Lame-cameoliob - Cameoliob (lame Acc)

You have some really fire points actually!!

I wrote my post at like 3 AM last night so the gears werent turning at 100% but you're absolutely right

Kallus is absolutely intensely biased and predjudiced throughout seasons 1 and 2 there is absolutely no question about it. Like, he has obviously done fucking insane and horrific shit in the name of the empire and he needs to be held accountable for his actions because his (probable) mental health issues do not excuse it, and that's absolutely the whole point of his character.

Honestly, I think that's what makes Kallus' redemption arc so palpable; he holds himself accountable with little to no prompting to do so. Zeb tells him to ask questions in an off handed comment, but Kallus listens, and once the bubble that he built around himself-- which is essentially just an imperial echo chamber that excuses xenophobia and colonialism-- once that bubble pops he takes it upon himself to attempt and right his wrongs by becoming fulcrum.

When I was writing my main post I think I managed to leave out a whole lot of stuff (again, written at 3AM) but i totally forgot to make a point about how the Empire IS the perfect indoctrination machine-- in fact, the empire employs indoctronation and propaganda tactics that are not dissimilar to those seen in 1930s Germany, with how it pits non-human species against the empire and paints them as "other"-- and i think the fucked up part about that indoctronation pertaining to Kallus is that we can see that Kallus really does want to do good (again, hence why he became Fulcrum in the first place) but he exists in a Xenophobic echo chamber of the Empires design. I mean, if he did have PTSD post-Oderon the empire absolutely took advantage of whatever vunerable mindset by not providing tools that would allow him to identify Onderon as an isolated incident. He truly genuinely beleives that he IS doing good in the empire. I mean everyone around him is telling him so, he is rewarded for batshit insane behavior, while others are punished for asking questions, ect ect.

Its really interesting that it took like... the smallest suggestion to challenge his beliefs ("look for answers, maybe youll find the truth") for him to not only do so, but to also--in lieu of realizing the heinous system that he's become complicit in-- hold himself accountable for his actions.

Anyways, yes OP, you brought up some stuff that 3AM me didnt think of and you are like 110% correct

Kallus' motivations are so interesting

I just need to get these thoughts out so I’m throwing this ramble here:

Now, this may totally just be me thinking too much (fork found in kitchen) but I feel like when it comes to how we tend to think about Kallus’ characterization, the implications of Kallus’ experience on Onderon are very overlooked. 

So he goes to Onderon with “the boys”-- which, the term “the boys” has its own set of implications about how Kallus must have really cared for those troopers under his command but I digress– and on a patrol they’re attacked, yada yada, we all know the story. 

But Kallus becomes fully paralyzed. He doesn’t describe the extent of his paralyzation but given that he had to watch as his squad was “finished off one by one” it’s pretty fair to assume that he could not move whatsoever. The fear that any person would experience in that situation is completely indescribable, that is genuinely some shit straight out of a night terror. 

He is– as we know– spared (albeit we don’t get exact details (did the merc try to kill him but reinforcements arrived before he could? Did the merc think that Kallus was already dead? Secret 3rd option?)) and he makes a full physical recovery, but there is no way in hell that he is not coming out of that encounter with some crazy PTSD. 

There’s not a whole lot of info on Imperial mental health services but I don’t think it’s a longshot to assume that they are probably close to nonexistent.

So the empire now has… an ISB agent with field experience… with untreated PTSD… where said PTSDs inciting incident pertained to a Lasat… and they’re looking to make an example out of Lasan……….. Are you picking up what I'm putting down here…...?

If you aren’t; it is BY NO MEANS a wild assumption to say that the Empire– essentially– weaponized Kallus’ PTSD, given that he would be less likely to question the moral atrocities happening on Lasan since he was already biased against Lasat as a whole. 

Now, we don’t really have a solid grasp on what Kallus’ exact role in Lasan was since he’s  kiiiiinnnd of an unreliable narrator– I mean we’re given the line in Droids in Distress where he takes credit for giving orders during the siege, but Kallus routinely just runs his mf mouth whenever he’s throwing hands so it’s like…  that could either be the truth or a crazy exaggeration, we as viewers have literally no idea what’s going on there– but it goes without saying that Kallus is obviously not excused from his participation just because of (likely) untreated mental illness, but that is literally like the whole point of his character so like we all knew that

Now, after Lasan, Kallus does something really bizarre for an imperial to do; he accepts the borifle given to him through the Boosan Keerah, and even though he doesn’t know about the cultural significance of that, he still takes it upon himself to learn how to use this weapon. I think that literally any other imperial would have tossed that shit out on sight, so I think it does kind of imply that Kallus did have a good deal of respect for Lasat culture.

Now we can all recall how Kallus is so annoying and also batshit insane whenever he fights Zeb for the first season and a half of rebels, and ME THINKS that this is because he wants to prove to himself that if he were not paralyzed on Onderon, he could have saved the members of his squad. He had to sit by and watch them die, and I think that he just wants the vindication; now you may be thinking, But Emma, he beat the Lasat who gave him his borifle, why would he still be obsessing over this– say it with me now– he is mentally ill. No victory will ever be enough to prove this to himself. Point blank period. 

