfriend on Bardotta. Why stay on Naboo where apparently nobody likes him, instead of going to the one and only place where EVERYBODY likes him? We don't even know where his connection with them CAME from! So that's another big question for Jar Jar's story. George R. Binks is no longer canon, so his backstory and origins is a clean slate.

3. Naboo appeared several times in the Imperial era, and clown Jar Jar never camoed. Vader even went to the Gungan city, and he STILL wasn't around. Yes, he was banished, but he coulda easily cameoed in the swamps, or the streets, but he didn't. The only time he appeared was in the Aftermath book during the New Republic era.

4. He lent Kelleran Beq his ship and personal Naboo guards to rescue Grogu from the Jedi Temple. Grogu's story between Order 66 and Mandalorian is TOO a mystery! If Jar Jar seems to have a connection to Jedi during the Republic's downfall, why stay on Naboo to be a clown?

5. Boss Lyonnie, the boss of the Gungans at the time of the Clone Wars LIKED and RESPECTED Jar Jar. I have a hard time believing HE banished him. The only way the boss would banish him is if his council forced him to. Either that, or they elected a new boss, and he had it out for Jar Jar. But we don't know that right now.

Now, I'm NOT retconning that book. All I'm saying is, I don't think we know the whole story. One person can't have ALL of this happen, and then spend TWENTY years being a hated street performer.

I don't believe in the Darth Jar Jar theory. But I do believe there's alot missing from him. We only haven't been getting anything because either too many fans hate him, or LucasFilm is not interested.

Either way - I am personally interested to see what happens next with him, because that one-shot Jar Jar comic was obviously the start of something. It's testing the waters, and so far it's been positive. So here's hoping Jar Jar's character really develops in the near future! You might not want it, and that's fine. But I do!

You know when was the last time we saw Black Sun? I don't even remember. It just seems that ever since Solo it was just the Pykes, and then Crimson Dawn, but Black Sun constantly gets pushed aside for some odd reason. They weren't even in Star Wars Outlaws!

I know Savage destroyed most of its leadership, but during the time of Dark Disciple and Son of Dathomir, Black Sun was still powerful enough to verse against the Separatists, and be able to kidnap Marg Krim's family. They still get a mention every now and again, but that's about it.

I'm really hoping that we'll actually see Black Sun again in this show, including Ziton Moj, the current leader. They had a namedrop in here, and their logo appeared on the police board. So I hope that foreshadows a future role for them in here.

If at any point Maul is going to hunt down Vader (whenever he shows up), and finds out he lives on Mustafar, Black Sun also bases on that planet. So if anything, that could be their use.

What about you? You miss Black Sun at all, or don't really give them much thought? I'm just a little tired of them being pushed aside by the Pykes constantly.