To double down on that point, Kallus never actually says anything xenophobic about Zeb or the Lasat as a whole. (At least not that I can remember). He says “Lasat– never know when to give up,” but that’s not like… a crazy thing to say– in fact, in a fucked up sorta way, it almost sounds like a compliment???? Like, Kallus completely sees Zeb (and the Lasat in general) as equals, he’s not operating under the usual xenophobic imperial mindset that other species are lesser than. This weird obsession that he has in seasons 1 and 2 is just there because he wants to outwit and outfight Zeb (and the rest of the Ghost crew… but especially Zeb)

And after the Honorable Ones???? It’s literally never brought up again. He chills tf out so hard after that it is high key uncanny. And like, yes duh that is because– for writing purposes– that’s the beginning of his redemption and they want viewers to root for him as fulcrum, but it also implies that after finding common ground with Zeb, and understanding where he’s coming from and who Zeb is as a person, he realizes that he’s been CRASHING TF OUT for basically no reason. 

And he is SO QUICK to switch sides?? Like, he is fulcrum at least a decent time before the beginning of season three. The whole point is that the second he asks questions and delves deeper into what the Empires motivations are he is disgusted enough that he doesn’t just drop everything and disappear, no, he became a spy for the rebels because he wants to help. I feel like that just goes to show that, at his core, Kallus is a good person. A deeply confused, and hurt, and misguided person, but a good one. 

I dunno, this is just a really long winded way of saying that Kallus is the perfect example of an imperial pawn. Like the Empire is an incredibly effecient indoctrination machine that exploits people at every turn, especially their own soldiers, and I think that Kallus’ relationship with that indoctrination along with his own motivations is just super super interesting and I think about it literally all the time

reaching the point of hyperfixation where I can no longer engage with it due to the nausea that I experience at the mere thought of seeing it on my screen is the closest I’ve ever been to being diagnosed with female hysteria

daily affirmations

i am the unkillable faggot

i can exist in grocery stores

i have the shittiest music taste in any room

i have a gun

I like to think that Kallus' behavior post redemption does a full 360°. Hear me out- as he becomes more comfortable being allowed to show "weakness" in form of empathy and general emotions he starts to have a softer approach to social interactions, especially with the Ghost Crew. But as he gains their trust more and they all grow more comfortable with him being around + he becomes more comfortable being around and not constantly feeling like an imposter, he starts to behave in a way that some might mistake for an emotional set-back. He's less gentle with his responses, making snide remarks here and there in addition to getting into a verbal spat with someone from the Ghost Crew every five minutes.

The thing is, at his core, Kallus is soft, gentle and caring - he is however also a bitch who will gloat when he wins an argument, be super petty during family game nights and laugh with genuine amusement when his loved ones do something - frankly - really fucking stupid.

I do appreciate Kallus's realization that he actually is very wrong in how he approached things. That all the Imperials Zeb has met have tried to kill him, and thus can be judged the same. That's when Kallus's mind changes, imo. When he offers to hold Zeb's bo-rifle without the intent to kill him.

He's determined to prove to Zeb that not all Imperials are bad, and consequently ends up not remaining an Imperial lol.

welcome to my blog!

I’m Jules (they/he) and I’m an artist and writer that mainly lives in the Star Wars: Rebels fandom. I’m kinda shy but I love talking to people, so don’t ever be afraid to shoot me an ask or a dm!

Important links:

Ao3

art tag

some more fun stuff under the cut 👍

do you take art requests? I do! I’m very slow at drawing so be patient with me

what do you use to draw? An old iPad and procreate, and occasionally alcohol and acrylic markers.

when is the Rainbow Connection video coming? Give me like a week or so to learn the banjo. At latest it will come the first of April.

why did you give such a long timeframe for the Kermit post to reach 10k? My blog had about three hundred followers at the time of making that post, I genuinely didn’t think it would blow up like that.

hey, argue with me about how the Jedi are baby thieves / emotionally abusive / responsible for their own genocide. No, and fuck off. Anti-Jedi order blogs get blocked immediately.

can I write/draw something based off one of your posts/fics/art? Yes! That would be really cool :D

can I use your art as a background or pfp? Yes, but please ask first!

hey, you kinda look like the twink from Atlantis. Yeagh. who are your favorite rebels characters? Kallus and Zeb! They’re my beloved boys.

why do you use so many exclamation marks? I’m terrified of coming off as rude or mean 🫶

as a general rule: zionists, anti-theists, TERFS, and people who like to incite pointless discourse get blocked. I’m not interested in arguing with you about fictional pairings or whether you think my fave is problematic. I’m here to be stupid and have fun with my friends.

if you made it this far: my favorite color is green :D

Part one of quotes from Andor that hit a bit too hard:

”The pace of repression outstrips our ability to understand it. And that’s the real trick of the imperial thought machine. It’s easier to hide behind 40 atrocities than a single incident.”

- Karis Nemik

type prevs url with your eyes closed in the tags

I was inspired shout out to the original

dont kill yourself you can live to BECOME a sexy middle aged man